Week 4 - no smoking, please

I've quit smoking (again) and I'm pretty sure I have really quit. It's a gut feeling and I like gut feelings, so I'll just say -There! I've done it! I'm still on the patch and I will abide by Stacey's oh-so-orderly wishes of following the directions to the letter. One more week of Step One patches, then I will go to 4 weeks (I think) of Step Two etc....

I have a new doctor and he seems to have no sense of humor at all (when I told him that my wife told me that it's not the fact that I might die from smoking that bothers her, it's that she really doesn't want to take care of a sick husband, especially seeing how it was my choice to smoke in the first place!). That usually can get a laugh or at least a smile out of a doctor, but not this guy. He is concerned about several things going on with me; smoking, alcohol and a blood sugar level that is on the rise. (Seems that pills are controlling my usually high levels of blood pressure, eyeball pressure in my damaged eye, cholesterol and anxiety. Better living through chemistry as my psychiatrist used to say!)

There is also the problem of my family history. Actually the lack of my family history. Smoking probably killed my dad, mom and more than likely, did in the family dog, too (second hand smoke from a houseful of smokers!).

So I'm dealing with the cigarettes first. Maybe once I get all of those evil chemicals and poisons out of my system (not to mention the fact that I will no longer allow The Man - the cigarette companies - to keep me down) my doctor will be so proud of me, he will tell me that no further action is required. Everything else that was wrong with me has miraculously gotten better! After all, my new and really expensive CD box set; George Jones - The Complete United Artists Recordings sounds really, really good with a few beers in my belly!

Gil