[Aerkuld]

My Father has never been a heavy smoker maybe five or six a day tops. He would only smoke a pipe or small cigars, just didn't like cigarettes and all the crap that gets added to them. But late last year his doctor discovered a potential problem which was suspected to be cancer. Upon further investigastion it turned out to be a very - and I mean VERY - small cancerous growth in his bladder. Obviously it gave me and the rest of the family some concern, but they did find it very early. A quick operation and it was removed and he now has a clean bill of health and no signs of anything else nasty.
The good thing to come out of this is that as soon as this was discovered he took it as a warning sign and has stopped smoking altogether. I don't know whether it was related to the smoking or just one of those things, but I do think he was very fortunate. I am not sure whether giving up smoking now will have any effect after 40 years, but it can't hurt.
I'm actually very proud of him for having the ability to stop such a long running habit.