The Help He Needed to Quit Once and For All

Joe Brougher traveled from Indianapolis to attend the Center's ONE program, a comprehensive, one-day executive health physical, followed by a 7-day stop smoking program at The Center for a Smoke Free Life. Joe describes his experiences below in his own words.

To anyone that has tried to quit smoking and has failed (or even if this is your first attempt), I highly recommend this program to you. I combined it with the ONE program. I can think of nothing better that I have done for myself in the past 10 years.

I started smoking when I was 18 years old. As most young men, I assumed that I would be able to quit whenever I wanted, that I was bullet-proof. But, as I turned 40, I started to notice I was getting winded far easier. I was also adjusting my life so I could smoke, and I was one of just a few remaining smokers that I knew.

Something had to change, but I also wanted to know just how much damage I had done to myself by smoking. I wanted to know this to reinforce my effort to quit smoking and to establish a baseline of myself as I changed from a smoker to a non-smoker.

I had heard about The St. Helena Center for a Smoke Free Life program from my younger brother, who went through the program. Being skeptical, I decided to wait and see if the program was successful for him. I was astonished that even after five months, he was smoke free and living life without cigarettes. I knew then that I did not have any further excuses.

I logged onto the website and started to look at times for the program. As I browsed through the pages, I noticed that the Center for Health also offered an extensive physical examination program called the ONE program. This was perfect. I signed up for the ONE program, to be completed the day before the smoking cessation program was to start.

From the moment I arrived at the St. Helena Center for Health, I knew that I had made the right decision. Obviously, I was nervous to begin with. I was 2,000 miles from home in Indianapolis, getting ready to undergo all kinds of tests with a doctor that I had never met, just before quitting smoking. At every moment of the day, I was made to feel comfortable by all of the staff that worked with me during the physical. I truly felt that each member of the staff was interested in my well being, not just then and there, but in total. After the initial morning tests, I was provided a fantastic breakfast. This, I was later to learn was just the beginning. Even in the smoking cessation program the food was world class.

At the end of the day, I received a full and comprehensive review of all of the results with Heather Peña, M.D., medical director of the program.  We reviewed all of the test results and all of the recommendations. Dr. Peña answered all of my questions, explained everything in detail and helped me formulate a plan to improve my health. Needless to say, after that day, I was completely aware of my health, and prepared to do the things necessary to improve it. The ONE program exceeded my expectations in every way possible.

The Smoke-Free Life program has also been a truly good experience. Our group had seven participants, all from different backgrounds. We quickly found that even though we were different, we were also confronting the same basic issue - quitting smoking. The group size was large enough to make group activities fun and entertaining, but small enough to allow the staff to really focus their attention on our individual needs. The schedule is such that you are kept pleasantly busy with adequate time for reflection and relaxation.

The credentials of every single staff member are amazing. They know their stuff, and that is communicated very effectively. Yet they are able to take complex ideas and communicate them in a way that you can understand, even while dealing with the fact that you have just quit smoking. Each day I have come away with important information that can help me stay smoke free once I leave.

Most importantly, after seven days of this program, I believe that I have been given the tools and laid the foundation to live a smoke free life.

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