Smoking and Tobacco
Quitters Stories
If I can do it, you can do it!
Quitting smoking is not easy but the benefits are worth it.
Read personal success stories of quitters who understand the benefits first hand.
John Park’s Story
I quit smoking in 1993. I had been smoking at least a pack a day since I was a teen, along with cigars and smokeless tobacco. It was difficult but I was successful this time. Once previous I had quit for an extended period of time but started again. I am now 56yrs old, a marathon runner (9 full marathons and the Boston marathon twice) a lot of half marathons and shorter distance races. I also compete in triathlons, have raced half iron man distance twice and plan to race as long as I can. All of this is something I would not be able to do if I had continued to smoke. My Dad had smoked a lifetime, had a heart condition. He was a very strong man and his only health issues were caused from smoking. Our family has a history of asthma and of course cigarette smoking makes this worse also. I knew that the smoking was causing me breathing problems and would eventually attribute to more and more health issues. I just knew I had to get rid of them to improve my health. When I quit I was a canine officer and of course on my feet a lot and had to pass a fitness test. Quitting was the best thing I have ever done.
Lynn Kelly’s Story
I quit smoking on October 31, 2004 after smoking for more than 30 years!! If I can do it anyone can!! And I know, we've all heard that line so many times but believe me I was the last person I ever thought would quit smoking. Quitting smoking is the best thing I've ever done and I've never felt better! If I hadn't been sick with what started as a cold in September of 2004 I'd likely be still smoking today but because of what I was experiencing I was scared into quitting. My doctor told me that he knew I likely wouldn't be able to quit cold turkey but to wean off of the cigarettes gradually in what I felt to be a good time line for me.
I decided then and there on that day that I would have my last cigarette on October 31st!
I weaned myself from smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes to being smoke free by November 1st!!I did it in 30 days! I accomplished what I wanted to do and I was so proud of myself and I still am to this day!! Best of luck to those who decide to quit smoking! You CAN do it :)
Gary Smith’s Story
I started smoking cigarettes when I was 16 years of age, nothing serious, one here one there, but by the age of 20 I was up to a pack a day. I would continue that trend for the next 30 years until on December 17, 2003 I quit smoking cigarettes and haven't smoked since. Prior to this momentous event I had tried to quit smoking one way or another for about 10 years without much success. However mid December of 2003 I contracted a serious lung infection that left me feeling so terrible that I couldn't smoke a cigarette even when I wanted too. I decided then and there if ever there was a time to quit smoking it was now. I certainly had the motivation. My health was now a concern, my wife, a non smoker certainly had her issues mainly the expense and I couldn't argue with that.
The first few days are fuzzy now what with a fever and a horrible cough that wouldn't quit. I don't know if it was because I was sick or what but I developed a different mind set on how to cope with a life without cigarettes. Instead of looking at "the big picture" in relationship to smoking, for me I had to focus on "the small picture" meaning I had to take it one day at a time and not worry about what I was going to feel like a week from now when I wanted that after supper cigarette, my favorite. After I recovered from my infection I still had a strong desire to smoke but it was easier to abstain than I thought it would be.
Gradually my cravings for a smoke began to subside and one day I realized that I could go for an extended period of time and not even think about smoking. It wasn't an easy ride along the way, lots of bumps in the road for sure but I was fortunate that my wife Lisa provided plenty of support and encouragement when the going got a little rough. Soon the days passed into weeks and into months and well its been over 5 years since I put a cigarette to my lips.
Remember there is no secret formula to butting out. Believe in yourself and find out what works for You and You can quit too. For now I will worry about today and today I choose not to smoke..... Gary Smith.
Joan Creamer
I recall counting down the months to my quit date, which would be my 40th birthday. Being a fitness enthusiast at the time, my "fit" friends would tolerate my smoking habit, but often questioned me about why I continued. I enjoyed smoking – I found it calming, like my own little security blanket. But I knew I had to quit as I was very afraid of having a stroke (strange that I wasn't worried about lung cancer – just a stroke). I always put off their questions by saying - "don't worry – I'll quit when I'm forty," never thinking that "forty" would actually arrive. And it was coming, month by ticking month.
