ewww....the smokers is comin!

december 8,09

Yes im still a smoker. I signed up for that health coach thing for stopping smoking for insurance purposes, and I have my starter pack of chantix at home, which i began taking 4 days ago.

yes, i went back to smoking. ive been reasonably content in this habit since i picked it back up 3 months after my surgery.

then, the hospital where i work came out with our new insurance for next yr. guess what? its waaaay cheaper if youre a non smoker. go figure. so anyway, if you sign up for this 'health coach' thing and promise to TRY to quit, youll still get the lower rate. hey, might as well give it a shot, huh?

i began my chantix starter pack on saturday and im doing ok. i dont see a big difference. you continue to smoke while on this drug and its supposed to make the cigs taste so bad that you just give it up. many people i work with used it and they all swear by it. the starter pack is $50, which is for a month, then $50 again for the next packet and every packet there-after. the price is actually $130 per packet, but ins is paying the difference. well, duh!!! if they are forcing people to do this, they should be responsible for part of the cost.

Ill tell you what…………when that woman (health coach) called me the first time, I was less than cordial. I used good manners, but she knew that I was involved in this program for one reason and one reason only……being forced, under heavy financial health care duress, to do this. She asked why I didn’t want to quit. I told her that I didn’t want to be known as a quitter. (cute huh?) I actually did remind her that im a grown-up. I told her about my choosing to quit before, and choosing later on to start smoking again. She pointed out all the same crap that people always lay on you. (especially those “reformed” smokers…..they are the worst. But you smokers already know that doncha?) when she called the second time she was telling me all the things I could do when my triggers hit. (like driving and watching TV) Exercise, eat right, (she even described the damned food pyramid to me) get a hobby and on and on and on. She talked to me like I was a child and I told her that I was offended by her manner, and that it seemed, to me, that she was talking down to me..... as if my brain was nothing but a big grey mass, void of any intelligence whatsoever.

during the time that i had quit for my breast reduction surgery (did that cold turkey) a lot of positive things happened. Im all about convenience in my life. Yes my smokers cough cleared a lot, my trash cans didn’t have a bunch of ashes and butts in there stinking, I didn’t have to dump or wash ashtrays, it was cheaper, and so on and so on. BUT I AM A GROWN-UP!!!!! Im almost 62 yrs old and everyone, including where I work is telling me I cant smoke. That, right there, makes me wanna go to the parking lot and suck one down.

i believe that im losing my rights everyday, and around every corner, and this is one battle im willing to stand my ground on. yes, even willing to pay extra for the insurance. Yes im gonna quit. im hoping it sticks this time. but if it doesnt ill be paying more for insurance next year. they made it clear that there will be no nicotine drug screens THIS year, and that we're all on an honor system. so that leads all of us to believe that next year if you claim to be a non-smoker, youll have to pee for them to prove it.

ill keep you informed on how im doing. i may become a non-smoker, but i will NEVER be one of those horrible horrible reformed smokers. lets just say im more willing to quit now, than i was when i was told about the ins and this health coach thing, but i still resent being forced to do something like this. i just dont think its anyones business but my own. now theyre telling me what i can and cant do in my own home when im not at work. my boss says im a rebel. maybe, but its the rebels that keep others on their toes. :)

ALWAYS BE CONTENT!
NEVER BE SATISFIED!

spend time with someone who makes you laugh today.
karyn :)