Woman Quits Smoking to Save Her Life
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NORTH JACKSON — Thursday the American Cancer Society set aside a day to curb that smoking habit. It’s called the Great American Smokeout. The American Cancer Society encourages smokers to use this day to make a plan to quit smoking. Carol Shaul smoked for 35 years. But when she was told she would need a lung transplant if she didn’t stop, she says she quit cold turkey. “I didn’t want to live on an iron lung or with tubes in me. That was really the main thing. I just didn’t want to live like that.” Shaul said. She also said quitting was not easy. “It was so hard. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” Fifteen years ago her doctor told her if she didn’t quit, her quality of life would never be the same. “He said the only thing he could do for me if I kept smoking would be like a lung transplant and I was like ‘oh gosh,’ all I thought about was ‘I don’t want to live on machines.'” The American Cancer Society says research proves there are dozens of negative effects of smoking, and every time you smoke you increase your chance of getting the deadliest type of cancer. “Lung cancer is the largest killer of men and women both in the US and 80% of lung cancer diagnoses are thought to be caused by smoking,” Allison Hedge, with the American Cancer Society, said. According to Hedge, electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and even inhaling second-hand smoke are just as dangerous as cigarettes. Shaul says she still craves a cigarette every now and then, but she reminds herself of how strong she was to give it up. “When I smell somebody lighting a cigarette it smells so good to me. That’s how addictive it is, but do yourself such a favor and quit because you can.” According to the CDC, Tennessee ranks about 2% higher than the national average for those who smoke cigarettes and use smokeless tobacco.
