What is it about sailors and tobacco? They like it almost as much as their rum. They use it to time their breaks, its a social icebreaker on the fan tail, it’s calming and makes the mind seem a bit sharper.
I smoke and chew. Hell, everyone does on board.
Well, today was my day off and I spent it visiting an oral surgeon who removed a piece of my tongue. Yeah, 20 years old, good health and wham - this shit out of nowhere. Here I lay in bed with a swollen jaw surfing the web wondering if my speech will be affected.
I hope it was a small piece son and not with the ugly C word attached to it. I personally think dipping is worse than smoking provided you don’t smoke a pack or more a day. It is also way more disgusting to those around you who have to see your cup or bottle or worse has the empty the trash! One of the worse things about rig life imo.
Now for me, I limit myself to three butts a day. Morning, noon and afternoon with coffee at sea and coffee in the morning and beer in the afternoon at home. Sometimes I really want to smoke more but that’s where you set yourself a line to not cross and stick with it except on really awful stressful days when it’s too much to take but luckily there aren’t that many of them although right now I am stressed because ORCA is still on the blocks…everyday my shipwright is telling me the caulking will be done tomorrow! I wished to hell now I had only recaulked the seams that needed it and not the entire bottom…that’s proving a very expensive luxurious decision to have made. Oh well, once I start getting work for the tub, I will be glad I did recork the whole mess but not at the moment.
No one has said the C word but it has to be on their mind…
Doc sent a tissue sample to a lab to see what it is. If nothing, I’ll be pissed I’m going through all this for no reason. If something…well being pissed will sound pretty good.
No matter what, I think I’m properly motivated to quit tobacco.
I see less and less tobacco users these days. I smoked back when and admit it was tough to quit when the slop chest was selling $10 cartons. I bet a lot of guys on here can remember the day when everyone smoked in every room on the ship.
i usually carried a few packs with me on the ship, but made it a point to never buy smokes on the ship b/c there was plenty of time on bridge watch to burn one and they were obviously so cheap ( they are still less than $18 a carton in slop chest).
i smoked a little when i was at home on vacation, but a lot when i was travelling overseas on vacation.
smoking (don’t really know about dipping b/c it’s generally not something you find in slop chest) is just too easy a habit to fall into on ships. been a while since i’ve seen an ashtray mounted on the bulkhead beside the toilet, but they’re still out there.
haven’t had a single puff in over 4 yrs and don’t miss it one bit.
wish you the best of luck with your prognosis and glad they caught it now.
your speech might be affected, but we won’t be able to tell on here…
I hope it comes back negative for ya. I quit smoking 9 years ago and then started dipping. I quit that shit 3 years ago. It’s hard for a redneck to put the skoal down but I did it. You’ll get passed it besides the future Mrs Jet is gonna like you better with the whole tongue.
Some Advice: Do Not use the nicotine gum to quit! I made that mistake when I quit tobacco 5 years ago. I have not touched tobacco since but… I’m still hooked on the nicotine. Why? Because tobacco is nasty stuff and you can only use so much of it before you feel like shit and it’s not socially acceptable (or even legal) to light up a smoke anytime you wish. Plus the amount of nicotine in a cigarette or chew is fairly limited.
Nicotine gum or lozenges, however, have more (the 4mg versions at least) nicotine than a cigarette. More importantly you can pop them anywhere and if you are not really careful then you can easily start to pop them unconsciously (especially when your under stress). This is important because your level of addiction is directly related to the amount (in mg) of nicotine you consume each day. Long story short I had only a moderate addiction to nicotine when I started using the lozenges 5 years ago… now my addiction is fairly severe. (Also: they are expensive!)
Yeah, that should be a good motivator. Jeez, when I think of some of the places my tongue has been over the years… Try Wellbutrin, cheap and makes tobacco taste like shit. (also makes you happy…
I got my Doctor to give me a prescription of Chantix, & I successfully quit smoking. There is no nicotine in Chantix like the gum or lozenges. The down side is they are rather pricey, & insurance wont pay, but hey, if your successful in quitting, they pay for themselves.
Seems like most boats I have been on only have one or two smokers. So it doesn’t seem like it would be much of a problem to crew some non smoking boats. When I was an Air Traffic controller there were 3 things you needed.
Caffeine , Dentyne, and Nicotine Some times you could hardly see the radar scopes due to the smoke in the room, especially during the 4 pm arrival rush. Smoke free 27 years but still get the urge
I’m sure I’m not hooked on nicotine so no need for chemical quitting aids. Only been using tobacco since senior year of high school. (3 years) I only lite up socially or when I’m bored.
No way can I have oral cancer as the incident rate for the 20-24 age group is nil. The Doc had to know this yet talked my father & I into letting him cut me up anyway. I should have just told him I wanted a 2nd opinion or asked to come back in a month or so for a re-evaluation.
