Smoking, HIV and a Stroke at 43: Brian's Story

A story from CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign. Brian's own words are paraphrased here.

On New Year's Day 2013, Brian was at work in a California pottery studio, where he was a master teacher. He stepped outside for a cigarette, and when he came back his right hand would not work. He could not hold a pen, a glass or a piece of clay, and he struggled to speak. At just 43, Brian was having a stroke: his brain was not getting enough blood and oxygen. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, and he quit smoking that day.

Smoking and HIV

Brian had already survived serious health problems, including being very sick with AIDS, and was in good health, working and managing his HIV. But he had never quit smoking, and smoking is especially dangerous for people living with HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS. For Brian, smoking and HIV together clogged his blood vessels as sticky plaque built up in his arteries. At first he had no symptoms. A few months before the stroke he had a blood clot in his lungs, and his doctors treated him and urged him to quit.

He had wanted to quit from the start, he said, but he was addicted and could not stop; it took a stroke to make him.

How it started

Like many smokers, Brian started as a teenager, when smoking seemed daring, a symbol of freedom and independence. At 20 he began living openly as a gay man and found that smoking was common in LGBTQ+ communities, even on the dance floor at clubs. By then he smoked a pack a day, and cigarettes had nothing to do with freedom: his addiction controlled him. He tried to quit many times over the years.

A slow recovery

On the day of his stroke, Brian had surgery to clear a clogged artery in his neck. Getting back the use of his body and mind has been a long process that is not finished. At first he could not dress himself, brush his teeth or cook, and speaking and reading were hard. For months he could not work.

Today he can manage buttons and shoelaces if he goes slowly, but his right hand is still weak and numb. He can no longer work as a waiter or teach pottery classes, and after many years as an expert potter, his work now looks like a beginner's. His HIV has long been under control, but he does not know whether he will ever fully recover from the stroke.

His message

Brian hopes his story will persuade others to quit before it is too late. HIV, he points out, stays with you for life, but smoking is something you can control and stop, and stopping is worth your life.

Help to quit

• Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669); in Spanish, 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569); in Chinese, 1-800-838-8917; in Korean, 1-800-556-5564; in Vietnamese, 1-800-778-8440.
• Text QUITNOW to 333888 (message and data rates may apply), or use CDC's quitSTART app.
• Online: CDC's quit-smoking resources and Smokefree.gov, both also in Spanish, and the Asian Smokers' Quitline.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tips From Former Smokers, "Brian I.'s Story." https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/stories/brian.html
• CDC, "Smoking and HIV": https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/smoking-and-hiv.html; "Quit Smoking": https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/index.html; Smokefree.gov: https://smokefree.gov/tips
• Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.