FEATURE
FEATURE
DIARY OF A VAPER Featuring Simon Thurlow
Even a serious heart attack could not stop Simon Thurlow from smoking … but vaping did .
IT Security Architect Simon Thurlow , from Swansea , South Wales , explains how vaping changed his life after 30 years of smoking left him needing heart surgery . On June 6 , 2011 ( I always remember the date as it is also the D-Day anniversary ), I bought and started using my first e-cigarette . I can ’ t remember what type of e-cigarette it was but most were pretty rudimentary in those days compared to what we have now . A few months earlier I had found myself in hospital due to a myocardial infarction ( basically , two of the main arteries feeding into my heart had become blocked , starving my heart of blood and oxygen ). In hospital I had an operation to clear the blockages and was told in no uncertain terms that my problems had been caused by my previous 30 years smoking habit , which I should quit . I managed to stay off the cigarettes for a couple of weeks following the operation , but gradually found myself having the odd cigarette here and there and soon found myself fully back in the habit . 84 ISSUE 08 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
Around the same time , I started to read articles about this new thing called e-cigarettes on the internet . Curious about them , and because I wanted to be free of the smoking habit that had put me in hospital , I started researching them and decided to give them a go . I smoked my last five cigarettes on that June morning and have not had ( or wanted ) a tobacco cigarette since then . Now I am a vaper , not a smoker and my life is far better for it . I still have some issues , but not caused by vaping . I have regular check-ups at both my local GP surgery and at the cardiac centre in the local hospital . My current health issue is a leaking valve near to my heart and I do have to undergo an operation to either replace or repair it . Both my GP and the cardiac consultant are aware that I vape and both are fully supportive as they recognise the considerably reduced risk of vaping when compared to smoking . During my last check-up , I was wired up and on a treadmill . The nurse in charge of the test said my lung capacity showed that I was clearly a non-smoker . My blood pressure and cholesterol levels are also well within acceptable limits so I am seeing , and feeling , clear benefits to my health . Quite apart from the obvious health benefits , I actually rather enjoy the whole vaping experience far more than I ever enjoyed cigarettes . It is the sheer variety of flavours that , I feel , has helped to make vaping such a successful phenomenon . The other thing I enjoy about vaping is the community . Because of the actions of certain members of the public health and political communities , there is very