My friends threw me a big 40th birthday bash and all knew it would be my last day on cigarettes. The funniest part was the birthday cake with "cigarettes" instead of candles. What a way to ruin a perfectly good cigarette.
I had prepared for this momentous event by getting a prescription for a smoking cessation pill and as directed, had been taking the medication for a few weeks prior to my quit date. This medication did help in that it quenched my taste for cigarettes – I remember having a hard time getting through a cigarette after about two weeks.
I found that taking this medication assisted in the beginning stages of quitting; however I attribute my overall success at quitting to sheer will power. I knew that I couldn’t “sort-of quit”. It had to be 100 percent. Believe me – there were some bad moments. In the end it all worked. I have never had another cigarette, not even a puff. I think I am very afraid that if I have just a wee puff, I would probably become addicted again.
My advice to anyone quitting - make sure you have friends and family that you can contact and "be grouchy with.” I informed many of my friends that I wasn't going through this alone and I made good on that promise. I called, I squawked, I complained. But eventually, I just developed a normal life and then that smoking thing just became history.
I am now a fitness instructor at the YMCA and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. It sure feels great to have a clean set of lungs to breathe with when I have to instruct, motivate and sometimes cajole our class participants through a cardio-torture Spin class, and then later in the day, don a pair of snowshoes for a two-hour climb up a steep mountainside.
It sure is great to breathe! And it sure is great not to reek of cigarette smoke. I am soooo sociably acceptable now.
Stan Dunphy’s Story
I quit smoking in Feb. 1991 after 23 years of smoking 1.5 packs per day. I tried to quit by cutting down on the amount of cigarettes I had in a day. But that didn't work. I tried having one per hour but I was always cheating by 5-10 minutes. I was always promising myself that I would add the time to the next cigarette. That didn't work either.
In 1991 cigarettes went from $5-$7 per package and I decided that it was too expensive. I quit smoking cold turkey and have never had even one cigarette since. Cold turkey may be the hardest way to quit, and the urge to have one still occasionally rears its ugly head, but as long as you want to quit, it will happen. Don't listen to naysayers; do what YOU want. My father died of lung cancer in 1995. Even though I loved him very much, that is the one footstep of my father's that I hope I have avoided following. Stan Dunphy almost 18 yrs smoke-free.
Joan Godfrey’s Story
I quit smoking in February 1998 so I have been smoke free for almost 11 years and it is the best thing I have done. I calculated, a while ago, that if I would have not quite smoking then I would have paid out over $25,000 for cigarettes.
It was not due to financial reasons that I quit though because as most non-smokers know, you can always find the money somewhere to purchase cigarettes. What started me on this path was twofold.
One, I started waking up in the morning and hacking my lungs out, so to speak. I would spend at least five minutes every morning coughing and coughing, sometimes so hard that I would have a splitting headache immediately afterwards. This was the beginning of the end for me. Then, I started having difficulty breathing when I walked up hills. My breathing, over the years continued to get worse.
In February of 1998 I started dating a guy who was a non-smoker. I believe that this combined with my health issues were the two contributing factors that lead me to quit. I remember getting up one morning and reaching for my cigarettes. There was a little less than half a pack left and after my morning routine of coughing, I made the decision to throw them out and I have never looked back. In the beginning, I had to stay away from all areas where people were drinking and then slowly reintegrate myself into it as I found it hardest when having a beer not to smoke.
I now have asthma and my lung capacity is at 30%. I take 3 different puffers and two types of pills in order for me to breath well enough to function on a daily basis and I am only 45 years old. I firmly believe that my smoking is the major contributing factor to this and am thankful everyday that I had the willpower to quit. If I can do it you can too.
Sandra Jenning’s Story
My name is Sandra Jenning from Saint John and I quit 3 years ago this Christmas. My husband John had quit the previous year and I had told him if he could last a year I would quit too. It was the hardest thing I have ever done as I smoked since age 13 and smoked 41 years. My father quit 25 years ago and my mother 10 years ago. One of my sons quit 9 months ago.
It was the best thing we could have done for ourselves. I had such a hard time breathing with all the wheezing. Now my lungs are clearer. My house smells great and the walls are clean. What a great gift I gave myself.
We did it too: |
