I Enrolled In the Program Today

I called Quit Smoking—Your Way!, the Trust’s tobacco cessation program, and spoke with a very helpful woman from Harris Health Trends (HHT). HHT is a health management company that provides the support of specialists for several Trust programs.

She and I discussed whether a web, mail or phone program would work best for me. I’m going with the web option, but I’m glad that even with the web option I’ll get a few supporting phone calls. I think the human interaction will be important.

The program advisor told me to watch for an email with an authorization code that would give me access to the program web site. This web site is called “MyHealthMedia,” which is for the Quit Smoking—Your Way! program. (The multiple names make it a little confusing, in my opinion.)

• You can call Quit Smoking—Your Way! at (800) 546-9049.
• The program is available free to Trust subscribers, as well as spouses and dependents ages 18 to 25 who have a Trust health plan as their primary insurance.
• You’ll get a free three-month supply of cessation aids just for enrolling in the program, including Zyban (a medication), a nicotine patch, gum, a nasal spray, an inhaler or a lozenge. I need to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of these aids before I select one.

The Smoking Journal

As promised last week, I began using the smoking journal (from the Resources section on this blog) last Saturday. It’s interesting to see how many cigarettes I light when my urge to smoke is only moderate. And yes, triggers that set off the urge to smoke are emerging. They’re pretty predictable: after a meal, when I’m waking up (a very slow, painful process) and when I’m stressed.

Cutting Back

A big revelation from yesterday’s smoking journal was the fact that I only smoked 11 cigarettes all day—without trying to cut back. This inspired me to seriously apply myself to smoking fewer cigarettes today.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to access the Quit Smoking-Your Way! web site.

There are a lot of reasons for stopping my tobacco habit. I’m sure you feel this way too. I thought I’d list a few. If you have reasons for quitting that I haven’t thought of, it would be great if you would share them.

Health, Health, Health, of Course
We’ve heard it before: one in two lifetime smokers will die from a smoking-related disease. Cancer, heart disease, stroke and emphysema are the common killers, but smoking also impacts health in other ways.

Smoking can cause impotence, increase your chances of getting rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gum disease and age-related macular degeneration. Smoking doubles the risk of sudden infant death syndrome if the mother smoked during pregnancy. Smoking speeds up mental decline if you get Alzheimer’s Disease. And smoking causes WRINKLES.

Second-Hand Smoke
We’ve all smoked around loved ones (and strangers) who are nonsmokers. I’ll be the first to admit that it just isn’t fair to expose them to second-hand smoke, which truly can be life-threatening.

Social Stigma
I attended a wellness conference last summer. After lunch, I really needed a cigarette. Know what I did? I hid behind bushes! Really! The social stigma associated with tobacco use has become huge. Right or wrong, people do form opinions about us just because we smoke.

Setting a Good Example
Children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to smoke. Need I say more?

Susan’s Secret-Why I Really, Really Need to Quit
Two years ago, my 37-year-old brother died of esophageal cancer. John was a nonsmoker, competitive athlete and vegetarian. And he was a tremendous person. Weeks ago, our uncle also died of esophageal cancer. Another uncle had surgery to reduce his risk after it was determined that he has a precancerous condition of the esophagus. My sister and I have been diagnosed with a milder condition of the esophagus which can become cancerous.

Isn’t it stupid that I continue smoking, given my family history and the fact that smoking is a major risk for developing esophageal cancer?!!!

I can’t explain why I haven’t quit yet. I almost licked the habit when John was being treated for his cancer. But I have to do this thing NOW!

For the last two weeks or so, I’ve been getting all kinds of questions and humorous (!) remarks about the blog going live and me kicking my cigarette habit. My co-worker, Kurt, says he can’t wait to catch me behind a bush with a cigarette. He promises he’ll have a camera for the event. Honestly, though, all the support I’ve gotten helps a lot.

I was telling an associate that I cut back to four or five cigarettes a day a few years ago using the following method:

• I made a slash mark on my cigarette pack for every cigarette I smoked. Keeping track of each cigarette made me think about my smoking more. I’m going to use a smoking journal (you can download one by going to the resources section of this blog) for a few days over the weekend and next week. This will help me identify triggers that make me want to smoke and spot those cigarettes I really only light out of habit.

• After I made my slash marks, I would set a goal for the number of cigarettes I’d smoke the next day–dropping a couple of cigarettes each day until the number I smoked was quite low. Then I eliminated one cigarette a day. Although I didn’t anticipate this, I found satisfaction and a sense of achievement meeting these goals. May sound corny, but it’s true.

• I then began stretching the time between smokes or delaying routine cigarettes like the first one in the morning or the important after-dinner cigarette.

The nonsmoking associate I shared this method with asked what would happen if I allotted myself a given number of cigarettes each day, reducing that number on a daily basis. He suggested that I keep the cigarettes in a case, not the pack, so I wouldn’t have easy access to additional cigarettes.

This idea was intriguing because I know I’d delay cigarettes for fear that I’d run out before the end of the day. Thanks for the great idea, Pranav.

Some people swear by the cold-turkey method, but I’m not sure that going abruptly from 20 to zero cigarettes would work for me. We’ll see what advice the Quit Smoking–Your Way! pros give me next week.

Welcome to Callin’ it Quits, a tobacco-cessation blog sanctioned by WEA Trust. The blog will chronicle the adventures of Susan Morris (that’s me) as I go through Quit Smoking–Your Way!, the Trust’s tobacco cessation program.

I need you to help me with your ideas and encouragement as I go through this process. (ordeal?) I’ll do the same for you. We’ll also regularly add new information and tools–anything that works, right?

I’m a health writer at the Trust so, yes, I sure should know better than to smoke. Every work day I read about all the diseases and conditions caused by smoking.

I’ve promised to quit before. In fact, I vowed I’d quit by the time I turned 40. Heck, I didn’t even try. I did quit during my pregnancies when the motivation was so high. I’m sure not willing to go to that length to quit now!

Well, I’m going to do it. On May 8, I’ll call Quit Smoking–Your Way! and see what my first steps will be. I’ll keep you posted.

I hope you’ll become a regular participant to Callin’ it Quits. You can lurk silently in the background or contribute regularly. Hopefully, some of you will decide to quit with me.