GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support series for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. We avoid discussion of political issues. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us! You can add GUS to your stream by clicking on the ♥ next to the GUS tag. The GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information, quit-smoking links, and helpful GUS writing tips.
A message to ALL quitters (and would-be quitters): You don't have to avoid GUS if you have a failed quit. We won't give you a bad time or nag you. We consider the failed quits as "practice" for the real quit.
I've mentioned a few times I'm now into day 68 of my quit but still using nicotine patches. But I've never really explained how I happened to get on the nicotine patches which I might not have if they had not been free.
That was sure a big plus to me because the nicotine patches would be paid for and delivered to my front door through a state sponsored "quit smoking" program. And according to the radio and other ads I kept hearing and seeing all I had to do was call an 800 number, sign up on the internet, or both which is what I did.
And you know, for once (considering it's a state program) the process of getting signed up and my nicotine patches UPSed to me was as easy as they claimed it would be in their ads. All I had to do was call them. I spent about 10 minutes on the phone. I didn't have to give them much more information than my name and address. And that was it and about all I did hear was that my Nicotine Patches would arrive in a week (10 days at the latest). I set my quit date for 2/28/14. We hung up and of course I walked outside on the front porch and lit a cigarette. You know, that addiction thing.
But once again, considering this is a "state" program, I was surprised when the Nicotine Patches showed up two days early and I was down to one cigarette left in my pack and it was just all too prophetic or at least handy. So I smoked that last cigarette, saved me six bucks and a trip to the store, slapped a nicotine patch on and quit right then and there. All because this state sponsored quit smoking program was just so well publicized, so accessible, and free it was all too easy for someone even thinking about quitting.
Which we should think about for a moment because that is a huge plus when it comes to something as fickle as addiction. Catch them at the right moment, catch it on the bounce, and go for freedom from your addiction. Best plan with the best possibility of success I know of. And again this was a state program. And even though somebody had to be paying for it it wasn't costing me anything. That's the kind of programs we should be investing in if we want to help people quit smoking instead of paying for their related health care costs later which actually cost all of us a whole lot more money.
So there I was talking on the phone one minute, and all I heard was the Nicotine Patches were going to be shipped out the next day, and maybe just vaguely heard something about (phone) counseling sessions but there I was on the free and easy path to quitting with no strings attached. Ok .... well by now you have to know that last statement can't be true. The Nicotine Patches alone had to cost somewhere between $200 and $300 not counting all the other costs so there has to be strings.
That turned out to be the string I'd barely heard. Its only about once a month but to get the next shipment of nicotine patches people in the program have to at least talk to a counselor over the phone if for nothing else than to prove they actually exist. That was the point that I not only realized there were strings attached to my getting unhooked it was also the point where the "program" took a serious nose dive.
I was taking a bath the day the counselor called which I had forgotten about because the appointment was supposed to be the day before and I hung around the house all day waiting for a call that never came. But it came then and I thought no problem. I'd found GUS. I had my nicotine patch on. I was about a couple weeks into my quit. I was really feeling good about it and I just wanted to tell the counselor that which would have been great except the person the phone wasn't the counselor and then she told me the counselor would be with me shortly and put me on hold.
We've all been to "Hold Hell" haven't we? Rinky dink little tune playing over and over and over again. Interrupted by recorded messages alternating between saying they will be with you shortly and some way to leave a message. But I know a thing or two about shortly and after you've been on the phone 20 minutes that's not "shortly." And by the time you've been waiting on the phone for another 20 minutes by that time you are in trigger territory. Or at least that's the way I had time enough to imagine it. Some poor cigarette addict like me who is hanging by their fingernails, doing good, but waiting and waiting, the same song and messages over and over again. And what have you got? The ingredients for another of those viral video national news stories about the guy who showed up at the convenience store with nothing but a towel and $6 to buy a pack of cigarettes.
After 45 minutes even though I wanted to brag to the counselor about how good I was doing i finally took them up on their invitation to just leave a message and then they hung up on me. And unfortunately I don't know how to link stories and photos from local news sources which is my excuse for not doing it here (would really like to avoid that whole viral thing don't ya know).
Well ... not really but you can kind of get the picture because it's to late not to. I panicked of course thinking I'd lost my nicotine connection. Called the 800 number and hit the website where I just followed my own profile until somehow I ended up with this box that basically said "Time for more nicotine patches isn't it"? And I checked yes.
So by the time the next appointment was blown the UPS guy was already at the door with my next supply of nicotine patches and I thought it was just par for the course and wasn't paying any attention to it anymore until the phone rang one evening (like 31 hours late.) And there was a live person on the other end of the line identifying herself as a counselor for the "quit smoking" program and did I have time to talk about my quitting program so far or did I want to lose my nicotine connection? We all can assume can't we I bailed for the latter. And to be honest it was actually a really good counseling session with a few tests and qualifiers but plenty of time to free association and when I freely told her about GUS she kind of squealed with excitement. Not that she had ever heard of GUS. She hadn't. But just the fact I had this kind of support community and was actively engaged in it. Which is actually the real reason I don't have any links to the story I imagined. Its because I have GUS to fall back on nearly everyday.
I did have one question for her though before we hung up. "You're not from here are you" Nope she had to admit she was from Utah. And no I probably would not ever get to talk to her again (bummer deluxe.) And no at least that part of the program, and most likely the 800 number and internet site I was on wasn't in my state either. It was most certainly a "state program." It just wasn't located in the state I happened to be in. Kind of confusing but still when you take these little frustrations and quirks into the total account of something that actually and really does help people quit smoking? You can't beat those advantages whether you're a smoker or just paying for their health care costs. And in all honesty the counseling sessions I've had since have all been good and at least close to on time. So on the whole its a really good state program and the only question is who is really paying for it?
And not to bore you with the details but it actually goes clear back to the massive cigarette company class action law suit settlements they had to make and got off cheap and immune for the actual damage their product does. Some of GUS will be old enough to actually remember that. But anyway the settlement sets aside hundreds of billions of dollar for each state to run their own quit smoking program which they contract out to the lowest bidder no matter what state they are in and pocket the millions in change.
Still though with all those little faults and my huge cynicism even i can't say anything except its still a really good program and might even work for not just me but millions of others. That would be more than worth it.
So does your state have quit smoking programs? Because they surely got the money for it?
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