I'm home!

[Estherfromjerusalem]

Hello everyone!

Thank you all so much for your good wishes to me -- they obviously helped a lot and here I am back at home. My neck looks like a cross between Dracula and Frankenstein, but I know from the other side (that was operated on five years ago) that it will soon settle down. But it doesn't hurt, and the main thing is that the operation was successful and my artery is now clear and the blood is flowing to my brain, and there is no muck left in my artery. Thank heavens for surgeons, and for modern medicine!

And isn't it nice that Chava has emerged! It was so good to speak to her again -- I have neglected her and I must put that to rights in the near future. And Matlem has been in touch too -- I am really touched at how kind everyone is.

Today I came back home at lunch time. I feel fine, but very exhausted. I finished off all my jobs before going into hospital, except for one. Well, I shall do one-hour stints, and just stop when I feel tired.

My oldest daughter is at this moment on her way to me to spend the night here -- she's coming from the north of the country just to be with me, and that is so good of her.

My stay in hospital was not easy, certainly not the first two or three days, but the staff were so kind. Hospital nurses really deserve prizes for their work. (I gave them a big box of really good chocolates!) I was in hospital for 10 days, and that was quite long enough, suddenly I just couldn't wait to get out and come home.

Still haven't smoked, although it is getting harder. My son who has stopped with me (not difficult child, the next one up) says he feels sick when he smells someone smoking, but I just want to inhale hard! I wonder how long it will take until this acute longing for a cigarette goes away. I hope it's not too long. I am sucking a lot of sugarless peppermint sweets.

I'm so happy to be back with all of you.

Love, Esther

 

[nvts]

Wonderful to hear that all went well! I was wondering how things "flushed out"!

I know the feeling of all of a sudden getting sick of being in the hospital. It's as if someone flipped a switch and you just want to be out of there!

Glad that you're back!

Beth

 

[meowbunny]

So glad the surgery was successful. Take care of yourself and don't force the recovery.

 

[Star*]

Esther,

Welcome back!! Nice to see you in such good spirits! Especially glad to hear you are among those who refuse to take a chance of setting any nose hair on fire (stop smoking).

Yes, it was nice to hear from Chava. Thanks for letting us know you're alright! That's a nice 1st night present!~

Hugs
Star

 

[Hound dog]

Esther I'm so glad everything went well and you're back home again. Hospitals are great when you need them, but you can always tell when you're on the mend because you can't wait to get out of them. lol

Take it easy for a while.

Many warm (((hugs))) :flower:

 

[busywend]

:bravo: Welcome home!! :bravo:

Glad to hear you are home and on the mend. You daughter is sweet!

The cravings will linger for some time, but you just have to weigh the pros and cons. The pros win out every time!

 

[donna723]

Esther! Welcome back!

I was wondering how you were getting along! Glad to see you're out of the hospital and on the mend. Take care of yourself, my friend.

:flower:

 

[Fran]

Esther, I am so glad to hear from you. We love you scars and all. You must take it easy. It is good for your daughter to come and attend to you for a while.

I hope the initial craving goes away. If not ask your doctor for some help. Every obstacle has a way around it. Medication,patches whatever. Just give it a try.

Many hugs to you and good wishes for a long and healthy life. Give Chava and Matlem my best wishes also.
My easy child asks of you and of Chava regularly. He will be happy to know that you are home from the hospital.
Take care and hurry back. We miss you.

 

[Marguerite]

G'day, Esther, good to see you're home again. lay off those cancer sticks for good, willya? We want you with us for many years to come.

My best friend's mother died on Friday morning, suddenly, due to smoking-related cardiac blockages. She had a small warning heart attach on Thursday morning so they put her in hospital to do tests with a view to putting things to rights (and again nag her to stop chain-smoking) but for her, it was too late. The "big one" hit in the small hours next morning.

It's not too late for you. You now have another chance.

Are you allowed to use patches? or is the amount of nicotine in the patches a bad thing? Surely they would be better than going back onto the cigarettes! It is very difficult when there are so many smokers around you; I gather more people smoke in Israel (and other Middle East countries) than a lot of other countries? When we were in Greece we were amazed by the amount of smoking there - numbers are rapidly dropping here in Australia, so it's easier to quit here. We even have a government-funded service designed to help people quit smoking. No smoking in public buildings here; smoking now banned in cars carrying children under 18. It's hard on those wanting to smoke, but easier for those who do not want to. And, of course, it costs the government a lot less in lost productivity and high health costs.

Keep on getting better, be gentle with yourself. The cravings do pass but they take a while. My father went through this - he was diagnosed with emphysema and told that if he kept smoking he would live maybe another five years. So he quit smoking, took up regular exercise and lived another twenty-five years. He only died because a latent TB he'd been carrying since the 1940s became active. He'd been on steroids for shingles, the TB woke up, everything began to fail. But in the meantime, he had 25 years of good quality of life, instead of five years of gasping for air. I was glad to have him for so much longer, he got to know all but one of his grandchildren and got to hold his first great-grandchild.

We love you, Esther, we want you to be happy and healthy.

Marg

 

[Wiped Out]

I'm so glad to hear you are home and healing. Hugs.

 

[gottaloveem]

Glad everything went well and you are home. I'm sure you will be feeling great now that the arteries have had a cleaning out.

 

[Suz]

Welcome home, Esther. I'm so happy to hear that things went well!

Hugs,
Suz

 

[KFld]

Welcome home!!
I hope your cravings go away quickly. I am an ex-smoker and they do eventually go away. You can do it!!

 

[Lothlorien]

Glad to hear that all went well and you are home recuperating.

That's nice that your daughter will be coming to help take care of you. Make sure you let her!

Hugs and best wishes!

 

[DDD]

Glad to read you are home and on the mend. How lovely that your daugher is traveling to render support.

Regarding the cravings..ugh..some people bounce back alot quicker
than others. The lst time I quit (in my 30's) I couldn't believe
how quickly I began to smell the smoke in the curtains, bedding
etc. etc. It was grotesque and I went on a cleaning binge!

As they say in AA "I slipped" and almost forty years later I
still want to inhale the second hand smoke!! :rolleyes: It has
been about ten years since I finally quit. The problem is that
it is no longer nicotene addiction. The cigarette becomes your
tranquilizer, your comforter, your companion, your reward...plus
it is a physical habit of motion. It's like giving up a best friend who always was there for you through thick and thin. The
battle is between your ears and in the emotional part of your heart.

I've used all kinds of insane types of mind games with myself.
One of my earliest survival games was comparing my much desired
cigarettes with a lover I had inbetween marriages. :rofl:
When I was with him everything was terrific. When he flew away
to his businesses, I realized he was not the right potential father for my children, he had European concepts of womens rights
that I was uncomfortable with etc. etc. Eventually I said ta ta
to him which was the right decision. Thirtyfive years later I
on occasion still give him more a passing thought! :smile:

Find your own mind game. It works until you can refocus. Good
luck. DDD

 

[TerryJ2]

Hi Esther, I don't believe we've met, so a warm hello and welcome back!
So glad you're not smoking, and I'm sending strength and willpower for continued cessation.
Terry

 

[OpenWindow]

Esther -

It's great to see you back. Congrats on still not smoking! I hope it gets easier for you.

Linda