Michael Douglas smoking again

nwasen

It is none of my business really but I am quite angry that someone famous like Michael Douglas would pick up cigarettes again!
I was Stage 4 tongue cancer. As a former long time smoker I no longer smoke and don't want anyone around me smoking. I have tried to be an outspoken anti smoking person and warn all my friends about what could happen to them.
I am not 100% sure my cancer was from smoking....I do believe other things come into play; but with what I went thru, I know I am done with that nasty habit!
What do the rest of you think?
Peace
Nancy aka toughcookie

Skiffin16

Non- Smoker
I derived throat cancer via HPV, never a tobacco user...

But as a non-smoker I don't like being exposed to smoking. I also agree it's a sad and addicting habit, and just plain nasty to me (but that's my opinion)....

If indeed MD is smoking again, it's a shame considering what he just went through and the possibility of being possibly more subject to recurrence.

JG

sweetblood22

Well, it is certainly his
Well, it is certainly his choice. He has free will. I think that continuing to smoke after surviving cancer is idiotic behavior, and you won't catch me doing it. I also really do not want anyone smoking around me, either. I also would not continue to drink alcohol , either. That's just me though. I wasn't above showing my scars and peg tube to the girls who smoked that I used to manage. One did quit for over a year because my cancer scared her half to death. I understand she is smoking again, so I may need to pay her a visit and rattle her cage a bit. Ask her if she would like a second belly button to show off with those skimpy bikinis that she is so fond of wearing. Which, if I looked like her, I'd be wearing too.

Michael Douglas is just a person. Same as any of us. He is fallible and makes choices every day, sometimes making good ones, and sometimes making bad ones, just like the rest of us do. Yes, I guess it's frustrating and disappointing when anyone choses to engage in risky behaviors, especially when they are family or those close to me, not so much Hollywood types, for me anyway.

Hopefully, we will all learn from our mistakes, and try to choose better next time, and before it's too late.

Jahnsart

Smoking is a drag
I have always detested smoking...I avoid people that smoke and get up and walk away from people who light up near me...addictions are insidious things, the person is lost in the sensation, they crave something which gives them a artifical sensation of peace...The key to beating addictions lie in replacing that sensation with another...I don't feel sorry for smokers or anyone that is hooked on something...It is a choice they make and they are free to make that choice, I just detest the whining I hear from them when they have to face the consequences of thier actions...I don't smoke or drink and have really taken care of myself for 25 years...Don't eat fast food, don't drink soft drinks or anything other than water...And I still have to go through this battle with cancer, and I don't even feel sorry for myself...

buzz99

Smoking
Buzz is a non-smoker and always has been but developed base of tongue cancer. It really kills us that our son smokes even after he has seen what his father has gone through. Shows you what an addiction it is. I have never smoked either btw. Karen

MarineE5

He should know better
I never smoked, so I don't know the grip that it has on so many people. I am sure that it is one heck of a thing to have to stop, when one has done it for so long and it has a hold on them.

But, knowing what we all have gone through to try and beat this beast and the side effects, one would think that the treatments would be enough to remind him that he really doesn't want to travel that road again.

I am sure we all have little things that we shouldn't be doing after our treatments so we don't have a reaccurance. How many return to alcohol when they were told that the next drink will eventually kill them. I don't do that either. I know, a rare breed, a Marine that doesn't smoke and drink. Michael Douglas had a lot of people pulling for him, I hope that it is short lived with the smokes.

My Best to Everyone Here

rozaroo

MarineE5 said:

He should know better
I never smoked, so I don't know the grip that it has on so many people. I am sure that it is one heck of a thing to have to stop, when one has done it for so long and it has a hold on them.

But, knowing what we all have gone through to try and beat this beast and the side effects, one would think that the treatments would be enough to remind him that he really doesn't want to travel that road again.

I am sure we all have little things that we shouldn't be doing after our treatments so we don't have a reaccurance. How many return to alcohol when they were told that the next drink will eventually kill them. I don't do that either. I know, a rare breed, a Marine that doesn't smoke and drink. Michael Douglas had a lot of people pulling for him, I hope that it is short lived with the smokes.

My Best to Everyone Here

Dissapointed!
I am sorry to hear this! I never smoked a day in my life & try not to preach about it. What a waste of treatment, pain & suffering. He should know better & set an example as he is out there! I stay totally away from smoker's!

soccerfreaks

"Smokin' in the boys' room"
(Motley Crue reference)

I started smoking in 1970 (a neighborhood mom caught me and a buddy smoking - experimenting, of course - and decided to teach us a lesson by having us smoke an entire pack...well, that backfired) and didn't quit permanently until October of 2005 on the way to the hospital for my surgery: literally, I smoked on the way to the hospital.

