I have been around smoking, for most of my life. My mother was a three pack a day smoker. I almost died because of this. When she was in her first trimester of pregnancy with me, she had a stroke. This stroke had put her in a comatose state, for months, and she had to relearn everything once she came out of it. My father, and my parents family, were told that I was not going to make it. The doctors wanted to terminate the pregnancy. My father said no, and by some miracle I was born, alive. I have a peripheral vision defect due to her stroke. She was left partially paralyzed on her left side. She continued to smoke, though. Three days before her 50th birthday, she passed away due to diabetes complications. Basically, she died from smoking too much. She never got to see me get married or graduate college. Despite all of this, I took up smoking at the age of 21. I claimed that I was a social smoker, as I only smoked when around my friends. When I met my husband in 2005, I was still a social smoker. He was a smoker, having smoked a pack and a half, a day. In 2010, we were intoduced to an electronic cigarette, through a family member of mine. It was the size of a cigarette and came in three pieces. It wasn’t refillable and the only flavors available were tobacco and menthol. The cartridges were hard to find. I could only find them from Chinese vendors. The battery life wasn’t very long, on these ecigarettes, nor was their effect on either one of us. We threw them out. In 2011, I found a similar ecigarette that was refillable, easier to recharge, and much simpler to use. It was about the same size and it helped me. A year later, I discovered the next generation of ecigarette and went on to purchase one. I have not had a cigarette since October 2012. I have only had two asthma attacks since, when before I had them every other day. My blood pressure has went from borderline high, to approximately 110/72. I hope that these devices will still be on the market, to help my husband, as well. I do not want to lose him to tobacco, as I did my mother.