Advertisement Johnson, 40, of Onalaska, had smoked since high school. She quit smoking during her three pregnancies while she was in her 20s, but then she started smoking again.
She quit smoking on Sept. 28, 2007, and hasn’t smoked since. She said she had wanted to quit for a long time, but never had the support. Then she was referred to Franciscan Skemp’s tobacco treatment services.
“I had a lot of support and I stuck to my guns,” Johnson said. “The medication Chantix helped me get me over the hump, but it was support and planning that made the difference.”
Johnson said her motivation to quit was that she didn’t feel healthy, she was tired of smelling like smoke and she wanted to breathe easier.
“I feel so much better. It is easier to breathe and I sleep better,” she said.
Smokers should use the 33rd Great American Smokeout on Thursday to think about quitting and begin preparations, said Susan Lundsten, Gundersen Lutheran wellness educational specialist who oversees smoking cessation programs.
“Smokers need to discover what will motivate them to stop — and it’s different for each person — and what help they will need to make that change,” Lundsten said.
Budd, a 61-year-old retired Army veteran from La Crescent, Minn., enrolled in Gundersen Lutheran’s Journey to Freedom Nicotine Cessation program. His motivation to quit was the contradiction between his fitness and smoking.
“Fitness was always a part of my life, and smoking was contrary to fitness,” Budd said. “It also was about honesty. I was a closet smoker and I felt I was not being totally honest with my Christian lifestyle.”
Budd smoked one to two packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years. Now he hasn’t smoked for four years.
“I thought about quitting for many years, but I couldn’t imagine life without smoking,” he said. “But now there is a sense of gratitude for not smoking anymore, and I feel much better each day.”
Budd said a nicotine patch and nicotine gum helped him, and the smoking cessation program gave him the tools to continue to stay smokefree.
“Most smokers think about quitting, so my advice to smokers is explore different smoking cessation programs — and keep trying to quit and be relentless,” Budd said.
The American Cancer Society initiated the Great American Smokeout in 1976 to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for one day. Now, 44 percent of the 45.3 million Americans who smoke have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year.
Lundsten said it’s important to set a quit date and develop a plan that includes support and medication.
Ben Crenshaw, coordinator of tobacco treatment services at Franciscan Skemp in La Crosse and Sparta, said Franciscan Skemp rolled out its first major tobacco treatment program with an emphasis on individualized counseling last summer.
“Before people quit, they need to value the importance of quitting and improve their confidence in their ability to quit,” he said.
Smokers need to know their triggers for smoking and how they’re going to deal with those triggers when they quit, he said.
“They need to find positive replacements for those triggers, and figure out what is going to get in the way of being successful,” Crenshaw said.
QUIT SMOKING PLAN
Pick a quit day. This is a very important step. Pick a specific day within the next month as your quit day. Picking a date too far in the future gives you time to rationalize and change your mind. But do give yourself enough time to prepare and come up with a plan.
Tell friends and family of your quit day.
Get rid of all the cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work.
Stock up on oral substitutes — sugarless gum, carrot sticks, and/or hard candy.
Decide on a plan. Will you use nicotine replacement therapy, or other medicines? Will you attend a stop-smoking class? If so, sign up now.
Practice saying “No thank you, I don’t smoke.”
Set up a support system. This could be a group class, Nicotine Anonymous, or a friend or family member who has successfully quit and is willing to help you. Ask family and friends who still smoke not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out where you can see them.
Think back to your past attempts to quit. Try to figure out what worked and what did not work for you.
Source: American Cancer Society
5 GREAT REASONS TO QUIT SMOKING
Odds are you will be around longer for your family and friends. Each year, smoking accounts for an estimated 438,000 deaths, including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related diseases.
You can set a good example for your children or for young people around you.
You will experience an increase in your sense of taste and smell, which makes food taste better. Your clothes, breath, hair, home and car will smell better.
You will have fewer wrinkles.
You will be more pleasant to be around and it will be a joy for a loved one to kiss you again.
Source: American Cancer Society
QUIT SMOKING HELP
Toll-free quit lines: Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line offers free expert counseling, self-help materials, referrals and information for family and friends. Hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. In Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).
Gundersen Lutheran Journey to Freedom Nicotine Cessation Clinic, (608) 775-5442 or 1-800-362-9567, ext. 55442, starting dates Jan. 19 and Feb. 5.
Gundersen Lutheran’s “Getting You Started to Stop,” four weekly sessions start Dec. 3 and 4; Jan. 6 and 8, (608) 775-5442.
Franciscan Skemp Tobacco Treatment Services, 1-877-778-8771, physician’s referral required.
Anna wrote on Nov 24, 2008 3:31 PM: