Diana:

Good for you that you were able to give up the cigs. It's very hard, this I know.

When I go to Cornell for my diabetic protocol and I wait outside for the Access-a-ride, there are (I guess they are called smoking booths???). where a person can sit and have a smoke.

One day, one of these booths had no one in them, so I sat and waited for my ride.

In a short while, 4 nurses and one doctor came outside to light up. I had to ask them (I mean, they were DOCTORS & NURSES).

So I just said "I have to ask you a question?" Well, I never got the question out of my mouth. Everybody laughed and said "She wants to know why we are all smoking and we know it's bad for us". I laughed and said "well yeah". and one of the nurses said "It's very simple, I don't want to get fat and if I stop smoking, I'll gain 40 lbs, and I'd rather get cancer than be fat".

That is exactly what this medical person said to me. I said "do you realize what you just said?" and she laughed and said "yeah, it's a really bad addiction" I, of couse said nothing in return because what on earth could I have said??"

And you said I have will power. Let me tell you, in MY case, will power has very little to do with what I did. It was the going to a nutritionist, learning about what the food did to my body, to my diabetes, and visioning down the road, losing a limb to neuropathy. And I didn't even have neuropathy at that point. I was just a plain old diabetic. lol

But believe me when I say this. The day that I got the pins and needles, and burning, well, there didn't have to be any more light bulb moments for me. I actually got the light bulb moment years before that, but the day that the podiatrist touched me with the vibrating tool, and I got an example of what Alan has been going through for 18 years and I said out loud "So this is neuropathy, oh my god, I better never let my sugar get out of control". And this has been my mantra ever since that day. And I faithfully take my Methyl B-12 every morning.

See, in my case, I got smarter as I got older. I should have done this 25 years ago, but well, we can't turn back the clock. But we can look ahead. I just don't want any more complications or visits to hospitals, etc. so I will do whatever I have to do to prevent that. No guarantee, this I know, but I'm trying.

I once read where someone said that aging is not a definite thing, it's a disease, that if we do everything right, we don't have to age and die. Now that might seem like a stupid statement but that's what gets me through every day. And trying to keep the stress down is tough sometimes, but I try and do it as best as I can.

If aging is indeed a disease all to itself and we can do SOMETHING to retard this process, and, at the same time, keep ourselves as healthy as we possibly can, well I don't see any down side to this way of thinking.

Now I might not be 100 years old and going dancing, but I will try to hit that number and still be on this computer posting on the neuropathy forums.

That much I WILL BE DOING. ....hopefully!!!!

lol, Melody

P.S. I bet, with my luck, that I'll be 90 years old, look like I'm 65, be healthy as a horse, and I'll probably get hit by a bull dozer as I cross the street. lol