More people who have cancer are trying to warn youth about the dangers of vaping.  Alton, Illinois resident Ralph Federle, found out he had throat cancer after thirty years of smoking 1 ½ packs a day of cigarettes.  He had gone to the Doctor for breathing problems, and some trips to the emergency room, and cancer has made him pay dearly.  He has nearly lost his vocal cords, received radiation treatment, had a temporary tracheotomy leading to a soft food diet, had a stroke, and depression, and relies on oxygen and a cane daily.  

Federle tells young people to not even start smoking or vaping. After he got his own cancer diagnosis, he knew he would be in for the fight of his life.

Karen Boyd, a nurse who cares for him at the Cancer Center in Alton says that the FDA notices a disturbing trend in the rise of vaping. Youth e-cigarette use remains an ongoing concern.  The survey found that more than 2 million US middle school and high school students reported the current use of e-cigarettes in 2021. Students say the reason they used the devices included because a friend did, to ease anxiety or depression, or to get a buzz.  16% of all students surveyed believed that casual e-cigarette use was harmless. 

Boyd says she and her colleagues have been organizing presentations for middle and high schools to show them how dangerous vaping can be.  Federle, says that he was told by a doctor that vaping would be a good way to quit smoking.

While Federle did use this method, Boyd says that taking up vaping to help quit smoking is rare and should be approved by a doctor because there is so much unknown amount of nicotine in vapes. 

For Federle, he hasn’t smoked or vaped in five years, and he’s doing OK taking joy in the things that he feels others take for granted, like talking.  He encourages youth to not start and if they have to quit now. 

To learn more about quitting, contact the national Quit Smoking Hotline at 1-800-784-8669.