This is my personal story of how I got started with electronic cigarettes
and how they may give me a chance at a healthier future, both in the short
term and long term.
Around mid-July I began experiencing severe pain in my lower back and leg
which I knew from prior experience was most likely a herniated disc. One
MRI later and I had been diagnosed with a severely herniated disc (L4/L5)
for the third time in 7 years. I had already had two surgeries to correct
it and I was now looking at a third one on that same disc. Being the “third
strike” on the same disc, and given the severity of the problem, the best
solution was a spinal fusion.
Many studies have shown that smokers have a significantly higher risk of
“non union” after a fusion operation. This is the technical term for “It
didn’t work.” I was told by several doctors as well as every website I
visited that unless I wanted to risk a non union (and thus risk yet another
surgery a couple years down the road) that I needed to quit smoking before
the surgery. I also found out that the problem with fusions and smokers
wasn’t simply the smoking, it was the nicotine. Ugh. I had tried many
times in the past: Cold turkey, patches that would fall off after 20
minutes, gum that didn’t work. Chantix? No thanks, I like my sanity the
way it is, thank you. To make matters worse, my wife was a smoker as well
and had even less success than me in terms of quitting attempts in the past.
As most smokers would attest, it isn’t easy to quit smoking when you live
with a smoker! Furthermore, I think most smokers would also agree that it
is easier to quit when you feel ready to quit. I didn’t feel ready to quit.
I was pretty much being forced to quit.
Soon after my diagnosis, my mother gave me a pamphlet for an electronic
cigarette that a co-worker had given her. She told me that her co-worker
was able to quit using it and she asked that I consider trying it. It was
pricey, but after reading a bit on what it was, I felt that it was something
that just might work. Looks like a cigarette, satisfies the hand to mouth
motions, gives you nicotine in doses that you can control (down to none),
and you could even inhale and exhale a puff of vapor that looked like smoke.
All of that, and about 4000 chemicals LESS than a real cigarette with NO
tar or other nasty chemicals. I placed the order the next day and eagerly
awaited its delivery because I knew that I would have limited time for this
to work and get me off not only the cigarettes but also the nicotine before
the surgery. In the meantime I asked my wife if she would consider trying
it as well. After all, as I already mentioned, it’s hard to quit smoking
when you live with a smoker!
Well, it took about a month, but I finally got my first e-cigarette. It was
“okay”, and the wife thought it was “okay”, but I just wasn’t sure if it was
going to work. I had seen some videos on the internet of all these huge
clouds of vapor and mine just didn’t do that. That’s when I really started
to look around and found out that there were several different e-cig models
and they were NOT created equally! After some research, I decided to
purchase a Joye 510. I was also disappointed to realize that for the same
amount of money I spent on that first single e-cig with NO spare parts and
no easy way of refilling the cartridges, I was able to get not only a
complete 510 e-cig for both me AND my wife, but also plenty of spare parts
and extra juice to refill the empty cartridges after we used them. Live and
learn!
I was quickly running out of time to make my attempt at quitting as my
surgery was imminent. Fortunately we received our new 510 e-cigs within
just a few days of placing the order; about two weeks before my surgery
date. They were so much better than the first model I bought and this time
we really thought, “this is it!” I ordered some more bottles of nicotine
“e-juice” in varying strengths (from 18 mg and lower along with some
nicotine-free juice for myself) with the intention of slowly weaning
ourselves off the nicotine altogether but I knew I was going to have to take
the nicotine reduction fast track.
While it was still a bit of a struggle fighting off the nicotine cravings as
I quickly went from 18mg liquid to 0mg liquid, the design and function of
the e-cigarette was enough to help me get past that. I was very surprised
at that. Meanwhile my wife was able to continue with her nicotine e-juice
which kept her happy. She said that of all the times she has ever tried
quitting, she never made it more than a day without breaking down and buying
a pack of cigarettes.
It has now been almost two months since we got our 510 e-cigs and while we
have slipped a couple times and smoked a real cigarette on a few occasions,
we couldn’t be more pleased with how well these have worked. I smoked for
around 22 years and her for around 25. These things have been amazing and I
truly believe that these are the best chance a smoker has at significantly
reducing the amount of cigarettes they smoke per day and likely even
quitting smoking for good. Despite somewhat recent scare tactics by the
FDA, while e-cigarettes may not be 100% safe, there is plenty of other
information and other studies out there to educate yourself with and make a
more informed decision on which is better for you in the long run. You
still need a bit of willpower, but they have worked far better than any
other method we have tried in the past, even the FDA approved drugs which do
nothing but cost money and add to frustration.
At the time of this writing I am 10 days short of 2 months post-op from my
spinal fusion and feeling better every day. It is too early to tell if the
fusion will be a success but I know in my heart that my e-cig has given this
smoker the best possible chance at a successful outcome and I am hopeful for
a healthy back for the remainder of my life. Oh, and I’m pretty sure that
both me and my wife are going to be around a little longer too, now that we
are no longer inhaling carbon monoxide and 4000 chemicals in the form of 30
cigarettes a day each!
Our plan is to BOTH be free of nicotine and eventually free of the
e-cigarette as well in the near future. I really cannot stress enough how
well these have helped us to cut back and quit smoking and I would urge any
smoker out there that is tired of smoking to do a little research on the
different models available and GO FOR IT!
Kevin D.