I promised myself that I would not preach once I quit for good, remembering what a pain in the butt it was to listen to other people preach in the old days, but I do from time to time anyway and as sweetblood mentions, I didn't hesitate to show my PEG tube to neighborhood kids when I saw them going down the street smoking. (Ironically, my son smokes, too.)

I will never smoke again, and don't mind telling people that it took having half of my tongue replaced to get me to quit. And when someone who smokes is close to me, they reek of it, for sure; it stinks even when they are not smoking. However, if the smell is far enough away, quite far enough away, it is like the scent of perfume from an old lover, I must admit. I have heard that it is more addictive than cocaine or heroin even, although I wouldn't be able to validate that.

If Michael Douglas wants to smoke, I say it's his call and I am certainly not one to become self-righteous about it. (When I was incorrectly diagnosed with as little as 10-months to live, by the way, due to what appeared to be metastasis of my SCC to my lungs, the first thing one of my CSN friends asked me, a former smoker herself, was "Have you started smoking again, yet?" )

Take care,

Joe

nwasen

soccerfreaks said:

"Smokin' in the boys' room"
(Motley Crue reference)

I started smoking in 1970 (a neighborhood mom caught me and a buddy smoking - experimenting, of course - and decided to teach us a lesson by having us smoke an entire pack...well, that backfired) and didn't quit permanently until October of 2005 on the way to the hospital for my surgery: literally, I smoked on the way to the hospital.

I promised myself that I would not preach once I quit for good, remembering what a pain in the butt it was to listen to other people preach in the old days, but I do from time to time anyway and as sweetblood mentions, I didn't hesitate to show my PEG tube to neighborhood kids when I saw them going down the street smoking. (Ironically, my son smokes, too.)

I will never smoke again, and don't mind telling people that it took having half of my tongue replaced to get me to quit. And when someone who smokes is close to me, they reek of it, for sure; it stinks even when they are not smoking. However, if the smell is far enough away, quite far enough away, it is like the scent of perfume from an old lover, I must admit. I have heard that it is more addictive than cocaine or heroin even, although I wouldn't be able to validate that.

If Michael Douglas wants to smoke, I say it's his call and I am certainly not one to become self-righteous about it. (When I was incorrectly diagnosed with as little as 10-months to live, by the way, due to what appeared to be metastasis of my SCC to my lungs, the first thing one of my CSN friends asked me, a former smoker herself, was "Have you started smoking again, yet?" )

Take care,

Joe

Smokin in the boys room
Just had to add...song was originally done by Brownsville Station....I smoked at a young age, 15 and smoked a pack and a half in the middle of my smoking. Cut back the last 5 years and like you Joe, was one that hated to hear people preach the evils of nicotine. I thought I was cool when I smoked as a teen and guess for some they still think that way. Once hooked, it is hard to break. My mom was a smoker and alcoholic. She kicked the booze but not the smokes until she was bedridden. She was told that it is harder to kick smoking cigarettes than heroin.
Funny how now cigarettes smell so awful to me when for years I loved that smell. I can smell my co workers coats when I walk by and I almost gag.....
just glad that monkey is off my back.
Peace
Nancy aka toughcookie

soccerfreaks

nwasen said:

Smokin in the boys room
Just had to add...song was originally done by Brownsville Station....I smoked at a young age, 15 and smoked a pack and a half in the middle of my smoking. Cut back the last 5 years and like you Joe, was one that hated to hear people preach the evils of nicotine. I thought I was cool when I smoked as a teen and guess for some they still think that way. Once hooked, it is hard to break. My mom was a smoker and alcoholic. She kicked the booze but not the smokes until she was bedridden. She was told that it is harder to kick smoking cigarettes than heroin.
Funny how now cigarettes smell so awful to me when for years I loved that smell. I can smell my co workers coats when I walk by and I almost gag.....
just glad that monkey is off my back.
Peace
Nancy aka toughcookie

I was trying to think of Brownsville Station, who did the version I remember. Thanks for that.

Take care,

Joe

Lelia

Maybe he's not as tough a cookie.
Nancy, I'm gonna go with your lede in this thread where you stated "It is none of my business really"

Is Michael Douglas proud of his smoking relapse? I'm confident he is not, and he's not the only cancer patient struggling with nicotine addiction. Why single him out just because his job is in acting? He doesn't owe us anything.

