[Vhfcn-l] I am not dead yet.
Darrell Elmore
moeelmore at aol.com
Mon Jan 7 21:26:25 EST 2019
. My dad smoked and drank all his life until diagnosed with throat cancer. They removed his larynx and he survived for years until a heat attack. If he had not quit he would have died ten years earlier. My ex father in law had a similar life style and the same thing happened to him only he was a sour jerk and his meanness took him out sooner - also a heart attack.
I started in Basic because I was small, underage, and wanted to fit in with the "Cool guys" and prior service guys, all of whom smoked. Hell, all our breaks were smoke breaks, cigarettes were cheap in the PX and even in the field we got cigarettes in our rations and Sundry packs. We were almost conditioned to be smokers. Add all the war movies and those movie heroes and we knew real men smoked!
Ten years later I decided I was tired of being a slave to tobacco and quit cold turkey. It was not easy but to me the critical node was that I had totally decided I wanted to quit and there was not going to be any half measures. This was in 65 while I was in II Corps. I must have coughed up crap in chunks for a week or more before my lungs were cleaned up. I can tell you I never regretted it. I went through airborne, SF, Ranger and Combat Diver schools as a smoker but man those would have been so much easier if my lungs had been cleaned out and not full of tar and crap from all those Pall Malls!
So if you can decide you really want to quit, not that you would LIKE to quit, put on your big boy pants and do it.
Moe
-----Original Message-----
From: Arnold B Christensen via Vhfcn-l <vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org>
To: MoeElmore <MoeElmore at aol.com>
Cc: VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew <vhfcn-l at vhfcn.org>
Sent: Mon, Jan 7, 2019 7:11 pm
Subject: Re: [Vhfcn-l] I am not dead yet.
To my old friends, John...Cousin
Bruce...Don...and any of you guys learning as you
enter 60 that you gain certain
vulnerabilities that attack us when we thought
we were just getting into our prime. There are
some out there that do not want to mention things
going on with yourself because it is private and
perhaps a bit of selfishness, not mean
selfishness but not wanting to have anyone
worrying about you. Gang...we are all getting
older and most will go through rough times. Some
will reach that point before others because like
my friend John he was born sooo long ago. We all
kid John about his age and he seems to handle it
well. But know this that I do pray for all of you
having any sort of a problem.
I am in fairly good shape health wise. Not too
bad off and in March will be 79. I deal with my
Type 2 but my A1c is under the max. I have had
for many years AAA which is an Abdominal Aorta
Anuerysm...but I get regular Sonograms done and
since discovery years ago it has remained at
4.5cm in diameter. If it ever hits 5cm I will
be forced into making a life saving
decision. All of you reading this should look up
the info on this on line especially if you are
over 60 and smoked or are still smoking like
dummies...and I say that if you are, you are my
Brothers and It is worse than child birth
according to my Step Mother years ago. She was
lucky and survived. You guyz are tough. You can
maintain, repair, crew helicopters, and fly into
combat and get shot up and in some cases shot and
you are still here. Just do it. Cold Turkey the
quitting and do it now. Throw the smokes away,
and do not buy anymore of them. Act like you have
big pair. I cold turkey quit after seeing my dad
who smoked like a chimney in the hospital tubes
down his throat being given 15 mins more fighting
for his life to survive emphysema and chronic
bronchitis. He survived after quitting cold
turkey while he was in the hospital where he
could not survive and his oldest son...who smoked
just like him, telling him that If he did not
quit he was going to die with tubes stuck down
his throat. Next day I quit after being with him all day.
Let me say this to all of you. My biggest problem
the last almost 3 yrs is with My Miss Jan who
many of you know as The Imposter Wife. Some of
you that may have been at the Washington DC VHCMA
reunion might have noticed that she was walking
with a cane and would have given a good imitation
of a drunken sailor. She had a cervical
operation to replace to totally deteriorated
Discs in her net that had impinged on her Spinal
Cord and driven the Cord into 2 90 degree sharp
bends. Came thru that alright and was doing very
well on her rehab. Then one day she got up and
had to grab the entertainment wall set and she is
shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Asked her
what is happening and she told me that the felt
like she was regressing! But in a couple of days
she would be her surgeon for a final release from
his care. He was very happy with her condition
but she was sitting down and he asked how she
felt and she told him what happened to her. That
set him off ordering a bunch more scans. They
revealed that way below where he had been working
a spur had grown a spurt and it was touching her
spinal cord. 2 days later she was on the
operating table again. They got in there and
because of the angle of the scan it only looked
like it was touching the Cord but actually the
spur had penetrated the spinal cord. So while one
doc gently slide the Cord off of the spur and the
other got rid of the Spur. While there made some
adjustments to the previous operation. She was
in hospital rehab for 2 weeks and then in a rehab
place for 3 weeks and came home. Again she is
doing well and starts getting "weird" feeling in
her abdomen when she wakes up. A bunch more scans
of this and that and a problem is seen on her
pancreas. So a two hour drive to San Antonio
where they knock her out and down the throat with
a camera and tools to find out what it was. They
penetrate the wall of her stomach and start
looking around and found a cyst on the surface of
the pancreas but nothing else but the penetrated
the cyst and take out 2 oz of liquids and sent it
off to be checked. No cancer was found and
considered not the cause of what she was feeling.
