Hey everyone..
Thought it would be advisable to give you my story in the hope that it could help some people who may have been in the same situation as myself.
Ok, vital statistics first.. noooo, not those 
41 years old
Been smoking for 26 years, around 20 a day, but in the last 10 years 40 a day
Live and work in Spain as a DJ, have always been in the biz, singer, dj etc..
So, just over a month ago i started to feel unwell, more to the point "odd", not just unwell if that makes sense, and was just about to start working but as it was a Friday i decided not to work, not to go home and wait til Monday to see the Doctor, but to go to the hospital, something that ordinarily i wouldnt do unless i really needed to, but instinct told me to go.
Upon arrival i almost collapsed and was helped into a chair by the nice orderlies. To cut a long story a bit shorter, within an hour (has to be a record) i had my blood pressure checked, ECG, Blood Tests, two tablets under my tongue, put on a drip, given a shot of something clear lol, also put on a monitor!!! Yikes.. and i didnt think they were filming an episode of Casualty!!!
So after an hour, the doc comes over and says.. you "had" really high blood pressure when you came in.. so i kinda shrugged and she said " no, REALLY high blood pressure" 190/129 now apparently normal is 140/85 so i was kinda like .. crumbs!
She then said to me "if you hadn' had come in now like you did there is a 90% chance you would have had a heart attack or a stroke and if you were on your own probably died.!!
Well sit up and take notice for once cheekiechops... and thats what i did.. i was on a monitor in the ICU for 8 hours while they were bringing my BP down and gave me a long while to think about my life, how mad its been, also how much fun etc.. and the decisions i need to now make.
So, i left the hospital very tired and drained from it all, and had a good sleep.
The next morning i vowed to give up smoking all together, stop drinking the stoopid amount of vodka that is always thrust upon me when i am working lol, and eat healthily, no salt whatsover in my diet and walk 2 hours a day.
Well i can honestly say i feel totally fantastic after 4 weeks and 6 days.. i have lost a stone in weight, and although god blessed me and gave me looks ten years younger than i am, apparently i look even younger now haha.. my skin is better, i can walk for two hours up hills etc without getting out of breath, my taste buds and sense of smell is amazing now, and generally i could just take on the world!
The vodka is hard to not have.. especially with the job i do.. so may go onto weekends only once my 3 month abstinence is up, but the smoking is a deffo no no and i have cracked it. Totally after all this time.. now some of you are probably wondering how?
Well i see it like this.. most people have a choice, do i give up or do i smoke.. hmm its harder to give up so i will keep smoking.. remove that choice and it becomes a lot easier.. if i hadnt given up and made radical changes the long and short of it was i would die.. and i have too much damn living to do to die just yet.. 
Also, i have bought a BP machine for my apartment so i can keep check of it for the next year or so, i am on tablets, just another two weeks to go, then hopefully it will stay down, if it doesnt then a change of tablets or may have to take them for life, but thats a low price to pay in the scheme of things.
So, i wish you all the best, every one of you in your quest to give up, i really do. I am very fortunate to have had the instict to do what i did, and have found giving up very easily as a consequence of what happened.
Good luck everyone.. and feel free to PM me if you wanna know anything more..
Oh, as a little afterthought (thank god for the editing button) price for cigs over here is about £2 a packet of 20 compared to what they are in the UK.. the cost factor along is horrific.. and thats what makes it harder for people over here to give up!!
Newbie here and straight into week 2!
Newbie here, Day 6 of cold Turkey
