I began smoking at the age of 14 – worked my way up to 3 packs a day over the next 28 yrs. Then for some reason I quit – out of the blue. But I alwasy said if I was ever told I had the big C I would start smoking again. In 2009 I was told I had renal cancer and sure enough I started smoking. But this time was different – the most I smoked was a 1/2 pack on weekends and about 5 cigarettes a day during the week. I hated the smell and the taste of the cigarettes but loved the calming effect I received from the act of smoking. I had tried Chantix but found as soon as I stopped taking the medication I was back to smoking. Some of my friends at work had switched to vaping – e- cigarettes and it looked like a possible alternative for me. So in July of 2012 I got a kit and began using the electronic cigarette. From the day I started I have not had a cigarette or the desire to have one – I have reduce my nicotine intake to at present 6mg/ml and I would say I vape about 3mls a day. I was getting bronchitis every couple of months while I was smoking cigarettes. Since starting the e-cigarettes I have had I lung infection that was caused by the flu and exacerbated requiring anti-biotics and steroids. I feel that without the e-cigarettes I would be continuing to put the thousands of chemicals into my system that comes from smoking cigarettes. For me the use of e-cigarettes has given me my life back.