As much as....

It speaks to your compassion as a human being, a quality I find missing in many folks today.

Thanks guys.
Bob

He occasionally referenced his "nicotine stained fingers" but you never saw him smoking on video. How much (and what) did he smoke?

My oldest sister died from Emphysema at 70 years old, 20 years ago. Just about as horrible of a way to die. She was on oxygen 24 hours a day, and even at the end, before the last two weeks in the hospital. She would take the oxygen off, to still light up and smoke. Now my grandpa was a pipe smoker, and he lived to almost 90, and still smoked.  Cancer is horrible too, would not wish it on my worst enemy.

Rush quit smoking cigarettes decades ago but loves cigars.  This is from the cover of Cigar Afficianado, spring 1994.

dckrsn wrote:As much as some of the stuff he's said has irked and infuriated me, I would never
wish this on anybody. It's strange to me, the weird emotion, of finding
someone so repulsive(to me), suddenly drawing my sincerest sympathy.
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/03/802388079/rush-limbaugh-says-he-has-been-diagnosed-with-advanced-lung-cancer
Bob

Spoken like a true and NPR listener/supporter

Some offshoot variant of the Stockholm Syndrome??

My father would not give up the cancer sticks. He was a pack a day cigarette smoker, also smoked pipes, sometimes cigars. He died at 70 and was buried on his 71st birthday, autopsy: suspect lung cancer. Had he quit he might have lived another 10 years.

ticomareado wrote:

dckrsn wrote:As much as some of the stuff he's said has irked and infuriated me, I would never
wish this on anybody. It's strange to me, the weird emotion, of finding
someone so repulsive(to me), suddenly drawing my sincerest sympathy.
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/03/802388079/rush-limbaugh-says-he-has-been-diagnosed-with-advanced-lung-cancer
Bob

Spoken like a true and  NPR listener/supporter

Yes and yes. Avid, and liberal AF.
Bob

I was a "pack-a-day" cigarette smoker until I got the flu in the Winter of 2017/2018. I couldn't smoke without it making me cough. I was coughing anyway.. but smoking made it much worse. That flu; along with the cough, persisted for over one month. I refrained from smoking throughout that time.. and haven't had a cigarette since. It's been just over two years now. Do I miss the cigarettes? HELL YES.. but I'm winning the battle against them.. every day.

GallopingGhostler wrote:My father would not give up the cancer sticks. He was a pack a day cigarette smoker, also smoked pipes, sometimes cigars. He died at 70 and was buried on his 71st birthday, autopsy: suspect lung cancer. Had he quit he might have lived another 10 years.

. Cigarettes got my Mom at aged 68, her Mother was a non smoker , lived to be 96 and her Grandmother lived to be 94 . So I’m pretty sure she could have lived 20 + more , but I asked her if she had it to do all over,, would she still smoke. And she said yes because she enjoyed it so much. So go figure

akjgardner wrote:Cigarettes got my Mom at aged 68, her Mother was a non smoker, lived to be 96 and her Grandmother lived to be 94. So I’m pretty sure she could have lived 20 + more, but I asked her if she had it to do all over, would she still smoke. And she said yes because she enjoyed it so much. So go figure

My wife's family in the Philippines, grandparents and great grandparents lived into their 90's before passing. Her father was a habitual smoker, died at 56 with throat cancer. Had surgery, then returned a couple years later taking his life.

I guess the endorphins released by nicotine is the motivator. Overeating super rich sugar laden foods leading to obesity has the same effect also. Sad, but those who focus on physical fitness seem to do better and helps them to live longer (provided one doesn't overdo it. There's a long way to go before overdoing it and the problem is most underdo it.)

I joined Planet Fitness a couple years ago and work out 5 days a week, an hour to 2 hours a session. Exercise helps. Plus, I never developed a smoking habit, so I don't know what I am missing out on.

roddie wrote:Do I miss the cigarettes? HELL YES.. but I'm winning the battle against them.. every day.

Hang in there Roddie. My mother quit smoking when my father got his triple bypass at age 62. She lived to be 86. Glad to hear you are winning the battle.

roddie wrote:I was a "pack-a-day" cigarette smoker until I got the flu in the Winter of 2017/2018. I couldn't smoke without it making me cough. I was coughing anyway.. but smoking made it much worse. That flu; along with the cough, persisted for over one month. I refrained from smoking throughout that time.. and haven't had a cigarette since. It's been just over two years now. Do I miss the cigarettes? HELL YES.. but I'm winning the battle against them.. every day.  