Her internal doctor wanted for her to have a
colonoscopy which my dear lady did not
want. But he talked her into it and I have to
say he was a hell of a salesman. Went up the
large colon and found a mass that was
cancerous. She ask how he knew and he told her
"it is what we do and we know what it looks like"
But they had sent a snipping of it and a week
later she got the official reading on the piece
they had snipped out and it was for sure
cancerous. She has been quietly worrying about it
because they will operate taking away 12" of
intestin and sewing her back up but the will
remove parts down there and send them out to be
checked to see if the cancer has spread. Dreadful
thought. Caused her to say we needed new wills
and set us both up for pre-planned cremation and
burial in the Corpus Christi Veterans Cemetary
and has made up a one inch thick notebook giving
direction for me should she pass away, or
whatever comes our way. She has passed the 3/4
mark in life and has always been my Good Army
Wife. To say we are worried is an
understatement. So we wait for the 16 this
month. She will be in the hospital recuperating
once again for 5-7 days after the operation. So
I ask once again that good thoughts and prayer
being sent up will be more than appreciated my
friends. I thank you and Jan will thank you too.
Chris the Bigfoot
.
At 01:59 PM 1/7/2019, you wrote:
>Wow, at 76 and all still my original parts I
>have been very fortunate, but whatever part
>replacement it takes I am very glad you guys are
>“keeping on keeping on “ Sent from Mail for
>Windows 10 From: Bruce E. Carlson via Vhfcn-l
>Sent: Monday, January 7, 2019 10:29 AM To:
>richardlewis133 at yahoo.com Cc: VHFCN1 Pilots and
>Crew Subject: Re: [Vhfcn-l] I am not dead yet.
>We are quite a crew. Getting ready to go to the
>“Y� and hit the weight machines. Had left
>hip replaced last fall and still struggling to
>get my strength up. In a period of 18 months
>had work done & parts replaced in my Lumbar
>spine, an emergency Gall bladder removal, and
>left hip replaced. As of this date on 4th right
>hip, 1st left hip, 1st left knee, parts replaced
>on Cervical spine, & parts replaced on Lumbar
>spine. Family joke is that when something fails
>that can’t be replaced they are going to send
>me to the junk yard for SCRAP VALUE. The GOOD
>NEWS is that for the 1st time since ‘73
>motivation is accomplished without crutches or
>cane. 😊 Hang in there guys. We’re all
>tough OLD BUZZARDS. May the Good Lord Bless you
>all. Respects – Bruce making it to 70 this
>month From: Don Armstrong via Vhfcn-l Sent:
>Monday, January 7, 2019 10:53 AM To: Bruce
>Carlson Cc: VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew Subject: Re:
>[Vhfcn-l] I am not dead yet. I was scheduled for
>a knee replacement in early December but came
>down with the plague. After 5 days I lost my
>voice and the stuff coming out of my nose was
>half blood clots. I went straight to urgent
>care at the VA and got 10 days of Augmentine
>which kills every bacteria in your body. This
>gave me bad diarrhea and that triggered gout.
>Anyways another 10 days of wondering what life
>had for me. Jan 2 and right knee replacement and
>now I'm still battered and bruised but working
>on my physical therapy. Whenever I'm asked how
>bad the pain level is I respond with I'm old and
>parts are rusty so define the difference between
>old squeaky pain and pain from the operation".
>On 1/6/2019 8:53 PM, John Grow via Vhfcn-l
>wrote: > Reports of my demise were greatly
>exaggerated.. > > Saturday 12/29 I felt a little
>punky when I went to bed. The next morning I
>could not get up by myself and had a fever of
>102. Gretchen called 911 and the EMTs came
>right away and thought that I might have
>pneumonia and took me to the ER. They ran some
>tests and admitted me. > Found out that I had a
>blood infection and started to load me up with
>every antibiotic known to man. They took
>buckets of blood and ran every test you can
>imagine, including nuclear tests. They finally
>isolated the infection and let me come home
>yesterday afternoon. I have a Picc Line and
>need to give myself an IV every day for probably
>four more weeks. Actually Gretchen is doing the
>work. > It is going to take me awhile to get my
>strength back but it will come. > Thanks to all
>of you that called and sent e-mails inquiring as
>to my health. Getting old is not for sissies,
>that is for sure. > > John > > >
>_______________________________________________ >
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>Trans / 52nd CAB, Pleiku, Apr / July 68 D Troop
>3/5 Cav, Bearcat /Dong Tam , July 68 May 69
>http://www.dtroop35cav.org
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