CIGARETTE OR VAPE?

 

One of the best pleasure in life is to have a cigarette after a meal, or coffee (oh my god, Heaven!!). I was a heavy smoker burning 3 packs of cigarettes a day for more than 20 years since my teens. 8 years ago I quit cigs and started Vaping. Now still vaping and one day, I shall quit Vaping too.

For all the smokers around the globe, I never thought of quiting cigs but I did. Your time will come when you too will quit.

ITS BEEN A YEAR!! .... WITHOUT HER!

Last year on 21 September 2010 I ended my 20 years of relationship with her... of course I blogged about it at HERE but never did I thought that it was possible because we were so attached!!! I would have her the soonest I woke up, immediately after food, while drinking, before sleep, at work!!! in the Car!!! at the hotel, home, by the swimming pool, on the rooftop, on the couch, sofa, dining table, kitchen table.. anywhere was good!! Such was life with cigarette but really... life is so much better without Her!! Infact, I seriously could not imagine how I can smoke 3 packs a day before!

I quit smoking with Azhar Sulaiman!! and along the way, the smoke-free-bandwagon grEw bigger with Kamsani Ahmad, Joe Liew Law Yoong, Zaiem Razak, Shear Ling Toh, John Chuah, James Fong and a few others. Unfortunately... they all quit the smoking-free instead. Everyone went back to their Ciggie!!

DAY 3: SMOKE-FREE BANDWAGON

.

Picture on left is my cousin Eddie Putera Noordin.. he is the President of SMOKERS CLUB and I 'was' a lifetime honorary deputy!! Although his Smokers Club membership is still growing... the Smokers Club is now deprived of 6 members.

The infant smoke-free bandwagon now comprised of 6 passengers..... Azhar Sulaiman, Kamsani Ahmad, Joe Liew Law Yoong, Zaiem Razak and Shear Ling Toh (and me). Day 3 feels abit agitated with surroundings but Munch-the-Kuaci-advice worked and soon Kuaci (sunflower seed) will be scarce in Kuala Lumpur... Joe Liew had already clean sweep the Kuaci supplies in Cheras.

THE END OF 20 YEARS RELATIONSHIP

.

It was during the third semester break in 1988 when we first befriended her.  We were fourteen years old and was in Form 2 at Bukit Bintang (Boys) Secondary School. We tasted her together... Zarir Salleh, Syamreen Azam Shafei and me at Zarir's house in Taman Tun Dr Ismail 22 years ago. That was how it started... that was how we all became Smokers. The habit worsen with almost 3 packs a day now. Two years ago, I even blog about my inseparable relationship with Cigarette at HERE.

Exactly a year ago, my brother Mohammed Rhiza Ghazi too had divorced his Red Malborough. My driver, Sanwan had quit smoking. Cousin Noor Ervin Shahriz Noordin, friends Suanie T, Cynthia Gan, Shobha Bala to name a few had ended their relationship with Ciggie.

Armin, cigarette and cancer...

Why do I smoke? Having survived terminal cancer and being given second lease of life, I should really stopped smoking. It pisses my sister Rose Emini the most. Emi donated her bone marrow when I underwent the Bone Marrow Transplant for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia more than a decade ago. My dad will say it is all in the mind reminding me that I can do whatever I want to do.. if I want to!

Moreover the fact that I now run marathons and participated in various dualthon and triathlon series, I have all the reasons to stop smoking. My parent, siblings and friends had retired in their many attempts to ask me to quit smoking.

Why I did not stop smoking? When I was an undergraduate at the University of Buckingham, I took an optional dissertation Health Economics paper to research and study Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) of a terminal cancer patient. QALYs is usually used as a measure to calculate the utility gained (quality of life in years) against cost (of treatment). In my case the quality of life that I would have gained, against the cost of the Bone marrow transplant,

I was keen to understand the quality of life that I will have in QALY measurement. In short, given the age of diagnosis, the age I underwent the bone marrow transplant, the year I had the relapse, the post-bone marrow transplant (after relapse) treatment and assuming similar technology and lifestyle, I will have a good quality of life until the age of 45 years old.

My quality of life as a smoker, given the number of year I have been smoking, the amount of cigarette i smoke and lifestyle, will began to deteriorate after the age of 56 years old. Meaning, given my past medical history, my life will end before the cigarette takes effect on my quality of life.

Yaa.. lame excuse but it is a logic :-) Nonetheless, I can participate in various dualthon and triathlon series and can run the full 42km marathon as well as ultra marathon which many non-smokers cannot do. BUT really unless you have had terminal cancer, you should really stop smoking… :-D ;-)