Sandi's Quit Smoking Story

I am a 47 year old woman who successfully quit smoking 2 years ago. The journey was a long one, but I did it, and cannot tell you the benefits that I currently am experiencing.

I began smoking when I was 15, and it was to fit in with the crowd. I still remember coughing with each puff, none the less, I kept on so I could be cool. Soon I became a pro, and by the end of high school, I was smoking a pack a day.

As I got older and daily stress factors played a role in my life, I found myself smoking more. The highest amount finally reached 2 packs per day. I tried several times, heck, many times to quit, but always went back to smoking.

It was after the birth of my grand-daughter in 1999 that the thoughts of quitting kept popping into my head. I guess this was due to the fact that she was a new baby, and that made these feelings to quit surface again. I felt this same way when each of my 4 children were born.

My daughter managed to quit in January of 2000, right after the birth of her daughter. How proud I was for her and how wonderful this would be for me to do also....just not yet. It was in 2001 when my new way of life happened.

My grandbaby was constantly telling me: "Grammy, you stink". This did not make me feel good! As a matter of fact, it really upset me. I then realized that my cigarettes were really disgusting to her. After all, she was being raised in a smoke free environment.

After a lot of soul searching, I woke up one morning(12/3/01), and decided this was the day. I threw out the few cigarettes I had and began my journey. The first few days were tough, but not as bad as I thought it would be. On the 7th day however, I thought I was coming out of my skin! I was shaking and crying. It was almost unbearable. I told my oldest boy, then 18, that I could not do this anymore. He urged me to wait for dad to come home. I promised I would. Hubby came home with a bouquet of roses and a warm hug of support, and took me out to dinner. He said if I did not feel better, we would go get the patch and give it a try. The feeling subsided, and we went home without the patch.

That was it. I made it over the worst part, and the rest of the story is history. Yes, there were times when I considered smoking again. You know the age-old excuses...bad day, stress, etc. I realized they were excuses and remembering the overall calm I felt after the nicotine withdrawal left my body that evening has helped me. Never again did I want to experience that.

You may ask, did I gain weight? The answer is yes. I gained 40 pounds as a matter of fact. This was not something I wanted to do as I was already overweight. But, in the end, I am better for having quit. Since April of 2003, I have lost 30 pounds, with 16 left to goal.

My life is great and my health is better. If you are thinking of quitting, don't hesitate to do it now. It will be the best thing you ever did for you.

I hope this can inspire or help just one person to stop.

Best of luck to all!

Sandi(WVSandi)
non-smoker for 2 yrs