I remember that. Resisting will pay off big time. I bet you're liking the extra rupees in your wallet.
I'm happy for you. 3 years last month for me. It gets better.
Bob

I was an on and off smoker until recently when I finally quit for good...I managed to quit temporarily many times but always came back to it on occasions like flying in the field alone, or taking recesses on longer motorcycle rides. Went through a non-cigarettes related cancer 11 years ago and thought finally that with a chance given then to hang on, I will not take a chance of another cancer again...but put up some extra weight in turn...

Long version elsewhere on CEF

28 July 2018 quit 2~3 pack a day cig and cigar habit I started in the 60s at age 10~11
previously diagnosed and still treated for;
IBS
GERD
Crohns
COPD
was the motivation.....breathing through a straw while coughing and soiling your pants us no fun

like Rush I will eventually get lung cxr diagnosis....no doubt in my mind

here in a few months I need to detox alcohol......sux cuz I love many of my adult beverages...but lost the ability to self moderate

Rush has the resources for best of the best doctors.....but late stage 4 diagnosis is near impossible to do much about.....new lungs don't work the cxr is spread about already....so my fear is he is terminal......not a pure ditto head but I enjoyed most of Rush's opinion and sarchasm

I grew up in an agricultural area where literally everyone smoked -- both parents were heavy smokers and we were tobacco producers. My father died at 60 from a short, but intense bout with lung cancer. However, I've never smoked other than trying a cigarette or two in high school. How I managed to end up as a non-smoker is a miracle in itself.

Like Fred, I also started at 10, because everyone in the family smoked, and drank coffee their entire life. Stout German stock, and all lived into their 80's, and 90's. My father on the other hand, had TB in his early 20's, lost half of one lung, and a quarter of the other, and passed his type II Diabetes on to me. Last time I saw him he was in his late 70's, and still chain smoking all day. He also had most of his red hair, and a new wife that nursed him to 80 years of age, when he caught Pneumonia and passed away.

As a result of pending rationing during WWII, my grandfather stashed away plenty of cigarettes, chewing tobacco (both leaf, and plug), and bags and cans of tobacco. I remember things like Marvel and Wings cigarettes, cartons of Lucky Strikes, and Pall Mall cigarettes, Golden Grain, and Prince Albert tobacco (my favorite), and enough roll your own paper to last decades! Made smoking too easy for me, because it was there for the taking. Chewed for a while, but didn't like that enough. Years later, I smoked 5 cent cigars, chewed the butts, and smoked several styes of pipes.

Got married after my first enlistment, shortly after my return from Germany, and smoked heavily until our kids were toddlers. I didn't want to set a bad example for them, so I quit cold, and did the same years later for our grandkids. Didn't crave smoking as long as I stayed away from the bars, but as soon as I had a little beer, I reached for a smoke out of habit! Giving up smokes was pretty easy for me, as I had the will power to do so, when I decided it was time.

Haven't smoked regularly for about 30 years now, and gave up drinking completely when my beloved wife passed away a little over 5 years ago. We were happily married for 55 years.

Now I read every day to keep my sanity (mostly Sci-Fi, and aviation related), and often go many days with the damn TV turned off!

Bill

dckrsn wrote:As much as some of the stuff he's said has irked and infuriated me, I would never
wish this on anybody. It's strange to me, the weird emotion, of finding
someone so repulsive(to me), suddenly drawing my sincerest sympathy.
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/03/802388079/rush-limbaugh-says-he-has-been-diagnosed-with-advanced-lung-cancer
Bob

Somehow the subject of Bob's thread got sidetracked to a confessional regarding smoking, perhaps a link to Rushes condition and not a bad thing.

But getting back to Rush. I have listened to him for many of the past 20 years or so with my first reaction being - can he really say those things out loud on the radio? A surprise after years of being exposed only to the liberal agenda. I had the same reaction the first time I tuned into Fox and watched Bill O'Reilly - He will never get away with expressing those views for very long. Turned out he prospered and became an icon in the conservative movement.

From what I know and what I have read about Rush, he is very well respected within the community and known as a nice guy, polite to a fault.

I wish him nothing but the best.