We calculate perturbatively the tunneling decay rate $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ of the metastable phase in the quantum
d=1 Ising model in a skew magnetic field near the coexistence line $0<{h}_{x}<1, {h}_{z}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{-}0$ at
T=0. It is shown that $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ oscillates in the magnetic field
hz due to discreteness of the excitation energy spectrum. After mapping of the obtained results onto the extreme anisotropic
d=2 Ising model at
T<Tc, we verify in the latter model the droplet theory predictions for the free energy analytically continued to the metastable phase. We also find evidence for the discrete-lattice corrections in this metastable phase free energy.