Seventeen Years Smoke-Free

Today marks seventeen years since I last smoked a cigarette. Seventeen years. That’s a long time. There are still times when I think about it; I would be lying if I told you that I never think about it. Then I have a flash of the following run through my head – why I quit:

  • my kids
  • my paternal grandmother (she died of lung cancer in 1999, shortly after I quit smoking)
  • how one puff will erase all of those years of my not smoking

I often referred to these facts to help get me through the tough spots:

  • 20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure will drop.
  • 12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood falls to normal.
  • 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation and lung function improve.
  • 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath are reduced.
  • 1 year after quitting: Your risk of coronary heart disease is reduced to half of what it was when you smoked.
  • 5 years after quitting: Your risk of stroke is the same as if you had never smoked.
  • 10 years after quitting: Your chances of dying from lung cancer are now half of what it would have been had you continued to smoke. Your risk of getting cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas has also decreased.
  • 15 years after quitting: Your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as if you’d never smoked. <—-THIS IS ME NOW!!!

 

I thank God for that day in spring of 1999 when I went to see my gynecologist and she recommended I try Zyban to quit smoking. I wasn’t sure I was really ready. I had been “ready” before, but I think that I really just wanted to satisfy those who wanted me to quit. Along with my doctor giving me some hard facts, my grandmother was dying of lung cancer and would pass away shortly after I quit. I took this as a huge sign that I needed to give quitting smoking everything that I had.

It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I remember smoking that last cigarette down as far as I could. I had started taking the Zyban a week or so before I quit, so that it would be in my system. It definitely helped with the cravings for nicotine, but I had to really work on changing my habits. I would drive a different route to work; follow a different routine for after meals, when I most wanted to smoke.

A lot has changed since that day in July 1999. I could write a book about all of the things that have happened, but I want to highlight those that have to do with my health and well being.

  • I got married to the man of my dreams. 
  • I gave birth to our daughter, Hannah.
  • I watched our son, Jon, graduate from high school and head off to college.
  • I went gluten-free and dairy-free.
  • I joined a gym and fell in love with strength training.
  • I discovered my love of running.
  • I have run 17+ half marathons, 2 full marathons, and numerous 5K and 10K races.
  • I became a personal trainer and strive to help other women realize their health and fitness goals.

Many of the above may not have been possible had I not quit smoking. 

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My friend, Laurie, and me after a July 4th 5K race. 

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Our family

Life is short. If you are a smoker, no one can make you quit, you have to want it. You have to want to be free from those chains and reach out for help. Help comes in many shapes and sizes and what works for one person may not work for another. Find what works for you. Have faith. Know that it won’t be easy, but I promise it will be worth it

– Kim

Dear Younger Me

Have you ever looked back on things you did in the past and wish you hadn’t done something or wish had done it differently? Those things are part of who you are today. They helped shape you into the person you are today, yet often times those things are painful, not only at the time of occurrence, but as we grow older. 

Even though I know changing anything I did in the past would make me a different person today, possibly one without the people I love, there are times I really struggle and wonder…what if?

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A couple of months back I went to the MercyMe concert with a couple of close friends. They played a song from their new album that really spoke to me. I was instantly drawn to this song and the important reminders within it.

“Dear Younger Me” – MercyMe

Dear younger me

Where do I start

If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far

Then you could be

One step ahead

Of all the painful memories still running thru my head

I wonder how much different things would be

Dear younger me

 

Dear younger me

I cannot decide

Do I give some speech about how to get the most out of your life

Or do I go deep

And try to change

The choices that you’ll make cuz they’re choices that made me

Even though I love this crazy life

Sometimes I wish it was a smoother ride

Dear younger me

Dear younger me

 

Oh, If I knew then what I know now

Condemnation would’ve had no power

My joy my pain would’ve never been my worth

If I knew then what I know now

Would’ve not been hard to figure out

What I would’ve changed if I had heard

 

Dear younger me

It’s not your fault

You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross

Dear younger me

 

You are holy

You are righteous

You are one of the redeemed

Set apart a brand new heart

Oh You are free indeed

Every mountain every valley

Thru each heartache you will see

Every moment brings you closer

To who you were meant to be

Dear younger me, dear younger me

 

You are holy

You are righteous

You are one of the redeemed

Set apart a brand new heart

Oh You are free indeed

 

You are holy

You are righteous

You are one of the redeemed

Set apart a brand new heart

Oh You are free indeed

 

You are holy

You are righteous

You are one of the redeemed

Set apart a brand new heart

Oh You are free indeed

 

We are loved just as we are. Today, tomorrow, always. 

Two of the most important reasons I wouldn’t change a thing…

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