My story: Hank

It was easy for me to stop smoking after about 50 years of a pack-a-day habit.  I don't remember a thing about that day;  I awoke  two days later in an ICU, and the doctor told me the choice was very simple: quit or die.I had always wanted to "be quit", but never wanted to actually quit smoking. I always really enjoyed the whole experience of smoking. Aside from a few half-hearted attempts over the years to quit, the only major attempt happened a number of years ago, when, after an operation, I went to my mother's house for her to help me recuperate.  She was a heavy smoker, but I really had no urge to smoke during the two weeks I was with her.  As I passed thru Newark Airport on the way home, for whatever reason, I bought a pack of cigarettes, and that was the end of quitting.I now have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), or emphysema to be more specific, and, more often than not, need oxygen. I am very out of breath with almost any movement, and have to use oxygen when out and around.  As you might surmise, that is a real drag, and probably keeps me from even attempting lots of things that I would like to do.  I'm lucky, I guess, that this all happened just as I was planning on retiring anyway, so a job never had to be factored in.I have learned to live with this problem, but can't help thinking that if only I had stopped a few years sooner, I would almost certainly be better off.  Doctors told me 5 and more years ago that stopping would, in a year's time, let my lungs recuperate to almost normal. Now, it appears, they will never get better.....