In the past 3 months, I’ve lost 53.8 pounds…yay!

Today was the 3rd month anniversary of my surgery, so I had to go get weighed…and I’ve lost. WOOHOO!

I can’t stand the “pity me” act that smokers seem to have…its infuriating. I’m asthmatic and deathly allergic to cigarette smoke. I have been asthmatic since I was about 16 months old and I’ve been allergic to smoke since I was about the same age.

I’ve always had to alter my life for smokers. When my family and I moved in with my grandfather, for the first year, he refused to stop smoking in the house…so I tried to put up with it, but eventually, my asthma got so bad that my parents and I had to move out of the house for
a month until we finally got it through my grandfather’s head that if he wanted us to stay with him, he had to start smoking outside.

The guy who sits next to me in Biology smokes…sometimes, he’ll leave during the middle of class and go smoke. When he comes back in, he smells so much like the cigarette smoke (and he still has some smoke on him ’cause it doesn’t just go away) that I start coughing–sometimes uncontrollably. Keep in mind that I’ve been seeing asthma/lung/allergy specialists off and on since I was 8 (actually since I was 15, I’ve seen these specialists at least once a month) and I’ve had my asthma under control…still, if I’m exposed to even residual smoke, I get sick.

I’m tired of altering my life for smokers. Quite frankly, smokers are doing something that they DON’T have to do. Unlike breathing, smoking isn’t required to live. Yeah, you’re addicted…so what? Shooting up, smoking pot, etc. aren’t accepted public behaviors, and they’re addictive…so why should smoking be any different? And don’t whine about “well, if its an addiction, then its too hard to give up” ’cause there are a lot of ways of kicking the habit. If I could give up cutting (which was an addiction for me) cold turkey, then you can at least try to go on patches, pills, or gum.

Smoking is unhealthy…not just for the smokers, but for ANYONE who is exposed to the smoke or to the residual smoke that’s left on clothing and other items.

I don’t think its right that I can’t go to certain restaurants because of smokers. I don’t that it was fair for me to have to skip out on going to birthday parties and such when I was younger because the parents of the person who was having the party smoked. I have always had to restrict my life for smokers, and I’m sick of it.

Why should my life be limited because of the inconsiderate and unhealthy behavior of smokers?

BTW – I don’t feel sorry for smokers in the slightest. I watched my grandfather die from the time I was 8 until he actually did die when I was 12. I saw him go through bypass surgery, emphysema, diabetes, etc. and I saw him continue his habit. I didn’t feel sorry for him. He did it to himself. He could’ve quit. He started smoking before he knew it was bad for him, but once he found out, he could’ve quit. Teenagers and young people who start now, I really don’t feel sorry for. Unless you grew up not hearing or reading about the health hazards of smoking, then you knew what you were getting yourself into. You knew the first time you started smoking. You made a choice to smoke. I never made a choice to have asthma. I never made a choice to be allergic to smoke. You made the choice.

I found out about how I did on my Bio lab test yesterday. I got a 28 out of 30. Yay.

I just remembered that I have a test tomorrow in Marriage and the Family. I should do well on it, though. I’m pretty sure that I know the stuff that its on. LOL.

I got an interesting thing in the mail today. It was a form for nomination to the Who’s Who in American Junior College Students, or something like that. I was on Who’s Who in High School a few times…but I didn’t realize there was one for Community/Junior colleges.

Coolness…:)

Remember to go join the fps.com message boards and go join some of my fanlistings.

I really had better go…TTYL!