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MAG-14
Command Biographies

Sergeant recalls the ups and downs of quitting smoking

12 Oct 2011 | Master Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore

Tech. Sgt. Eric Sparks, Air Force Network Integration Center, called it quits and said he's proud of that decision.

Sparks joined others to attend a four-week tobacco cessation class at the Scott Health and Wellness Clinic to talk about why they smoked and their reasons to quit.

"You can do the online one, but I prefer the classroom one because it's more enjoyable than just clicking through the slides yourself," he said. "It was four weeks long, and it's every Monday. You sit around, talk about your 'triggers' and make a few jokes."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, from 2004 to 2010, 19.6 percent of working Americans, aged 18 and older, smoked cigarettes and only 2.5 percent of patients are able to quit on their own.

Sparks added this is the second time he'd chosen to quit.

"I'd been smoking about 16 years, and I'd quit for two and got back on the bandwagon," he said. "I said, 'If I don't get off this now, I'm never going to get off of it.

"It's like baseball, you go up to bat 1,000 times, you're only going to hit about 300 of them--and that's doing great," Sparks added. "It's like quitting smoking, you're going to try 3,000 times but somewhere in that 300 you hit, you're going to stick with it.

"This is my second long-term attempt, and I'm only seven weeks into it, and I still have urges," he said. "I can smell a person three cars up having a cigarette, and I want to go up and 'carjack' that cigarette."

Sparks added that his physical addiction to cigarettes is gone, but it's primarily the triggers that increase his urges to smoke that he's battling.

"The physical part is gone but now I have to think about something else and sometimes it's as simple as, 'Read that sign over there, it says, "Stop" so OK, I'll stop or, 'Look, gas prices are at $3.99.'

"And I'm not thinking about smoking anymore--I'm thinking about how thin my wallet is," he added. "Or sometimes you just have to fight through it. It's two blocks to the nearest QuickTrip to get a cigarette, but you only have three minutes left before you have to pick up your daughter--you don't have time to do it."

The CDC cites tobacco use as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and in 2010, nearly one in five adults--about 45.3 million--were current smokers.
According to the CDC, the vast majority of smokers in the United States want to quit, but only a little more than 2 percent successfully quit each year.

Sparks said his decision to quit this time centered on his family and something he noticed during his temporary duty travels.

"The kids were pressuring me, and I travel a lot," he said. "But I noticed I was the 'stinky guy' in the elevator--you don't want to be that guy in the elevator. Between the kids nagging me to get back on the quit horse and being the stinky guy in the elevator pretty much did it for me.

"I've passed my coffee test," he added. "You have your thing that you really like your cigarette with. I can't take my 'halftime' break because I usually go out and have a cigarette, and I have to find something for my dogs to do so they don't bug me during the second half either.

"I can definitely feel the benefits though," he added. "Lungs are clearer, and I'm feeling better."

The Department of Defense rolled out a website to also help servicemembers curb their urge at www.ucanquit2.org. According to the site, officials advised withdrawal symptoms and cravings will pass if one can resist the urge to use tobacco--focus on the why one wants to quit and the benefits from doing so.

Sparks echoed that and added to set goals and for others not to try to quit alone.

"I knew quitting was hard, so I set small expectations and simple rewards," he said. "I used a lot of ice cream to quit and that was really bad for my waistline. Luckily, I was working out every day so I didn't put on any weight. But once I got rid of using ice cream, I got really cranky."

"Don't do it alone--I tried 'cold turkey' and all you want to do is punch your brother," he added. "Or your sister comes in crying and all you want to do is throw her out the window.
"This time, I went through the class and tried Chantix," he added. "The urges melted away after nine days but never do it alone. If you keep it inside, no one's going to understand why you're yelling at them, and you've never done that before."

"You're going to slip," he concluded. "Just get right back on the horse--have a plan. Put people around you to hold you accountable because if you're like me, you're very forgiving of yourself."
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