During the thirteen years I spent more time in Vietnam than in the U.S., I, like everybody else, smoked cigarettes. The non-smokers among us were so few that we considered them oddballs. And the Vietnamese smoked more than we did.
In 2015, I paid the price for my smoking: I came down with lung cancer that almost killed me. I underwent months of radiation and chemotherapy, then had the upper lobe of my right lung surgically removed. I wasn’t completely recovered until last year.
But I had stopped smoking many years before. Until the lung cancer developed, I thought I’d gotten away with all my years of smoking. It took me a very long time to wean myself off cigarettes and onto nicotine chewing gum. Years later, I gradually replaced the nicotine gum with everyday chewing gum. Eventually, I got to the point that I was chewing only regular gum. Now my problem is I can’t stop.
Yes, now I’m addicted to chewing gum. The next step is to wean myself off gum to . . . nothing. I’ll begin all that someday soon. Don’t want to rush things. What’s the hurry? Why not take another forty years to finish up?
So I’ll get to starting the process one of these days. Meanwhile, I’ve tried all the different brand names of gum. I’ve come to prefer Mentos, partly because they’re candy-covered gum balls. I don’t allow myself any candy on my diet, so the gum is my way of cheating.
Who says the life of an aging man isn’t interesting?
Tom Glenn, Writer 
I’m a former smoker as well. Am sorry to say I never weaned off the chewing gum. I buy Wrigley’s Polar Ice Eclipse gum by the 180-piece bag.
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Thanks, Nicole. Now I don’t feel so peculiar. Or lonely.
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You are not alone!!!! I have chewed nicorette gum for YEARS and Ive decided tonight due to stomach issues to quit this gum chewing, nicotine nightmare. Going cold turkey and not chewing anything, anymore. This aging women certainly remembers your service and thanks you. Lets do this!
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After smoking, turning to nicorette for 25 years, I must stop chewing due to intense stomach pain. I dont know if the nicotine gum is the reason for my belly ache and gas but all tests came back negative. I am an gum chewing nicotine addict. I am powerless and must surrender and end this addiction. Wish me luck because Ive been really having digestive issues and this certainly must be contributing to my misery.
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Victoria, my heart goes out to you. Here’s something that worked for me and you might try: slowly replace the nicotine gum with ordinary chewing gum. Start with one a day, then two, until you are chewing only ordinary gum. For me the process was very slow—it took years—but it worked.
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Good grief ! I’m NOT the only one!!
I was a heavy smoker 20+yrs then heavy nicorette chewer for 20+ years…. Swapped to ordinary gum 3 wks ago & thought I must be going bonkers as I’m now addicted to plain old chewing, & finding the ordinary gum harder to give up than the nicotine!! Thanks for helping me feel less of a freak.
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Queen Vic, i have found that ALWAYS having a drink of something available at arms length helps a lot. & the kidneys are happy too . Best of luck to you, if I can do it, seriously, anyone can!
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I think we former smokers-current-gum-chewers are brothers in arms. We need to support each other.
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Totally Tom, thanks. I feel so much better already just knowing that I wasn’t imagining my latest addiction!
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