[QUOTE=brjones;118669]I see less and less tobacco users these days. I smoked back when and admit it was tough to quit when the slop chest was selling $10 cartons. I bet a lot of guys on here can remember the day when everyone smoked in every room on the ship.[/QUOTE]
Man, you got that right. How many times do you recall getting down to the galley or dining saloon and it is a haze of smoke. Or the Engineer’s or Captain’s State Room/Day Room? I started smoking when I went to sea and quit when I came ashore because that is what I ex wanted (oops). I tell you I missed smoking every day, and even dreamed about it. After 10 years, I started smoking again away from the house and kept it up after we split. I finally quit for several reasons. The big one was the cost. Geez. Like many, I recall getting them for $2.50 a carton onboard. I also never smoked inside my house, and am basically lazy and don’t want to go outside. There also are fewer and fewer places to smoke. I remember back in '03 when I was out in California on a job and stepped into a joint and couldn’t light up. Then it just got to be too much of a pain in the ass to travel and smoke. Trying to find lighters in places (or even matches at an airport…geez). I remember the last trip I made as a smoker. It was down to Barbados for a job, and I had a five hour Miami layover. Great, I thought. I will just go to the hotel in the terminal, sit at the bar and smoke since they have matches there. Well, much to my disappointment, when I got off the elevator, the bar was closed for Hurricane (Fred?) repairs. Great. Nowhere in the entire airport could I find either matches or a lighter. I stepped out side with all of the other nicotine junkies and rubbed butts for fire. Geez. How pathetic. I finished off the carton that I had already purchased (I just can’t throw out things of value) and haven’t consumed any tobacco product since. Don’t miss it, dream about it, want it. It has been nearly 7 years now. I imagine that it is sticking this time because I quit for me. It makes getting around and traveling so much easier. Oh, yeah, and there is that health benefit thing, too.
I never understood the fascination with tobacco, whether on a ship or not. I suppose I was cured of any want of it as a kid, watching my grandfather have to smoke 3 butts before he even got out of bed. He ended up dying of lung and throat cancer. My parents never smoked so I suppose that helped, and I knew if I ever came home with a pack I would get my ass beat.
The people who say it keeps them awake, I call bullshit. But maybe it’s just me. I have worked plenty of 24-36 hour shifts without even a cup of coffee to keep me awake. I work with guys who, as others have said, use their smoking breaks as a social call. One guy onboard must smoke 4 packs a day. He’s got like 5 teeth left.
The hardest thing I’ve had to endure was a couple years ago when my fiancé’s father died. I was there - he had been sent home from the hospital to do hospice at home. Over the years he had lung cancer, throat cancer, a brain tumor. He could barely speak and could hardly move - but we had to drag him out to the garage for a cigarette. The things had KILLED him. And he still wanted more. He died the next morning.
God help my kid if he comes home with a pack of cigarettes. After I kick his ass he’s going to smoke a carton in front of me and we’ll see if he wants to smoke anymore after that.
Hope it’s nothing Jet - you’re too young for the C word.
[QUOTE=rigdvr;118664]Wait till you graduate and these company doctors ask…keep all the records and prognosis handy.[/QUOTE]
Hey Rig - Do I really need to worry about company doctors? If this is nothing, it’s nothing. I am taking codeine now for the pain but I’ll be off that tonight.
I report for my last week of work on the Ferry tomorrow morning. Do I need to tell the company I had a medical procedure and was on prescription pain meds within the past 2 days?
I’m pretty sure I’ll be fit for work tomorrow and don’t want to lose the time.
I quit smoking 18 years ago this October. I coughed up blood one morning after a night of smoking Reds and drinking and since then have never wanted a cigarette. I did dip and then chew for a bit after that but Coppenhagen got me to quit when they sent me a Jack Daniels flavored test can. That was the last dip I ever took. I do enjoy a little redman a couple times a year, usually on a bird hunting trip or early fishing trip.
I hope everything works out ok for you. 20 is very young to have to deal with this.
[QUOTE=Jetryder223;118730]Hey Rig - Do I really need to worry about company doctors? If this is nothing, it’s nothing. I am taking codeine for the pain I’ll be off that tonight.
I report for my last week of work on the Ferry tomorrow morning. Do I need to tell the company I had a medical procedure and was on prescription pain meds within the past 24 hours?
I pretty sure I’ll be fit for work tomorrow and don’t want to lose the work.[/QUOTE]
No, it should not be an issue and frankly, if it is only a lesion removed then I would not even list it on the medical forms for future applications. If you are not taking codeine when on the ferry it is also a non starter imo although if there were an accident and you were piss tested, it would likely show up but you are covered by having the scrip. Just don’t cause any accidents and you’ll be fine.
When I was in my late 20’s I had a lesion removed from the inside of my cheek once (not that cheek you BASTARDS!) I remember that being one extremely uncomfortable procedure. YEAACCCHHHH!
