Shane T.: Throat Cancer at 34, After Smoking Since 18

Shane was 34 when he noticed he was having trouble swallowing. The cause was throat cancer. He had started smoking at 18 — everyone in his family already smoked. His story is one of CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign.

What the surgery took

To treat the cancer, surgeons removed his larynx (voice box), part of his esophagus and his collarbone, then reshaped and stretched his stomach to work as an esophagus. He breathed through a 1-inch stoma — an opening in his neck — and spoke with an electrolarynx, a device pressed against the neck.

The stoma upended his days. He had to give up his work as a machinist, and even something as simple as taking a shower became dangerous.

Quitting, too late to undo it

Shane had tried to quit several times and thought it impossible. After the surgery, he said, the desire to smoke was simply gone. He quit in 2003. But the years of smoking kept affecting his health: at 44, doctors found cancer in his chest. He fought smoking-related cancer for more than 10 years, until it took his life in 2016.

He joined the campaign to make one point: smoking may not kill you right away, but it is foolish to think it will not catch up with you eventually — at any age. He also appears in a Tips TV ad with Sharon and Shawn, two other people living with stomas from smoking, offering advice on living with one.

Free help to quit

Sources

Based on "Shane T.'s Story," Tips From Former Smokers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the campaign's videos with Shane; a work of the United States government in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words.