Mrs. Zebra, please take the scare you just had as a timely warning. My ENT told me he hoped that the lump in my neck was a warning, but it turned out to be cancer, so take your situation as a timely warning and give up the cigarettes. From personal experience I can tell you they do no good for you at all. I know how hard it can be to give them up, I smoked for almost 40 years before I got the cancer diagnosis. However, I gave them up in one day (after a tonsilectomy, which made it a lot easier). You can do it also.