For a glimpse into how Mr. Douglas feels about privacy invasions and having been stalked and photographed by the 'razzis for months--often looking very ill, like most H&Nc patients in the throes of treatment--here's a portion of the NBC Today Show's blog The Scoop after his appearance on the show:

"Douglas' cancer battle has been chronicled with Douglas' cooperation, on TODAY and in places like People magazine, but some of his story -- specifically the story painted by portraits snapped by paparazzi -- has been documented without his permission, and Douglas resents that. 'With the amount of paparazzi that they have and these video cameras, you know, you just can't do anything. And I resent the amount of imposition on our children, too, because it used to be at least they (the paparazzi) would try to keep them out of that and they don't at all,' Douglas said. 'But they were having -- there was sort of a macabre enjoyment out of sort of watching me go down there for a while, I felt, by the paparazzi.' "

Pam M

soccerfreaks said:

"Smokin' in the boys' room"
(Motley Crue reference)

I started smoking in 1970 (a neighborhood mom caught me and a buddy smoking - experimenting, of course - and decided to teach us a lesson by having us smoke an entire pack...well, that backfired) and didn't quit permanently until October of 2005 on the way to the hospital for my surgery: literally, I smoked on the way to the hospital.

I promised myself that I would not preach once I quit for good, remembering what a pain in the butt it was to listen to other people preach in the old days, but I do from time to time anyway and as sweetblood mentions, I didn't hesitate to show my PEG tube to neighborhood kids when I saw them going down the street smoking. (Ironically, my son smokes, too.)

I will never smoke again, and don't mind telling people that it took having half of my tongue replaced to get me to quit. And when someone who smokes is close to me, they reek of it, for sure; it stinks even when they are not smoking. However, if the smell is far enough away, quite far enough away, it is like the scent of perfume from an old lover, I must admit. I have heard that it is more addictive than cocaine or heroin even, although I wouldn't be able to validate that.

If Michael Douglas wants to smoke, I say it's his call and I am certainly not one to become self-righteous about it. (When I was incorrectly diagnosed with as little as 10-months to live, by the way, due to what appeared to be metastasis of my SCC to my lungs, the first thing one of my CSN friends asked me, a former smoker herself, was "Have you started smoking again, yet?" )

Take care,

Joe

Not Smoking Again
Joe,
". . . if the smell is far enough away, quite far enough away, it is like the scent of perfume from an old lover . . ." - YEP - and I haven't smoked in around nine years. Well, cologne, in my case. I know someone who "just has one, from time to time". NOT an option for me. I, too, almost always find the smell offensive. Even when it beckons me, it's still got an evil odor mixed in.

As for quitting, as many of you know - what a hard piece of work. I wonder if it's more of less difficult if you quit when you're sick, or beginning treatment. I was "healthy" when I quit. wow - I just deleted at least twelve lines of ranting.

I still think it's sad if Mr. Douglas did quit during treatment, then start up again; to lose so much ground. Smoking may or may not cause cancer, but it DOES affect you (and those around you) physically and mentally. I'm thinking, though, that knowing I won't want to have lunch with him and the missus if he's smoking will not make him decide to quit.

nwasen

Lelia said:

Maybe he's not as tough a cookie.
Nancy, I'm gonna go with your lede in this thread where you stated "It is none of my business really"

Is Michael Douglas proud of his smoking relapse? I'm confident he is not, and he's not the only cancer patient struggling with nicotine addiction. Why single him out just because his job is in acting? He doesn't owe us anything.

For a glimpse into how Mr. Douglas feels about privacy invasions and having been stalked and photographed by the 'razzis for months--often looking very ill, like most H&Nc patients in the throes of treatment--here's a portion of the NBC Today Show's blog The Scoop after his appearance on the show:

"Douglas' cancer battle has been chronicled with Douglas' cooperation, on TODAY and in places like People magazine, but some of his story -- specifically the story painted by portraits snapped by paparazzi -- has been documented without his permission, and Douglas resents that. 'With the amount of paparazzi that they have and these video cameras, you know, you just can't do anything. And I resent the amount of imposition on our children, too, because it used to be at least they (the paparazzi) would try to keep them out of that and they don't at all,' Douglas said. 'But they were having -- there was sort of a macabre enjoyment out of sort of watching me go down there for a while, I felt, by the paparazzi.' "

Michael Douglas
Lelia
thanks for your post. I read it twice and it hit me why it has bothered me so much. When I was being misdignosed with my cancer I saw Michael Douglas on the Today Show, or maybe it was a piece about his cancer, and they said one of his signs was severe ear pain and that was happening to ME!! That is when I got real serious about finding out really what was wrong with me. Maybe I feel a connection with him on some strange level...
Thanks for putting things into perspective. You are right that he owes us nothing.
Peace
Nancy aka toughcookie

rozaroo

nwasen said:

Michael Douglas
Lelia
thanks for your post. I read it twice and it hit me why it has bothered me so much. When I was being misdignosed with my cancer I saw Michael Douglas on the Today Show, or maybe it was a piece about his cancer, and they said one of his signs was severe ear pain and that was happening to ME!! That is when I got real serious about finding out really what was wrong with me. Maybe I feel a connection with him on some strange level...
Thanks for putting things into perspective. You are right that he owes us nothing.
Peace
Nancy aka toughcookie

Lelia!
After reading your post I looked at the situation differently. I have alway's believed in minding my own buisness & not judging anyone. I tend to get defensive with the smoking issue. The first question anyone ask's here including medical professional's is I guess you were a smoker. I have alway's defended Michael & am simply dissapointed!

