In Association with Health On Line
When Husband and I met, we’d both been smokers for some time, despite being in our early and mid-twenties. I come from a family of smokers, and Husband’s families had all been smokers when he was younger, so it was no real surprise that we started smoking at young ages. I can’t speak for him, but I smoked a lot – I’d have a cigarette in my hand as often as I could and I cringe when I think of how much money I spent over the years.
Husband was a lot stronger than me, he gave up smoking while we were actually on our honeymoon, after 12 hours on a plane breathing recycled air had given him a horrible case of bronchitis, but it took me about a year longer to give up. It’s one of the best things that we’ve ever done.
I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to a smoker now. The health implications are scary, especially when you factor in that I’m an asthma sufferer. One of the things that has stopped me from ever starting again is the thought of Sausage – I hate her even being able to smell smoke on other people, let alone getting a hug from her Mum and huffing the stench of cigarettes every time. I’m hoping that Husband and I are setting a precedent for her, hoping that the fact that she doesn’t spend any time around people who smoke means that it will be alien and disgusting to her as she grows up, rather than something she sees her nearest and dearest do on a daily basis.
There’s an interactive lung health guide on Health On Line which gives a really clear and concise picture of what smoking can do to the lungs and I really enjoyed going through and seeing how my decision to quit is benefiting not just me but my family too. I think the site is a great resource and would be a really good learning tool for kids who want to know how smoking can effect their bodies. I think that educating children about things, rather than flat-out forbidding them to do something, allows them to make informed decisions for themselves and can set them up with the skills they need as adults to take responsibility for their own health.
