Oh gosh Adele, you did have a terrible day.
I don't have any knowledge about WBC.
I'm wondering why they started antibiotic, what for?
That's what kicked up the thrush in my mouth...

About the smoking, The Human Rsource Center at my work offered smoking cessation classes, 6 weeks and they offered free nicotine replacement therapy. When I asked our counselor what the best method to quit was, he said "Cold turkey". I went home, thought about that and found www.whyquit.com, and read through some of the material. I was glad to find out that more people quit and stay quit by doing it cold turkey than any other method. The next morning, I put my cigs down. I was highly motivated to quit. Afer 72 hours, I applied to become part of the "Freedom from smoking" group located at the top right column of the www.whyquit.com web page. I was accepted, and downloaded my "quit counter". I have found lots of support there, and the quit counter keeps me motivated. I don't want to blow it! It was hard, but I had seen my dad battle oral cancer, twice in four years. I had seen many oral cancer patients in his ward over 3 week time frame. I developed oral lichens planus at the same time, and my son let me find out he was smoking about 5 cigs a day. After 27 years, I finally found my motivation to quit. I was scared! I will not tell you it is easy. It is not. If you are highly motivated, and committed to quit, it can be done. I had many moments where I had to "grit" it out. Nicotine is possibly the "best" drug out there, it does it's job very well! When I began looking at cigarettes as "nicotine delivery devices", just like a needle and syringe to a junkie, it was easier to put a negative into my mind where a positive had once been. I replaced "nicotine delivery devices", with celery and cream cheese. I'm a celery chomping fool! But my mouth was too sore from lichens planus to chew gum, so the celery helped my mouth, and smelled fresh and clean where cigs do not. I printed out things that motivated me, like this "Mandatory replenishment cycle" from the website that shows your either going to keep feeding the nicotine addiction, or your going to go through withdrawal, most people continue to feed the addiction. I wanted to fight back against oral cancer. I wanted to be "one less", and I wanted the cycle of smoking in my family to stop before it claimed another of us. For me, failing this attempt at quitting was not an option. Thats where the website helped me so much, the motto there is, Never Take Another Puff, Ever. Once you find out that you can ignore a craving and survive it, you grit it out, and you get through the next one, and the next one, and you tell the whiney 2 year old in your head that is begging for nicotine, NO. NO. NO. And pretty soon, that whiney 2 year old in my head, quit asking. Further and further apart the urges came and went. And today, I'm at 60 days free of nicotine! I've never been proud of myself, but I am now! It took a lot of strength and determination, but I did it! Because my mouth is so sore, I also changed my diet at the same time. I gave up all foods containing yeast, flour, sugar. I became aware of disease thriving in acidic conditions, but not in alkaline conditions, so I eat mostly fresh foods now, mostly vegetables. I'm not completely vegan yet, but much more than ever before. I eat celery for breakfast, salads for lunch that I try to pack at least 7 different vegetables into, including avocado which is supposed to help kill precancerous cells, and might help with cancerous cells too, and vegetable soup for dinner. I like eating this way, and my immune system, which has been compromised by Lupus is responding very positively to my changes. I feel like a new woman, just need to get my mouth to quit hurting.

I'm sorry to write such a book, just so passionately involved in these life changing modifications, and want to share them with you, since you asked! I hope I may have helped you somehow. My heart goes out to you and I hope they figure it out and get it taken care of soon.

p.s. my son quit the day after I did! ;o)

WOW!! is all I can say and great for you. I am now beginning to quit smoking. I hope you don't mind me talking to you about it. It really sounds like you know what you're doing and a very smart person. I did have a terrible day yesterday. The ENT had given me antibiotics to start after my surgery. Since I didn't have my surgery and my white blood count was so high, he told me go ahead and start the antibiotic. He was thinking that maybe I had a UTI or masked pnemonia. I called docs today. The urine test came back fine, they hadn't got the chest x-ray back yet. I call the other ENT that orded a MRI of my throat, they said it was fine, except that I had a cyst in my sinus. I've had this cyst for over 6 months now and am now wondering if it has anything to do with what all is going on. I also am wondering if this could be a tumor instead of a cyst. I don't see that doc again till May 1. All I know about wbc is that if it is high it is a sign of infection. 20.5 is very high wbc. I'm trying to not stress over all this but it is just so hard to do. It's like I'm getting no answers. Maybe if I could actually have my surgery to have my adenoids out and tonsils, then maybe I could see if that is what is causing everything. I don't know, I still as in the dark as ever. My GP did say that my thyroid was a little enlarged yesterday. I probably need to have it checked out too. I'm just a mess. Dell I am going to the web site you gave above and see if it can help me in quitting for good too. I want to be smoke free for the rest of my life. I agree with you, nicotine is a very addictive drug. I have never really thought of it as getting a fix, but it is true. We are like a junkie everytime we smoke. I feel bad about it now, cause my ex-husband turned out to be a junkie and I hated all drugs and still do to this day. I'm gonna use that from now on and I think it will change the way I see smoking. Thanks Dell for talking with me. I really enjoy reading from you. Anything you can come up with that you think will help me I'm all for reading, doesn't matter how long it is. I enjoy hearing from you!!!

well guys I had my surgery. Had my tonsils and adenoids removed. that was the worst pain i have ever felt. had it done on the 14th of April and I'm still feeling pain. I'm not sure yet if it has helped any of the symptoms that I was having before because I'm on pain meds and still healing from the surgery. I let you know if anything has gotton any better.

Lets hope for the best. At one point when Moffitt thought my primary might either be in my rt tonsil or BOT, their H & N surgeon planned to put me under and take biopsy's until he found my primary. I went under knowing I would wake up without my tonsils. I had already pre ordered my ice cream. LOL When I woke up my wife was there to tell me that they found my primary at the BOT and it was the first site he examined and he thought that he got all my cancer at the primary site with the bio he took so I didn't loose my tonsils. After reading yours and several other posts about the pain associated with loosing your tonsils I'm very glad he stopped.

Hi Adele,
Glad your surgery is now over, heal soon!

Dell,

I want to thank you for sharing the information you did about quitting smoking. I have long been a closet smoker and have tried more times to quit than imaginable. I am going to the website you posted right after this. It is definately time for me. Especially now that I have been spending so much time lurking on this forum. Every time I smoke, I think about all the suffering people have gone through because of it. It has really taken the fun out of it. Thank you. I want to be "one less" too.

Denise

I said I was going to do it and I am. 2 days, 13 hours, and 4 mintutes smoke free. Thanks again Dell for the information.

Denise,

That is so far out groovy cool I can't believe it!! Yes!!
In my mind, when we quit, we're "sticking to the man"!
Those big tobacco companies aren't making any money off of us today! We figured it out, we can live without those things!
I'm so glad Denise, and blown away that I could be part of it!
Thanks for posting your wonderful news!

Great job all of you. I know that quiting is the hardest thing you've ever done including out Tx so just keep saying "I will never use tobacco again as long as I live."

May I say that I smoked the last cigarette from a pack of $5.02 Vantage 100's at midnight on December 31. I had smoked for 40 years! I will not tell you that it has been EASY, but it HAS been worth it! If I can kick the habit, anyone can!