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“I
Did it!” Another success story
Tom Casper of Beloit Quit Smoking by Asking for Help
Tom
Casper |
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Tom
Casper, a former smoker from Beloit, has a range of weapons to
combat the urge to smoke--"from toothpicks to God,"
he said with a chuckle. "I hope I don't come down with Dutch
Elm disease from all those toothpicks I chew on!"
But after
almost a year off cigarettes, Tom knows that the process of quitting
is no joke. "It takes a while for the intellectual message
to filter from your head down to your heart," he said. Tom
said he first had to become "humble enough to realize that
I'm not in control." And that's when the support system approach
to quitting started to make sense. "Of course, it varies
from person to person," he said. |
The support system
he used included the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line. Studies show that
Quit Line counseling can improve your chances threefold over attempting
to quit "cold turkey" (without assistance). "Even though
intellectually I wanted to quit, I needed their encouragement to help
me believe I could quit," Tom said. "The more I talked to
them, the harder I tried. Follow up was very helpful, and the materials
were great."
Although Tom has
successfully quit smoking, he knows that the urge to smoke may never
completely go away. "But now I know I can deal with it."
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