Day-liah,
re your friend ( She looks much healthier - more colour in her face, less 'wrinkly' - but she's gained a considerable amount of weight (about 50 lbs!) and she still has the odd 'cheat smoke'. She's become one of those people who bums smokes off others all the time. Not very encouraging ...and here's a kiss that will not fade away.)   That "odd 'cheat smoke'" and bumming "OP" cigarettes [i.e., "Other People's"] -- that's how I started smoking again 3 times after quitting for 3 months, 9 months, and 1 whole year.  It was only after I convinced myself that I was not going to be able to be a casual, occasional smoker that I was able to quit for good.   And now, partly because I have asthma, partly because I see what 15 years of smoking did to my face, partly because I want to keep singing, and partly because I am no longer surrounded by smokers smoking in offices, parties, etc., I am not only smoke free but haven't the slightest desire ever to smoke again.

I didn't develop asthma until about 4 years after I quit smoking, and it runs in my family (where I'm the only one who ever smoked), but those years of smoking probably did not do my lungs any good.  I am heavier now than when I was a smoker, but if I factor in things like how much I exercise, I'd say being a non-smoker only accounts for about 10 extra pounds.  The time I felt and looked my best (not quite my skinniest year, but my most fit), in fact, was a year or two after I quit smoking  (a time when I was exercising about 2 or 3 hours a day on average).  If smoking is a key part of your lifestyle, you probably will need to find a substitute.   (Non-fattening, non-carginogens to put in your mouth:  harmonicas, kazoos, bagpipes, jaw harps, penny whistles ... .   Of course you can try sugarless gum, pencil erasers, pacifiers, etc., too.)  Regular aerobic exercise will lessen the cravings, too.

Again, good on ya for quitting.

Genie

PS,
Carol, losing your mother that way must have been terribly hard. I have had relatives who died of lung cancer in prolonged agony, and their experiences, like your mother's death, just underscore how destructive this habit can be. I wish there were not so many people (myself included) who have to learn the hard way how addictive nicotine can be.