Skiffin16

The End.....
Cancer (or any near death disease), treatment, recovery, and hope......

The above scenario kind of reminds me of the movie with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, "The End"...

In the movie Burt Reynolds decides to commit suicide by drowning himself...mainly swimming far out into the ocean. After getting really far out, he has a change of heart. He decides to try and make it back... the farther out he is, the more he prays to God to help him and what he'll give up as a sacrifice if God will just give him the strength to make it back....

The closer he gets, and the more he thinks he's going to make it, the more he starts negotiating for lesser sacrifices....

By the time he makes it back, he has reasoned and negotiated to nearly sacrificing nothing to live again.

Best,
John

Hondo

rozaroo said:

Lelia!
After reading your post I looked at the situation differently. I have alway's believed in minding my own buisness & not judging anyone. I tend to get defensive with the smoking issue. The first question anyone ask's here including medical professional's is I guess you were a smoker. I have alway's defended Michael & am simply dissapointed!

Razaroo
I agree as a public figure his life is looked upon by a lot of people and I too am just disappointed to hear he is smoking again.


Hondo

palmyrafan

Smoking
I have brain cancer.

I grew up with my stepmother smoking 2 packs a day. The house always smelled like an ashtray. Because of that, none of us 4 kids has ever smoked and we made sure to find spouses who don't as well.

I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke and it makes me sick to my stomach to smell it. Luckily for us, most of the venues here in south Jersey (bars, restaurants, etc.) are smoke free.

I don't know how someone who has been given a second chance at life can thumb his nose at it and act like it is no big deal. Perhaps Mr. Douglas really didn't get it the first time around and doesn't appreciate the opportunity he has been given, not just with his life, but to be an advocate against smoking.

Shame on him!

Teresa

Kent Cass

palmyrafan said:

Smoking
I have brain cancer.

I grew up with my stepmother smoking 2 packs a day. The house always smelled like an ashtray. Because of that, none of us 4 kids has ever smoked and we made sure to find spouses who don't as well.

I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke and it makes me sick to my stomach to smell it. Luckily for us, most of the venues here in south Jersey (bars, restaurants, etc.) are smoke free.

I don't know how someone who has been given a second chance at life can thumb his nose at it and act like it is no big deal. Perhaps Mr. Douglas really didn't get it the first time around and doesn't appreciate the opportunity he has been given, not just with his life, but to be an advocate against smoking.

Shame on him!

Teresa

MD
Well, it might be possible that a life w/smokes is the only life he wants to live. You know this must have weighed heavily upon his mind at the time of his treatment, and thereafter. One would think, with how extraordinary his life is, that he would find life without the smokes as entirely acceptable. Apparently not. Quality of life is relative to the eyes of the owner of that life. Might not be that happy of a man as one would think he would be with all that fame and money.

It is his life of free will. He is, however, letting his rather-awesome wife down, as well as his children and all in his family. And, yes, he was a major player in the H&N C Awareness thing, so he's let us in that community down, too. And, his fans. Must reckon what he owes them is not as great as his right to smoke.

kcass

Jimbo55

To Each His Own
If MD wants to partake of a smoke, it is certainly none of my business. He's an adult and can make his own decisions. I don't believe it is my place to judge him.

Smoking and alcohol, along with HPV, are cited as the 3 most likely causes of H&N cancers. There are quite a few of us on this site who enjoy an occasional glass of vino or a cold one. Who are we to say anything regarding Michael Douglas possibly having a smoke? Cheers.

Jimbo

arndog64

Jimbo55 said:

To Each His Own
If MD wants to partake of a smoke, it is certainly none of my business. He's an adult and can make his own decisions. I don't believe it is my place to judge him.

Smoking and alcohol, along with HPV, are cited as the 3 most likely causes of H&N cancers. There are quite a few of us on this site who enjoy an occasional glass of vino or a cold one. Who are we to say anything regarding Michael Douglas possibly having a smoke? Cheers.

Jimbo

I looked up Michael Douglas
I looked up Michael Douglas smoking on the internet and Star Magazine shows a picure of him putting something in/to his mouth and it's hard to tell what it is. They even made the comment it may be a piece of gum. Who knows!!

RayTodd

arndog64 said:

I looked up Michael Douglas
I looked up Michael Douglas smoking on the internet and Star Magazine shows a picure of him putting something in/to his mouth and it's hard to tell what it is. They even made the comment it may be a piece of gum. Who knows!!

who cares
He is a big boy and can make his own decisions