Gary Cain, of Roxburgh, with Central Otago Stop Smoking Coach Alison Milne My name is Gary Cain and I have been trying to stop smoking for almost three decades.
At 58-years-old I started noticing how badly smoking 60 grams of tobacco a week was affecting my health. I would cough through every cigarette and my wife told me I sounded like a crying baby at night because of my wheezing.
I’d been smoking since I was 13-years-old and I really enjoyed the habit but I knew I needed to do something about it. It hit the wallet hard too, and in the end I was spending about $200 a fortnight, sometimes more.
I tried to stop smoking in 1990. I tried chewing gum, I tried patches, I tried cutting back, I tried changing my habits. You name it, over the next few years I tried it.
Nothing worked. I really believed I was never going to be able to stop. The addiction was too strong. But I was determined to continue trying!
I had heard about the Southern Stop Smoking Service, and after a visit to the Medical Centre here in Roxburgh I was referred.
I met the stop smoking coach and she gave me the nicotine replacement therapy I needed and showed me how to use it properly.
That was seven months ago and I haven’t had one cigarette.
I sometimes sit there and shake my head and think a year ago I just would not have believed I’d be here. But, surprisingly, I didn’t find it a struggle and I’m amazed at how easy it was to stop smoking.
My son and son-in-law have even been encouraged by my success and they’ve also referred themselves to the Southern Stop Smoking Service!
I still consider myself addicted to nicotine because I have to wear the patches and suck the lozenges, but it’s been months now and I honestly can’t ever see myself having a cigarette again.
I don’t miss it at all.
At 58-years-old I started noticing how badly smoking 60 grams of tobacco a week was affecting my health. I would cough through every cigarette and my wife told me I sounded like a crying baby at night because of my wheezing.
I’d been smoking since I was 13-years-old and I really enjoyed the habit but I knew I needed to do something about it. It hit the wallet hard too, and in the end I was spending about $200 a fortnight, sometimes more.
I tried to stop smoking in 1990. I tried chewing gum, I tried patches, I tried cutting back, I tried changing my habits. You name it, over the next few years I tried it.
Nothing worked. I really believed I was never going to be able to stop. The addiction was too strong. But I was determined to continue trying!
I had heard about the Southern Stop Smoking Service, and after a visit to the Medical Centre here in Roxburgh I was referred.
I met the stop smoking coach and she gave me the nicotine replacement therapy I needed and showed me how to use it properly.
That was seven months ago and I haven’t had one cigarette.
I sometimes sit there and shake my head and think a year ago I just would not have believed I’d be here. But, surprisingly, I didn’t find it a struggle and I’m amazed at how easy it was to stop smoking.
My son and son-in-law have even been encouraged by my success and they’ve also referred themselves to the Southern Stop Smoking Service!
I still consider myself addicted to nicotine because I have to wear the patches and suck the lozenges, but it’s been months now and I honestly can’t ever see myself having a cigarette again.
I don’t miss it at all.
