Making Life-Changing Progress for Her Health

"I smoked for 37 years and never tried to quit before now," says May Mary Cummings, a resident of Garden City, Kansas. "I always thought I could quit myself, but then I realized I really couldn't."

Cummings came to the St. Helena Center for a Smoke-free Life because her first granddaughter is expected this winter. "I want to be the best that I can be (for my granddaughter)," she said.  "I was getting close to age 60. I am 57, and want to be a cute, energetic, sassy, grandmother, but I wasn't feeling good, so I decided to quit smoking."

With this in mind she searched the Internet for a program to help her quit. "I looked at Hazelton, but when I found the St. Helena website and learned about the Transformations weight management program as well, I made my decision," she said. "I wanted to quit smoking, but didn't want to gain weight. I signed up for both programs because I wanted to stop smoking and learn how to eat right."

"Besides," she says, "I'd been to the Napa Valley before. Its beautiful and I wanted to be somewhere beautiful."

She was pleased with her experience in both programs. "Before I arrived, I was apprehensive, she said. I was hoping I'd made the right decision to travel so far."

Fear quickly became joy. "My experience was fabulous. I was fortunate to be in a group with wonderful participants. We were a cohesive group with a sense of humor. We talked about the pain and fear of giving up smoking."

Through the Smoke-Free For Life program she was able to receive medications when she had a problem with withdrawal symptoms. "I had a headache (at first after quitting) and I couldn't sleep, I got immediate help with nicotine replacement and these symptoms passed quite quickly," she said.

She had always thought she was pretty fit and ate right, but the Transformations program taught her a lot about eating. "I learned about new foods. I came away with a lot of good ideas for cooking."

Something that was really eye opening for her was the plant based diet that is the cornerstone of the Transformations program. "I come from a beef-producing family in Kansas. It was really fun to try new foods and a new way of eating."  She is so dedicated to her new way of eating that she decided to take the program recipe binder and will copy the recipes for her sisters. "I plan to give these to all of them for Christmas, That's how strongly I feel about food and nutrition now that I've attended the program."

She says she "couldn't think of a better place to make life-changing progress for her health than at the Center for Health at St. Helena Hospital. I thoroughly enjoyed all the staff and got close to many of the participants in both programs. The smoking group was such a team, I think well be 100 percent quitters," she said.

She is so excited about the program that she is talking about her experience to friends and neighbors. "I recommend these programs to everyone and that's saying something after 37 years as a smoker."

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