One Year Ago Today… Quit Chewing Tobacco

April 22nd, 2007….one year ago today…

It comes up as 367 days in the quit calculator, but for me it was one year ago. I was on my way home from a hockey tourney in Lake Placid, NY where we had lost 2 out of our 3 games and failed to make a medal round. My wife and I were enjoying each other’s company in some conversation about that day being our 12th wedding anniversary. The most important thing about that day was that I had decided that the dip in my mouth would be my last.

My stomach hurt, I knew what was coming, well at least I thought I did. First there would be the extreme irritation, then the feeling of being in the clouds, I would gain somewhere between 15 and 30 pounds, I would get frustrated, I would have a stogie to calm my nerves and then I would just accept that dip would someday be my undoing and start it up again.

So when we hit the Blandford rest area on the MASSpike, we had to make one of our 18,000 pee stops, as so elegantly described by my bride. On the way back to the truck, I spit my perfectly little formed ball of dip into my hand and threw it away. I got a look of absolute disgust from some young lady that watched me do it. It’s funny when you think about, I can still picture her face perfectly. That was the end of that.

I happened to type “quit chewing tobacco” into the search bar and found killthecan.org. There I found What to Expect when quitting. That would be my bible for the next 70 something days. I checked it everyday, hoping that it changed but it never did. And it was always right on the money. I saw something about some forum too, but it looked some kind of myspace thing so i passed on that. Then I hit the 70 something funk so I gave it a shot.

It’s pretty easy to see what happened from there, but the bottom line is that I had no idea I would find some of the best friends I could ask for. Somewhere between 4/22/07 and 4/22/08 I got my head screwed on right and this quit is IT! I’m glad to say that what I thought was going to happen was just plain wrong. I’m very proud to say “I don’t do that anymore”.

So if you’re contemplating a quit, com’on in the quitting’s fine. Join us in posting your numbers.

11X4 – 1 year!!! April 22nd, 2008

PS – wish me luck….we are going back to Lake Placid this weekend for another shot at the gold.

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member 11×4