Hello Fellow Quitters!
I am new to the community and glad to finally be here. I know absolutely nothing about writing a "blog" or how this site works in general but I'm going to stay here and learn as I go and continue to NOT SMOKE.
I am 57 years old and a couple of months ago I realized that I have been smoking - pretty much full time - for 44 YEARS!!! That amazed me and was the final "sign" that helped me make the decision to finally QUIT FOR GOOD.
I had to have some intense oral surgery on July 11th, 2016 (43 days ago). So about 10 days prior to that Monday I set my quit date as 7/11/16. I told my friends and put it on every calendar I own. I worked my way down to 3 cigs a day and two days before the 11th, I smoked 2 per day,...leaving one lonely cigarette in it's pack in my freezer about 10 or 11 pm Saturday night, July 9th. On Sunday morning, 7/10, I awoke early (for me) and went for a seriously intense walk (again,..for me) and kept myself very busy and sweating almost all day. I had two pretty strong urges to deal with that day and I got through them the best way that works for me,...another seriously intense walk. At 10 pm Sunday evening after I had gotten everything ready for my surgery trip the next day, showered and walked the dog called and confirmed my ride to & from my surgery, I sat out on my porch and very slowly and deliberately smoked that last lonely cigarette that was in my freezer. I enjoyed that cigarette more than I had any others for a long, long time and I went through a couple of serious emotions, the first of which was extreme sadness. I felt like I was saying goodbye forever to my very closest friend. It was a real WOW moment for me when I put that last cigarette out. I then walked out to my outdoor trashcan and threw away the last ashtray from inside my home. I caught myself quietly whispering the Serenity Prayer as I walked back into my home and went to bed.
I FORGOT TO MENTION TO WHOEVER MAY READ THIS - I ASKED FOR AND BEGAN TAKING CHANTIX EXACTLY TWO WEEKS BEFORE JULY 11TH, 2016!!!
So far, and sometimes just a moment at a time,..I've been completely NICOTINE FREE;.I haven't had even one puff from a cigarette, though I need to admit that I have a Blu e-cig with 0% nicotine (cherry flavored). I actually used that today for a couple of puffs. I've used it 6 or 7 times since I've been ncotine free. I don't know if that's a bad thing but it has kept me completely free from nicotine, tars, whatever other chemicals are in cigarettes, etc.
I'd love to hear from any/all of you that are trudging this same journey that I am, whether you've succeeded for a very long time or whether you're just beginning the journey to being a NON SMOKER!!!
Thanks for "listening" to my rambling and I'm looking forward to having some real conversations with you soon, if I can learn how to do that.
Lisa
