John,
Interesting topic to bring up for a discussion - SMOKING.
I was also a 40+ year smoker, a bit more committed to the (now) nasty habit than you describe. I quit for good a few years back, after quite a few periods of non-smoking. A long period of hospitalization and rehab, courtesy of a drunk driver slamming me into a freeway sound-wall while I was working on the side of the road, ended my tobacco drug habit for what may well prove to be the final time. Having to go to a hospital loading dock to smoke - along with the doctor and nurse smokers - finally convinced me that I had a drug habit.
Having confessed to my long term voluntary informed choice to smoke despite many medical providers recommendations to stop, upon the diagnosis of BC a year ago I began to learn about BC.
Like you, I read that smokers have "higher rates of BC than non-smokers". Depending on source, smokers anywhere from 2 to 7 times more likely to develop BC than non-smokers. A range as wide as "2 to 7 times" could not help but catch my attention; widely divergent statistics derived from a common data pool raises red flags. It seems it would be a no-brainer - if you have BC, either you were a smoker or not. The calculation of any increased risk should be straight forward and consistent.
A much cited NIH document found that "50 percent of all cases of bladder cancer are found in smokers". What ??? 50% of bladder cancers then are found in Non-smokers. The NIH document continues, "Former smokers are twice as likely to develop the disease as those who never smoked; current smokers are four times as likely." Interesting.
www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/smoking-bladder-cancer
The numbers are all over the map. Simple statistics can be tricky - the results are dependent on EXACTLY how the qualifications are defined (and they are almost never defined in consumer level publications). If there is interest, I will provide somebackground material upon which the stats rely.
But we can all agree. Smoking is a dumb idea. (and smokers DO like smoking) It is good to quit, better to never start. How much smoking contributes to bladder cancer is open to debate among respected sources.
John, you have been a non-smoker for a couple of months now, a couple more and you will start to think like a non-smoker, a few more months and you will feel sorry for those sucking on the weed outside stores and offices. Eventually, you won't even thing about smoking, except once in a long while when suddenly, out of nowhere, you have the thought that a cigarette would be real good right now. I am told that as I get closer to 20 years of non-smoking that the sudden thought will go away too.
Hang in there. Just don't buy or bum any smokes. The demons in your head screaming for a smoke are quieting down. Beat them and beat the BC.
Best
Jack