The Cappellos: October 2008

Now this blog IS ABSOLUTELY NOT intended to piss anyone off or offend anyone, especially dear family members who do, unfortunately, smoke. For those who do smoke, it's just intended to simulate my hands reaching out of your computer, grabbing you, and shaking you, saying "Why the heck are you doing this to yourself and why haven't you quit yet?" And for those who don't smoke, it'll jog your memory as to the reason why you quit, or better yet, never picked up the filthy habit.

Now that we're all squared away...

At this very moment I am sitting at starbucks studying for my pulmonology exam tomorrow and reading about lung cancer. And just a moment ago, while studying, I decided to google some images of radiographs of lunch cancer. And then I saw some smoker's lungs. And then I thought about all the patients that I've seen in just a 3 week period in my surgery rotation that had lung cancer - patients we've operated on and patients in which it was too late to operate. And so I decided that I wanted to post pictures of cancer to encourage smoking cessation in anyone who reads this blog. Cigarettes are the reason for both my grandmother's and grandfather's death (both at age 68), and most likely the cause of death of my father's father (whom I never met as a result) at such a very young age (40). It's such a terrible thing to witness - your grandparents passing from something so ridiculous - and the fact that's it's a choice makes me even more furious. So for all of you who smoke, let this be your reason for quitting - because you don't want your lungs or chest xray to look like this, and because you don't want to put others through the misery of your untimely, early death. OKAY? Just stop it already and think about others you are affecting. It's mind over matter people, and there are plenty of tools available to help you along the way. Your family and your lungs will thank you for it.

And now for the slide show...

Now, if you haven't already quit smoking in the time it took you to read this and look at the pictures, START NOW. And finally, to those who so effort-fully quit smoking already, I PRAISE YOU! MAY GOD GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO CONTINUE TO BE SMOKE-FREE.