"I decided that at the end of November I would give up smoking, so I contacted SmokeFree Hull in December, as I wanted to put the feelers out initially. It’s a big decision, so first I set myself a pre-set limit, as to what I was going to do, which helped get it into my head what I wanted to achieve, and then set an actual quit date later on.
I think it’s important to really prepare yourself for big changes in your life, rather than just suddenly stopping smoking, as it can make you feel ill before it makes you feel better. It can take up to a year before you feel better, but I’ve already felt so much healthier in just six months.
When my daughter was in her 30s, I was her kidney donor, and I stopped smoking for two years while I donated my kidney to her. However, as soon as I’d had the operation, I went straight back to smoking. I felt like it was my reward for going through all that, which I know is silly to say now.
My motivation to quit was for my health and finances. The cost was getting ridiculous, at £14 a packet, and my health was getting bad as well. I’m 63 years old, and I want to live a long and happy life, and I thought, 'this isn’t going to happen if I carry on smoking.'
When I started with the service, I opted to use patches as my stop smoking treatment, and I had no problem using these. I had them for about six weeks, and then I went away to visit my daughter, and I forgot to take them with me. I just forgot all about them altogether, which was amazing.
It’s all about breaking your routine. I wanted to break the habit of the hand-to-mouth action, so I didn’t want to use a vape, either. I had a pen in my hand for a little while, but it’s more about breaking that habitual behaviour.
Stopping smoking has saved me £1,300 so we’ve booked an extra holiday this year to Cyprus. I don’t cough as much as I used to, and my breathing is so much better. I suffer from high blood pressure, but this has reduced now too.
I had a flare up of my arthritis and I was in hospital a while back, which was a really stressful situation and made me want a cigarette as a coping mechanism. But I’m glad to say that I didn’t have one. I’ve gone so long without one now that I didn’t want to break the chain.
My Stop Smoking Advisor Emily was lovely. I felt really cared for, and that she had my best interest at heart. She was really knowledgeable about all the products that I could try, and she would ring me every week to check in. I realised I looked forward to speaking with her every week, I wanted someone to talk to, outside of my family. She was someone that encouraged me and said how proud she was of my achievement. If I ever got worried about things, she was always there for me.
If I were to pass on any advice to others, I would say to plan your day ahead, and plan stopping. Previously I would say, ‘I’ll give up tomorrow’, and that wouldn’t work. You need to set a goal. Plan one week, then two weeks - whatever it is - and plan when it’s going to happen. For me, it was New Year’s Eve, I had 15 cigarettes left, so we finished those, then scrunched up the package and threw it away. And that was the last cigarette that I’ve ever had.
I’m really grateful to Emily and the service for their support. I feel really proud of myself, and I don’t think about having a cigarette at all, it’s just not part of my routine anymore."