{"id":119300,"date":"2016-11-10T12:58:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T17:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=119300"},"modified":"2016-11-29T15:56:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T20:56:27","slug":"ready-quit-join-great-american-smokeout-nov-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/11\/ready-quit-join-great-american-smokeout-nov-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Ready to Quit? Join the Great American Smokeout Nov. 17"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nov.
Thursday, Nov. 17 is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The American Cancer Society\u2019s annual Great American Smokeout, a day when millions of Americans are urged to quit smoking and begin a healthier life free from tobacco, is Nov. 17.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths each year. \u00a0Plus, smoking cigarettes is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death. In fact, nine out of 10 lung cancers are linked to the preventable habit of cigarette smoking.<\/p>\n

UConn Health recommends smokers wishing to quit join a smoking cessation program for additional support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s strength in numbers,\u201d said Diahann Wilcox, APRN, a pulmonary medicine nurse practitioner and provider of the Wellness and Smoking Cessation Program<\/a> at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health. \u201cWhen trying to quit smoking, support can make all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the support of the smoking cessation program at UConn Health, many patients have kicked the habit.<\/p>\n

\"After
After smoking 50 years Michel Gueret of Canton successfully quit smoking thanks to UConn Health’s smoking cessation program (Photo: Michel Gueret).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For 50 years Michel Gueret, 67, of Canton was a heavy smoker but successfully kicked the habit in 2013 by attending UConn Health\u2019s smoking cessation program following an advanced lung cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI attended and in the end to my amazement it was not hard at all to quit,\u201d said Gueret. \u201cI truly didn\u2019t believe I could do that. Never underestimate what is possible. I have not smoked since.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smoking cessation program at UConn Health offers individualized behavioral and medication treatments for tobacco use and dependence, along with group support sessions. It is directed by Dr. Cheryl Oncken<\/a>, chair of the Department of Medicine and Dr. Jayesh Kamath<\/a>, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry.<\/p>\n

Stephen Petty, 70, of Colchester has remained tobacco free since 2000. \u201cI was a heavy smoker. I started at 19 and quit sixteen years ago. I think it\u2019s important to have a great relationship with your doctor and nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"El
El Tuy Anderson of Hartford quit smoking thanks to UConn Health (UConn Health\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

El Tuy Anderson, 73, of Hartford successfully quit smoking four years ago. \u201cI quit smoking two weeks before I was diagnosed with lung cancer,\u201d shared Anderson. \u201cI haven\u2019t touched one [a cigarette] since.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cCigarette smoking is not worth it. If you make up your mind you can stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

To quit smoking UConn Health recommends these five steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Pick a quit date
\n<\/strong>Consider choosing the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 17 as your quit day.<\/p>\n

2. Prepare to quit
\n<\/strong>Think about the reasons why you want to quit and write them down. For motivation post your list where you will see it every day.<\/p>\n

3. Know your resources
\n<\/strong>Talk to your provider about different quitting aids to consider, including over-the-counter nicotine replacements. Also, explore and join a local smoking cessation program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Build support
\n<\/strong>Let your family, friends and co-workers know you are trying to quit so they can help encourage you.<\/p>\n

5. Anticipate challenges <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Less than 5 percent of smokers are able to quit cold-turkey. If you are having trouble start using a smoking tracker<\/a> to record each cigarette you smoke and to better understand your smoking triggers so you can better prepare for them. Also, plan for how to address the people, situations, and events that may trigger your urge to smoke.<\/p>\n

Do you want to plan to quit smoking?<\/strong> Feel free to join UConn Health for its Great American Smokeout event on Nov. 17 from 3:00-5:00 p.m.<\/strong> in its Main Building\u2019s Onyiuke Dining Room<\/strong>. It will celebrate the success of former smokers and encourage others choosing to quit the habit with more information on smoking cessation services, more tips on how to quit smoking, along with other resources.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is a smoker and wants to quit, call the Wellness and Smoking Cessation Program at: 860-679-2100. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year’s Great American Smokeout is Thursday, Nov. 17. UConn Health’s Wellness and Smoking Cessation Program experts share 5 key steps to help you or a loved-one successfully kick the smoking habit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":119304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1868],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-119300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meds"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 02:12:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119769,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119300\/revisions\/119769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/119304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119300"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=119300"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=119300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}