Reciprocity

I can understand how you got drawn into thinking using the pouch would be the answer to quitting. That's the way they market those nicotine pouches here in Canada anyway. They show a fit, active young man who's telling everyone he's tried to quit many times before and now that he's using the pouches he's finally quit!! Ah ....NO! He's just switched nicotine delivery methods and possibly upped the amount of nicotine he's putting into his body every day. The marketing of this things is so deceiving You're doing the right thing in getting rid of nicotine from your body & brain altogether. We're here to support you in your battle for freedom!!

The most stressful thing about the PET Scan today was finding the parking garage and the proper entrace door at the hospital that was one I'd never been to. The scan itself was no big deal other than the fact it took about an hour & a half. For those who have never had a Pet Scan, the scan itself is pretty much the same as a standard CT Scan with tracer, doesn't take more than 10-15 mins or so. It's the prep work for the PET Scan that takes a full hour or so before you go into the scanner. When I first got there they took me to a small cubicle and sat me down in a cushy recliner; like one you might have in your living room. It has a side table on either side and you lay your arm out on that table for them to insert an IV into your arm. The IV drips a small bag of FDG (Fluorodeoxyglucose), which is a safe, mildly radioactive form of glucose (sugar) into your vein. That only took about 5-10 mins. After that they tell you they're going to close the curtain and leave you there for 1 hour and you need to lay back in the recliner and don't move at all for the hour, not even your arms or legs or any body part. Your not allowed to take anything in there with you. No tablet, phone or even a book to read. You just have to remain completely still for 1 hour. This is to allow the stuff they shot into you time to move into ever cell withing your body. Apparently any movement impacts that process negatively. I had never sat completely still for an hour of course and let me tell you - it's really hard to do! 1 hour seems like several in that situation. After the hour is over they take you into a room where the scanner is and run you in & out of the scanner a few times and then, you're done and free to leave. The idea of the FDG mixture they put into your body is that cancetrous cells absorb sucrose (sugar) like crazy and the radioactive stuff in the mixture will make any cancerous areas light up on the scans they take. So that's that - done now. Now I simply wait to get the results of the scan back sometime later next week to see if any nodules in my lungs lit up on my scan. To @Cbdave This tracer stuff is different from the tracer stuff they sometimes give you for a regular CT Scan. I've had that stuff too and yes, it makes you suddenly feel warm, like you peed yourself (). This stuff they gave me for the PET Scan didn't do that.

Good for you @Sportsfan66! I've seen a nicotine pouch product advertised here in Canada recently. It's called Zonnic. You may have been using a different product as you;re in the USA. Wishing you all the best in beating your need for a nicotine fix. Stick around here for support as well as all the great info about getting clean. Nope for me today & always!

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Great progress @Pilgrim! One day at a time is the way it's done. Days turn into weeks, then months and finally years. It's amazing being smoke free so well worth the early struggles. Keep up the great work!!

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I think I mentioned some time ago that I had my annual CT Scan coming up in late June. I've had these annually for about 5 or 6 years now and there's not been anything of particular concern with the results but this time there was I got the results a few days ago on the 6th of July. It reveald a new nodule in my upper left lung; 1.2 cm in size. It wasn't there last scan so it developed sometime in the past year. I have had a couple of small nodules, only 3 or 4 mm in my lungs since my first scan but they have said these are nothing to be concerned about as there's been no growth over the years and many people have small nodules; even non-smokers. This new one suddenly appearing and being over 1cm had the Doc going into preventative action mode rather than just watching it for the next year or so. He doesn't want to do a biopsy cuz he said there's a 25% chance they could puncture my left lung doing that so he's recommending a PET Scan instead. I agreed that this sounded like the best way to proceed at this point. I got a call today letting me know they had secured a spot for me at the only hospital in the general area where I live to have the PET Scan done this Sat., July 11th. I asked him how he got such a quick date for the scan and his answer was; "when I tell them it's required for a possible cancer diagnosis, they move pretty quickly!" Him saying that, mentioning the C word brought the gravity of the situation down on me pretty suddenly but, I suppose I really knew that's what we were possibly dealing with anyway, based on the CT Scan results. So, that's my Saturday then ... a few hours drive back & forth to this hospital and the PET Scan, which is about 1.5 hours in length; most of that time resting after they inject the radioactive tracer stuff into you through an IV. For anyone unfamiliar with a PET Scan (as I was); I've copied an AI summary below that explains it better than I can. Will update y'all as things happen. I should have the results of the PET Scan next week sometime Pet Scan: A Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test that uses a small, safe amount of a radioactive substance (radiotracer) to visualize how your tissues and organs are functioning on a cellular level. It is primarily used to detect or monitor cancer, heart disease, and brain disorders. What a PET Scan Does While standard imaging tests like X-rays or MRIs mainly show the structure of your body, a PET scan reveals how your body's cells and tissues are working. How it works: You receive an injection of a radiotracer, which often behaves like a natural substance in your body, such as a form of radioactive sugar (FDG). Because diseased cells (like rapidly dividing cancer cells) tend to consume energy and sugar much faster than healthy cells, they absorb large amounts of the tracer. The scanner detects this radiation and maps out these "hot spots". Combined scans: PET scans are frequently combined with CT (Computed Tomography) scans. A PET/CT Scan overlays the functional activity of the PET scan with the high-resolution anatomical mapping of a CT scan, providing doctors with an exact location of diseased areas. Why It Is Done: Doctors rely on PET scans for several vital medical purposes: Cancer detection: Finding early-stage cancers, determining if a tumor has spread, and staging the disease. Evaluating treatments: Checking whether chemotherapy or radiation is successfully shrinking a tumor. Cardiology: Assessing blood flow in the heart, detecting damaged or scarred heart tissue, and evaluating if a heart attack has caused permanent damage. Neurology: Identifying brain abnormalities such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and brain tumors.

Nope!

Late to the party cuz I had to find a bigger truck to bring my thousands of unsmoked cigs!

Sorry I'm late to add my congrats Nancy but 13 years smoke free is certainly something to be celebrated. Hope you did something that was special to you!

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Nope! Not Today.

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Eight is Great! Keep pushing forward, 1 full year is just around the corner

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Wow! 1/2 Year smoke free ... that's a BIG one so be sure to take time to celebrate this amazing accomplishment

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Nope! Not on Canada Day!

-7 Chicks are getting more focused now @QuittingGirl & @GonSo; Don't you have some dishes you should be doing?

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