An Ex-Smoker's Journey

My awesome Mom has written a guest blog about her quitting smoking.  We hope that her experience can help others in their struggle to quit!  Enjoy!
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Quit Smoking? You have to be kidding, right? I have been smoking for 36 years. You notice I didn't say off and on, right? Quit once for 3 days-when I had pneumonia, but then the cigarettes won. I don't like to be beaten by anyone, let alone cigarettes. My family seems to think I'm a little on the stubborn side, I don't see it but they do. Cut down some when I was pregnant with the kids (at that time, doctors didn't push to have you quit, they were more worried about weight gain). Let me tell you I enjoyed smoking (in between the coughing) very much, more of an addiction rather than a habit.

My children have been after me and their dad to quit smoking since they were in grade school-they both are in their thirties now. Nothing they could say or do was going to have us succeed at quitting, it was something that we needed to do for ourselves.

I got very ill last summer with pneumonia with other complications. I left the hospital after an eleven day stay with oxygen in tow. Funny, the first thing I did when I got home was take off the oxygen, turn off the machine, and step out on the deck to light up, of course. Eleven days in the hospital without a cigarette, and what did I do? Smoke. Going without a cigarette in the hospital was not my decision, but the hospital's and my inability physically to get outside to the smoking area.

It took a couple of attempts to pass a breathing test in order to have the oxygen removed from the house (I was allowed to go during the day without, but as my breathing was shallow when I slept, the oxygen level dropped too low at night).

My husband Fred and I decided to give quitting a try. I left the hospital with a prescription for Chantix.  During my follow-up with our family doctor, he wrote a prescription for Fred too as he recently battled a bronchial infection.

We set the date, Sunday August 8th. We discussed the possibility of failure and agreed that if this didn't do it, we would try again in a couple of months, which of course shows you the confidence we had to succeed, right? On Saturday night, we got out the Chantix and read the directions. You are suppose to start with a weaker dose and continue to smoke for a week, so our stop dead date changed to August 15th, and then to Monday the 16th.

Monday, August 16th arrives. I go to work and Fred stays home (and works hard as we are in the middle of finishing our basement). Monday, a workday, what was I thinking? I cut out a lot of the smokes (I could smoke 2, use the ladies and get a cup of coffee in my normal 15 minute break) that day, but still smoked 7 or 8. Low and behold, when I got home, Fred had stuck with the plan and went the entire day. I didn't think he would succeed, so maybe I didn't try as hard as I could have. I mentally set the date of Saturday to quit.

Saturday, August 21st arrives. Okay, this is it. I will give it my best try. We are still working on the basement and needed to go out for more finishing products (can't remember if it was paint or carpet). I was having a tough day trying to not think about smoking (though to be perfectly honest, that is all I thought of). Napped in the afternoon, but the day was long............................... I was without my best friend. Something I could count on to get me through, something to ease the stress and strain of life.

Sunday, more of the same. Long day, nap in the afternoon to shorten the waking hours and thinking about having a cigarette. Monday, back at work. What a long day. I didn't realize how long a 15 minute break was without stepping outside to smoke. The hardest part of the day was leaving work, no cigarette to ease the pressures of the day. Days 4 and 5, more of the same. After day 5, it started to get easier for me. I felt better even after the first day, and each day there after. Less coughing, sleeping a little better.

I counted my success in days. Finally, got to counting as four weeks, five, six and seven. Then 2 months. Fred and I quit taking the Chantix at about the 2 month mark. The prescription suggests 6 months, but we didn't need anything else to have to quit!

Now, 13 months and still counting! Funny, I didn't think I would succeed, so never had that memorable last cigarette! Maybe that's the secret. Maybe its the Chantix. There are side effects as with all medications. Since I didn't sleep in a deep sleep before, I didn't have the strange dreams that others have experienced. Fred dreamt about his life 35-40 years ago when his father was still alive, not bad dreams, just vivid.

Quitting has to be your idea and no one else's. You can't quit for your kids, grandkids, spouse or parents. You have to do it for yourself! Now, I'm not saying that you don't need the support of family and friends and someone to brag to each day, week and month of your success. The more people you tell about your choice, the more you do not want to let them down! I still love the smell of cigarettes, don't yet think they stink, and haven't really noticed that food tastes better. All of the things ex-smokers say, I can't say happened. But I can say that our entire family is proud and supportive, and that's the important part!

I have tried to not be a nagging ex-smoker, but if you need help, talk with your doctor about your options. I'm glad I quit, and you will be too.