I Can Quit!

Recently, a man from Porter County, Indiana was interviewed who said that after 50 years, and a severe heart attack, he was finally able to quit smoking. I thought you might be interested in an article about Mr. Watkin:

“For smokers trying to quit the habit, James Watkin of Valparaiso may be the perfect role model. After more than 50 years of smoking cigarettes, Watkin quit smoking last year at the age of 77. His example proves the point that it’s never too late make new, healthier choices.

            Even when he began smoking in the 1950s, Watkin knew that it wasn’t a good choice for his health. However, he began smoking while serving in the military in Korea from 1953-1954.

            “(The military) didn’t encourage it, but they didn’t say anything against it,” Watkin said. “If I hadn’t been in
Korea I don’t think I even would have started.

            Watkin remembers back when smoking was an acceptable social habit, but he never personally approved of it. When he was younger, Watkin remembers seeing commercials in which doctors advocated one brand of cigarettes over another.

            “Nowadays, if you found a doctor who smoked, he would be ostracized,” Watkin said.

            Although he smoked for many years, Watkin was aware of the health risks, especially after his brother, a nonsmoker, died of lung cancer. Watkin tried to keep his own habit in check.

            “I’ve met a few people that smoked three or four packs a day. A pack a day is all I let myself to. Even then, as the price went up it got expensive,” Watkin said.

            “We had kids, and I didn’t want to smoke in front of them,” Watkin said.

            Watkin says that none of his five children smoke. “They got tired of seeing their dad and what he did, and they never started,” Watkin said.

            “I’ve often thought, ‘Why did I keep it up?’” he mused. “It’s a habit I suppose, and you have a craving for it.”

            “Death was the furthest thing from my mind (when I started). But when you get to be my age…”

            Last year, after 55 years of smoking, Watkin suffered a severe heart attack that landed him in the hospital. Doctors blame his smoking habit for the life-threatening attack.

            “The doctor told me ‘Mister, you’re very fortunate you’re still alive. You had two arteries blocked and that’s because you smoked,” Watkin said. “That scares you, for a doctor to tell you that you’re lucky to be alive.”

            “That day my son came home with my wife, and I didn’t know it at the time, but they threw (my cigarettes) away.”

            While in the hospital, Watkin experienced his first day without cigarettes in more than five decades. Doctors had to call his wife to come to the hospital to keep him calm and get him through the first nicotine cravings. Watkin’s insurance helped him purchase a month’s worth of nicotine patches, and he has not smoked since leaving the hospital.

            “When you’re lying in the hospital and the doctor is operating on you, you just quit, cold turkey…I lost my desire for it. I realized what it cost me.”

            Watkin has seen many of his friends quit smoking as they got older. One former smoker used hypnotism to help him control his cravings for nicotine. “The best way to quit is don’t start. But if you do (start), just quit. There is help available.”

            He worries about the young people he sees just beginning the smoking habit.

            “I don’t see many people my age smoking anymore, it’s all young kids…There’s a certain amount of social acceptance,” Watkin noted.

            Since his heart attack, Watkin has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He doesn’t often leave his home other than to go to the doctor’s office or to church. But when he does encounter people smoking, he makes sure to share his experiences with them. “I’ve told half a dozen people I see, ‘Throw it away buddy, or you’ll end up like I did,’” Watkin said.

For anyone interested in quitting tobacco, the Indiana Tobacco Quit Line offers free sessions with a quit coach and 2 weeks of free Nicotine Replacement Therapy in the form of either patch or gum to those who enroll (1-800-QUIT-NOW).”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 10:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.