I got a call last night from Mom: my cousin has died of lung cancer

[IDemo]

She survived nearly two years after having one lung removed, and leaves behind a young son
and a daughter, 13.

Exactly the age Dawn was when her mother died of lung cancer. I was around to witness her
mother's decline, too. She once asked me about injection technique (diabetic here) for meds
she was taking. I remember the shock I felt after the wig she was wearing slipped off her head
one day while I was visiting her in the hospital. I didn't know about the hair loss thing then.
I also remember her wincing in pain during a brave attempt at a fishing trip earlier.

And I remember Dawn, shortly after her operation, telling me her daughter had asked "So Mom,
what will I tell my daughter when I'm your age and the same thing happens?"

Both of these women were lovely inside and out, but both made the wrong decision when it came
to tobacco. Yes, this is America, and the choice is entirely yours to make. Enjoy. But ask yourself:
"What will I tell my rebellious, lovely, scared girl if the same thing happens?"

[joeybee12]

1. That sucks...sorry to hear it...

...I have a cousin with lung cancer, a life-long smoker, and the outlook isn't good. Don't smoke!

[patrice]

2. My first husband, Frank, quit cigarettes 15 years before he got lung cancer.

No "fairy tales" here; he really was one of the best guys you could ever meet. All of the other men in My Family enjoyed his company. We all rode motorcycles all over the U.S.A.

IDemo, Remember.

Dawn and her Mother are not gone. The effect that they each had on others and on the world in general is still here. This world, you, your Family, everyone they came into contact with, none of it would be who/what you are had they not been exactly who they "were". Nothing ever really goes away. We just change.

Om namah Shivaya!

[Turbineguy]

3. The lady next door to me chain smokes

She is a wonderful woman with a great sense of humor. I despair for her.

[eilen]

4. I don't know if this helps but

some lung cancer is genetic. We had a family in which we cared for the father and two of his sons who had the same genetic profile. All were relatively young. The reason I say this is you mention both women were about the same age when stricken. Of course smoking causes cancer too but there are many cases when it is is not necessarily the cause (but doesn't help).

[IDemo]

5. The risk for smokers is about 15 times that of non-smokers

And the study I'm seeing on genetics (I'm sure there are many more) and lung cancer seems to
suggest that those with the gene "variant" smoked more and had a more difficult time quitting.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/03/science/sci-lung3

Stefansson said it was the extra cigarettes, and not the gene itself, that led to lung cancer. His group
estimated that the variation was indirectly responsible for 18% of lung cancers and 10% of cases of
peripheral artery disease, which is also linked to smoking.

“Lung cancer is almost certainly environmentally induced, and we have found the variant that pulls us
toward that environment,” Stefansson said.

[applegrove]

6. Too important to keep quiet about the tabacco issue. Sorry for your loss but thanks

for passing on the information. I've quit smoking (8 months) and I need a kick in the pants like this every so often to remind me not to smoke.