Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Getting people to kick the habit

It hasn't been a nicotine patch, an inhaler or any other traditional aid that has been the biggest help as Virginia Dekker quit smoking this month. Instead, she finds the inspiration to kick the habit from daily emails.
GP201410301239988AR.jpg

It hasn't been a nicotine patch, an inhaler or any other traditional aid that has been the biggest help as Virginia Dekker quit smoking this month.

Instead, she finds the inspiration to kick the habit from daily emails.

Each day,the Prince George woman gets a message on her phone through the B.C. Lung Association's QuitNow.ca website with advice like how to deal with events that trigger a craving or reminders about what healthy activities she can do instead of smoking.

"I look forward to getting those every day," she said, adding that it has helped her get rid of the cravings quickly.

"It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, my mindset is there," she said. "Every day I think about tobacco, but it comes and goes that quick."

Dekker, who works as a regional administrative assistant with Northern Health, was speaking at UNBC on Wednesday along with provincial Health Minister Terry Lake and others to promote the services available to those who want to quit smoking.

Funding for nicotine replacement treatments are available - Dekker prefers the fruit flavoured gum - and the QuitNow website offers others supports ranging from tips to stories from others who have successfully stopped smoking.

Getting people to kick the habit has long been a major push for governments as they try to improve overall public health and reduce the cost of healthcare delivery.

"When you think about tobacco, alcohol and calories, that's a huge part of the healthcare system," Lake said. "It's hard to know the exact cost to the system, but we do know that it's huge."

A livelong non-smoker himself, Lake said he was turned off the drug after his mother gave him a cigarette when he was five.

"All kids think that looks cool and everyone's doing it," he said. "And I remember her making me take a drag of her cigarette knowing that I would hate it - and course you do, when you're five years old and take that horrible stuff into your lungs - and so from that moment I have this terrible aversion to cigarette smoke."

He's also seen the devastating health effects from smoking first hand. His mother was a smoker and suffered her first heart attack at age 48. She also had lung cancer and emphysema before she died.

"Seeing her struggle to take her last breaths is something that I'll never forget," he said. "That's the impact that cigarettes have on our bodies and on our families."

Unlike Lake, Dekker became hooked despite trying out smoking at an early age. She had her first cigarette when she was six and by the age of nine she was purchasing cigarettes by the corner store. By 13 she was smoking a pack a day, a habit she continued until Jan. 4 when she quit for good.

About six months ago, Dekker made the first step towards quitting by taking part in tobacco-free Tuesdays and weedless Wednesdays. By breaking the habit twice a week it gave her the confidence to quit completely.

"I had this epiphany and this revelation, I'm a non-smoker every Tuesday and Wednesday," she said. "That's when I decided I wanted to be a non-smoker seven days a week."

Like many people trying to stop, there are challenges. Among the early side effects were bleeding gums and coughing as her body adjusted to not smoking, but Dekker said they've been worthwhile.

In the past few weeks she's noticed her teeth are cleaner, her breath fresher and her skin colour is improving.

"The only regret I had in my life was the day I started smoking," she said. "Now I don't even have that."