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Ascending aortic living with a smoker
Good morning - newly diagnosed with a 4.4 and too early to tell if it is growing quickly, etc. It was not detectable two years ago, is all we know.
My husband smokes. He smokes only outside the home, a pack a day. I avoid the front porch and have begun using the back door only. He is wearing a coat he leaves on the porch, not wearing it inside. He is changing his clothes daily, doing the laundry, and putting the dirty clothes directly into the washer.
Quitting is not realistic; he's 83. He's not gonna quit. He kept his promise when we married to quit - six times.... :]
The doctor said "Yeah secondhand/thirdhand smoke is bad for this" but didn't have any additional advice on limiting exposure. Anyone dealt with minimizing secondhand smoke exposure before? Thank you.
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So sorry to hear. I remember the early years living with secondhand smoking parents and their friends. Smoke wafted up to my bedroom, and I absolutely abhorred it.
I would purchase an air sanitizer, atomizer or the like for the room where you spend most of your time. The bedroom is also key. Spend time where the cleanest is if possible…outside, on a porch maybe. Hopefully your husband will get the picture and I wish you the best✨☺️🙏
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3 ReactionsHow horrible. I remember the smell of second had smoke vividly - from 50 plus years ago.
I am 82. Age is no barrier to change. I could, have and would change if it was affecting my spouse’s health. Don’t sell your husband short: Faced with this new medical issue he just might quit.
Surely, it is affecting his health too. Tell him you need him around if you need surgery.
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2 ReactionsWhat loving actions he is taking to prevent you from being exposed to secondhand smoke. I give him A+ for effort. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the biggest smoke risk you could be exposed to, I would put you at about a 1 from his cigarette smoke. Wildfires may be more of a risk than his smoking outside and there seems to be plenty of them the past few years. I agree with another post, he may very well give it up or at least cut way back...(cigarettes are SO addicting. I don't think we realize just how much unless we experience it). I regularly visit my sister in law who lost her husband, my brother, last year after 50 years together. She smokes in her house when I am not there; I can smell it. But I'm not going to let it keep me from visiting her as she needs the support now in her deep grief. It's hard not to let fear run our lives when we have these aneurysms. But I learned when diagnosed with cancer a decade ago that all the "preventive habits" that were part of my life (exercise, eating well, no alcohol, no smoking) still didn't keep me from the diagnosis. They were very helpful in my recovery but life is what it is and sometimes it knocks our feet out from under us for awhile. I would give thanks your hubby is supporting you. I've read eliminating stress is very important with the aneurysm...trying to control him will cause you more stress than seeing the positive that he is making effort. May we both stay stable! 🙂 Blessings!
My daughter, who's in her forties, has a close friend who's been a heavy smoker since she was a teenager. She still smokes. She smoked throughout two pregnancies and doesn't seem to even think about quitting. I worry about her. I know that smoking is first on the list of things they ask you when you're being diagnosed with an aneurysm. I was a smoker in my teens and early twenties and loved every cigarette I ever smoked. One day I quit. Just quit. Yes, cigarettes are addictive but a person can quit. It really is a choice.
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1 ReactionI quit in my late twenties too. It is easier if you haven't been addicted long. Science has come a
long way in understanding addictions, and they are not a matter of just choice and willpower. I won't bore you with the details; there is plenty of evidence if you care to investigate. For someone in their 80s, if they have smoked all their lives, that will take intervention with medication, therapy and even support groups.