Chantix dreamin'

Since I've only been smoking for 44 years, I thought it might really be time to quit. The most successful I've ever been at this was about six months before my first husband and I separated. That little bump in the road tripped me up and I was lighting up like a firecracker!

But with Steve's cancer behind us (I hope!), it's important that he quit and there's no way one can quit while the other keeps smoking.

A year ago in January, we got a prescription from the doctor for Chantix -- the new wonder drug for smoking cessation. Of course, we couldn't commit to stopping right away and before you know it Steve was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Even the oncologists - who you'd think would be all over you to quit smoking - say they don't encourage cancer patients who smoke to quit smoking during treatment. It's too hard given all the other challenges and issues you're dealing with.

Anyway, to make a long story long, we finally picked our quit date (March 30). So we started taking the Chantix a week before hand and then on the seventh day we quit. So as of today, I've been smoke free for seven days.

I frankly am amazed by the fact that from day one i really haven't thought that much about smoking. In the past when I've quit, I've always spent a lot of time sitting around thinking about how much i wanted a cigarette. This time, I really haven't had any of those thoughts.

Chantix works on the receptors in your brain, so maybe that's part of how it works. One thing they warn you about is changes in dreaming and they are right about that! Most of the time - at least for the past few years - I don't dream at all. Or if I do, I don't remember anything about the dreams. But this week, I have had some weird ones.

So here's a little taste of Chantix dreamin':
Weridest one: Amy Bremmerman (an actress you probably don't remember from the TV show "Judging Amy") invites me to an off-Broadway opening of her new show. Turns out this is in some school or church type setting (no stage, just a riser kind of thing). About halfway through the performance, someone knocks on the window and I go to answer. It's the caterer bringing the buffet dinner, which he carts through the window and right across the front of the stage to set up in an adjoining room. After the performance, we all go to eat (me and amy together because we are apparently good friends). But the food looks lousy. So i settle for what appears to be a steak. But when I sit down with it and start to cut it, Inotice it has kind of a mucus-type layer around it. The guy sitting next to me says "Oh, they forgot to skin it." As I scrape the mucus off, it turns into the complete skin (and head) of a lion including the bullet holes from where it was shot!

Last night, Steve and I were flying (Steve was the pilot) somewhere and were right behind the space shuttle. With me sitting there saying "Watch out for that SRB" as they were being ejected and flying past us...

Definitely making for a more interesting night's sleep. But it's a small price to pay if I really quit smoking this time.