Success Stories
Join us in celebrating success at quitting smoking! Our Success Story program recognizes individuals who have overcome obstacles during their quit, and Support Group members who have made significant efforts at helping others.
Every month we publish the most inspiring success story.
To read the stories of past monthly winners, please visit our Hall of Fame.
Please join us in celebrating this month's winner!
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Recipient:
Sparky Quit Date: April 30, 2007 We are thrilled to present to you a very special quitter and
newest member of the SSC Hall of Fame! Please enjoy the story,
determination and drive of a great quitter and join us in welcoming
Sparky to the Hall of Fame. Sparky’s Smoking History When we asked Sparky about her smoking history, she told us the same
thing so many other smokers tell us – she started at they young age of
12 because she wanted to be cool and fit it. One day while hanging out
at a local park, Sparky was offered a cigarette by a group of older
girls and accepted their offer. She took her first puff and coughed and
gagged while the other girls laughed at her. Having really low self
esteem and wanting to fit in, she spent the summer learning how to
smoke and practicing inhaling the smoke into her lungs. It took some
patience but by the end of the summer of 1956 she was a smoker. Being
so young, Sparky wasn’t able to get her hands on cigarettes very often,
but would smoke when she could. When she was old enough to buy
cigarettes on her own she started smoking a pack and a half to two
packs a day for over 50 years. She was known for always having a lit
cigarette in hand. In 2002 Sparky finally decided to try quitting and decided to use
Zyban to help her. Late into her first day she was confronted with the
worst trigger she’s faced to date. She’s not quite sure how she made it
home, but she arrived and had some cigarettes lying around, so she
started to smoke again. Since then, Sparky’s lost count of the amount
of times she has tried to quit and has tried many quit aids to help
her. She’s learned something from each quit and used her knowledge to
prepare herself for this finally quit. She decided to use Chantix and
found the SSC and quit for good. Sparky was motivated to quit smoking from past events but also
because she was just getting tired of many failed quit attempts. Sparky
tells us that warning bells started going off for her to quit 12 years
ago but she stuffed her ears full of cotton so she couldn’t hear them.
It was at this time that her oldest sister died of lung cancer. She was
her best friend, her children were Sparky’s children, they did crafts
together and spoke everyday for 30 years. She had quit smoking for 13
years and still died. Shortly after the passing of her oldest sister
her other sister died from lung cancer. She had never quit, but begged
Sparky to quit. A couple years after this, her brother also died from
smoking related cancers. The thought of quitting tore at Sparky’s
conscious constantly but she was too afraid of quitting to let it go. She was starting to feel like a hypocrite knowing what could happen
and continuing to smoke. She found the SSC almost two years ago and
started to read and learn the physical and emotional feelings that
smokers go through when they are quitting. She also found a lot of
really wonderful people that supported her through her slips and ups
and downs. Her husband was also a wonderful motivation and supported
her in all of her decisions. She really wanted to quit cold turkey but
decided with the help of her doctor that Chantix was right for her.
With the help of family, friends, the SSC and Chantix, Sparky gathered
all the motivation she could for this final quit attempt. What was different about this final quit? Sparky tells us that Chantix made all the difference in the world
for her final quit. It helped her get through some rough spots and made
her quit more comfortable. She also couldn’t have done it without the
help of her husband, online and offline friends. In her past quit
attempts she had gathered a lot of knowledge that along with her
friends and family helped her prepare for this quit. She hit her first
major milestone at 50 days and was so proud and relieved that she had
been smoke free for the longest she’d ever been. There were a few ups
and downs in between her first milestone and 5 months, but when she
realized it was complacency, everything quickly got better. Today
smoking is not an issue and she sees the world in a new light. What did you use or what techniques did you use to resist cravings? When we asked Sparky about cravings she told us “cravings are a
strange monster”. She never knew what to expect and sometimes her
cravings would get so bad that she gave in knowing full well what she
was doing. For previous quit attempts, she could not handle the
cravings. This time, the Chantix really helped take the edge off. She started
to learn her danger zone and triggers and how to cope with them. She
learned through the site that exercise and drinking water were great
ways for her to cope. She also contributes deep breathing and doing
affirmations to helping her get over a few cravings. When faced with a
craving these days, she knows they will fade shortly and just waits for
them to go. Did you have any major slips? And if you did, what did you learn? Sparky had many slips on her journey to quit smoking, some major and
others not. She tells us “I learned that N.O.P.E. means just that, Not
One Puff Ever!” Quitting was a process for Sparky and each time she
slipped she was so disappointed that she was smoking again. She finally
decided that she didn’t want to have to endure the heartbreak of going
back to smoking all the time so for her final quit she lived by N.O.P.E. Do you have insight or advice for others? “Preparation is so important when you want to give up smoking and
move on with life. For those of you wanting to quit: get prepared! Read
and understand what quitting is about. Learn what it will do to you
mentally and physically.” She found that the SSC was a treasure chest
of useful information. She found million of ideas to help her prepare
for her quit and distract her to get through the cravings by reading
other quitter’s strategies. Some other advice that Sparky has to offer
is: “If you can, find a quit buddy.” Online or offline, the support and
help that they offer throughout the quitting process are priceless. “If
you smoke again, it is not the end of the world. Take a look at where
you could have done something differently and quit again. What kept me
going was some advice I received from someone: ‘never ever give up
quitting, one day you will quit’.” |