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4 telling smoking to butt out of their lives

Nearly 40,000 people in Clark County are smokers

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By By Bridgette Outten, Staff Writer Updated 9:59 AM Monday, March 1, 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a four-part series that follows a group of Clark County residents who recently completed a program to help them stop smoking. We’ll report on their progress and struggles while informing readers about the health and financial costs of smoking.

SPRINGFIELD — The ills of smoking continue to be the center of intense debate.

Whether the conversation centers on health effects, banning it in public places or effective ways to fight tobacco addiction, the subject garners attention.

Just more than 28 percent of Clark County’s population of 140,000 — nearly 40,000 people — are smokers.

For at least four Clark Countians, the time has come to quit. They participated in a six-week smoking cessation program offered by Mercy Memorial Hospital, an effort to finally break the hold smoking had on them. Here are their stories:

• Eldon Miller, 67, enrolled in the program because he wants to be around long enough to restore a 1976 Camaro that he and his granddaughter have been working on for two years.

“My granddaughter said she wasn’t ready for me to kill myself,” Miller said recently.

• Denise Harris, 50, decided to quit after she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“I know I want to do it and I’ve never really tried to quit before,” she said.

• After David Daniels, 43, suffered two heart attacks and got a stent placed in his heart, doctors told him he had to quit smoking.

“It’s really tough for me but I’m going to stick with it,” Daniels said.

• Daniels’ girlfriend, Dawn Cromlish, 43, quit not only because she wants to breathe easier but to support Daniels.

“I don’t want him to give up,” she said.

During the smoking cessation program, each one attended weekly meetings, where topics centered on issues such as dealing with triggers and effects of tobacco. The quit date was Nov. 30.

“The golden rule is never to take another puff,” said Marcy Ivory, a certified tobacco specialist and cessation group leader at Mercy. “Because it’s downhill from there.”

That means the four quitters are headed for an uphill journey.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.

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