John had been smoking for 46 years and before he became smoke free, he would smoke around 20 – 25 cigarettes a day.
Unfortunately, John had gone to hospital with an umbilical hernia and was told he needed surgery but the consultant would not operate until he was smoke free. Although being told to give up by a medical professional can feel discouraging rather than inspiring, John seized the opportunity for a better quality of life, saying: “What am I doing smoking anyway? None of my friends or family smoke. Every time I want a cigarette, I have to break conversations to go outside, often in the rain with my little umbrella, to the bottom of the garden. I wanted to have a real go at giving up smoking and was so determined not to give in.”
Subsequently, John contacted his GP for support and they gave him our contact details. He was promptly put in contact with Lisa, one of our expert health improvement practitioners and it was a success story all the way…
Lisa provided John with specialised, one-to-one ongoing support, offering encouragement and understanding of the nicotine addiction process. Together they developed a personalised quit plan that included a quit date, strategies to cope with cravings, withdrawal symptoms, how to manage triggers, and more.
To further assist John with his quit attempt, Lisa talked through all the stop smoking medications available. Of all the options he decided to quit smoking with the aid of nicotine patches and an inhalator. He found the dual approach of combining the patches with the inhalator to be highly effective at suppressing cravings, saying: “I didn’t have any cravings when I had my patch on and if I felt like I needed something instant to distract myself from having a cigarette I’d use the inhalator. It’s amazing after 46 years of smoking that I don’t want a cigarette. I thought it would be a really bad nightmare! It’s actually been a really good journey.”
John was delighted to discover that becoming smoke free comes with many health benefits, saying: “I’ve got a big boxer dog and I’ve noticed a difference with walking the dog up the hills in the parks. It’s shocking how much better I feel in such a short space of time. Before, when I was smoking, I would get easily breathless when going up the hills but now I shot up them! I used to have a constant dry cough and that’s completely gone. I feel like I’ve got so much more energy. In the mornings now when I have my coffee, I don’t even think about having a cigarette. I do my coffee, get the dog ready and then we’re gone.”
In addition to the health benefits, John is also enjoying significant financial benefits, saying: “I’m saving around £200 a month by not smoking and you’ve also got to take into consideration the papers and the filters. It’s a lot of money. My wife has opened a savings account and puts all the money I would have spent on smoking back to save for a holiday to New York to see family.”
In a final statement, John expressed how much he valued having Lisa by his side, saying: “I think that if I didn’t have support, I wouldn’t know what I was doing but Lisa pointed me in the right direction. I think that if I didn’t have support I wouldn’t know what I was doing. I don’t think I would have quit without her. She called me every Monday and it felt good to have that back up there.”
Clearly, becoming smoke free has been the best decision that John has ever made from better health to better wealth to significantly reducing the chances of any complications occurring during his surgical procedure.
Lisa said: “I felt John was slightly wary at the start of his journey as he had never really tried to give up but he was very keen to do so due to his impending operation. He set his mind to it and found it easier than he thought. It was a pleasure to support John on his smokefree journey and am so pleased he will now have a happier, healthier future. Well done John!”