I can't believe I'm saying this but:

I, Kelly Wilson, am quitting smoking

Yeah, I've said it before, and not really meant it, but I could hardly believe when on the way home from work I walked in to the doctor's surgery and asked to see the nurse straightaway (would never have done it if the receptionist had told me to come back in a few hours).

I told her the reasons why, A) I can hardly breathe when walking up even a small flight of stairs, and wake up with awful pain in my chest and B) The place I'm working at now has a no-smoking policy and you have use the majority of your break walking to and from the smoking area outside of the building.

She took out some forms and filled them in then got me to breathe into this machine that registered how much carbon monoxide was in my system, and she said every time I came back to her she'd have me breathe into it again, to see if I'd been smoking, like a lie detector of sorts.

She also told me that because I smoke roll-ups, when I smoke 20 a day (and that's on a day when I don't smoke as much as normal) it's the equivalent to 120 normal cigarettes, so take into account that I can smoke upto 40 rollies a day, thats upto 240 cigs a day I have to give up (I'm gonna be needing all the help I can get here!!)

The good thing is though, as I went to the nurse rather than just going into the chemist, I can get my 28 day supply of patches on prescription, so rather than costing me 20 odd quid over the counter I get them for £6.20.

Only problem is, I don't have £6.20 till 17th October, so the nurse said that's fine, just start cutting it down until then, buy them and make an appointment with her for a week after I start on them, so she can assess me.

Anyhow, I've got a long and hard road ahead of me, and it's kinda scary, saying goodbye to what has become a best friend. I'm gonna need all the help and support I can get. If I come across as being a heinous bitca in the weeks ahead, please don't take it personally