Stories of Hope

Hello, my name is Harold Wilson and I am a non-smoker that had a two pack-a-day habit for 42 years. My last day of smoking was on May 30, 2006 at 6:00 A.M. That morning I got out of bed, got my coffee, newspaper and cigarettes and went to the garage to do what I had done for many years. Read, wake up with fresh coffee and abuse my body with my all important first smoke of the day. After my coffee and three cigarettes, I walked back into the house, threw what was left of a pack of cigarettes and my lighter into the trash and headed for the shower, wondering if I could possibly go without smoking for even one day, or for that matter, one hour. I was 60 years old and had been a heavy smoker since I was 18. When I started smoking it was because my buddies smoked and I needed to keep up with the trend. No one said it was a health risk, that would come later. I don't know at what point in time the risk to health information became available, but I knew I should quit, but how.

I now want to go back in time to 1997 when my wife and I had a daughter. I quit smoking in the house and in the car when I was around her because she had some health problems and smoke would only compound the problems. During this same time smoking was becoming an issue just about anywhere people gather. I felt like I could not enjoy a meal because I would not take my daughter into the smoking area of a restaurant and after we ate I would have to stand outside and smoke before getting in the car to go home. It became a royal pain to find the time and place to smoke. Something I knew I could not quit because I enjoyed it too much and I was hooked. As my daughter got older and started school she was taught how bad tobacco is for us and ask me several times to quit because she did not want me to die. A first class guilt trip.

A few months ago in 2006, I am not sure of the date but, University Hospital put in place a procedure that would not allow the use of tobacco products on the property. I was angry to say the least. Another one of my choices taken from me, an adult that knew his own mind, dumb as it was. As I went through the prospect of withdrawal from cigarettes I started giving it more thought that this could be my chance to give quitting a try. The hospital offered to help us by giving classes and medicines to help us, at a low or no cost. I joined with no real hope anticipated. Prior to the May 30 date several of us went to classes talked about not smoking and chewed our finger nails. I think 12 of us started class and four of us actually quit. We chewed gum, wore patches, took pills and growled at each other but we made it. After I quit, every day my daughter would ask if I was OK and give me a hug. It was worth the effort.

I have been smoke free for almost a year and there are times when the urge is still there but it is less and less as time passes. I have been fortunate, I have no medical problems. I have had a complete physical, chest x-ray and stress test with everything being positive. I have always gone to the gym and tried to keep myself in good physical shape and that is probably what has helped me the most.

I am going to retire in September and have a part-time job as a personal trainer at a gym. I work with older people, because I am an older people, and I understand some of the problems that come with age. Some I train are smokers in the 60's and I never miss the opportunity to tell them that I was a smoker and quit after 42 years. My message to them, simply, is that they can quit.