a few weeks last winter. And yet, I have struggled to quit smoking, and the guilt (and fear) is enormous. I've had clean stints (2 weeks max), but haven't been able to sustain them. I have to quit. I don't want emphysema. Tobacco addiction is evil. completely knocked out those first few days of withdrawal when the breathing tube was in. I know it sounds weird but you are in a very relaxed state through the worse part of the withdrawal so when I finally woke up and the tube was out and the worse of the actual physical withdrawal was over and from that point on it was me and the cigarette fighting the battle. I really didn't have any choice but to quit. Let me tell you though, I fell like a new person already...not completely healed but so much better. I can do so much more already than I could months before I landed in ICU. The docs told hubby I was just a just a very short time from death by the time they got me intubated. I feel like I was given a second chance to enjoy life. Now i am in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and will be taking respiratory therapy also as soon as I see my pulmonologist to get everything set up in early Dec.. So THANKFUL for good insurance. HEalth care for everyone!!!!!! This is what happens when people don't vote. In 2010 when most Floridians stayed home, they gave Rick