I currently work in the corporate world, so TLAs (which can be Two Letter Acronyms or Three Letter Acronyms) often invade my thought processes. Today brings a week of profound MLA (that's Multiple Letter Acronym) exhaustion (sometimes abbreviated PMLAE, but let's not go there.)
TGIF - Thank goodness It's Friday. Let's celebrate that.
TGIQ - Thank goodness I Quit - something else to celebrate.
I'll address IWIHNS after the jump.
Some housekeeping:
GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. We avoid discussion of political issues. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us! GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information: quit-smoking links, helpful GUS diary writing tips, and the GUS buddy list.
I started smoking as a teen, the daughter of two heavy smokers and sister of a smoker. Smoking has had quite an impact on my immediate family:
- Mom quit about 30 years ago, but is now on oxygen therapy 24/7 to treat progressively worsening COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) of the chronic bronchitis variety;
- Dad died at the age of 55 from heart disease. He was miserable for years, alternately trying to quit and hiding that he hadn't;
- I quit smoking about 3 1/2 years ago while preparing for CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) surgery, a quadruple bypass at the age of 48. Despite major health improvements from the bypass surgery, the past year has left me fighting SOB (shortness of breath) very badly at times, a little at other times, and never, well, none of the time. It turns out I have mild COPD, of the emphysema variety. It's permanent - will not ever get better. There are other issues, which can be fixed, and I'm working on them.
More than anything, IWIHNS: I Wish I Had Never Smoked.
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Finally, one more acronym, to end as I began:
NOPE = Not One Puff Ever