Wellness Wednesday – The tobacco-free life

picture disc.DeeAnn Rammers — a cashier in the College of Dentistry — quit smoking last year after 38 years.

She has since seen her health greatly improve and her activity levels jump.

She now walks 5 miles a day and looks forward to spending lots of time with her grandchildren.

The benefits of quitting tobacco are almost endless, here’s quick list of some major ones:

  • Health improves and health risks lower.
  • Money spent on tobacco is saved.
  • Food taste returns.
  • Dirty ashtrays disappear.
  • Smokeless tobacco users no longer have chunks of chew in their teeth and there’s also no need for those disgusting cups and bottles full of … well … you get the drift.












Other stories



Below is a list of stories in this series on tobacco cessation.


Below, some UNMC employees who have kicked the habit discuss what they enjoy about life without tobacco.

Carla Burke — an office associate in pediatric pulmonology — smoked for 30 years and quit on Jan. 1, 2006. Today, she loves that her house and clothes no longer smell of smoke.

Dorothy Panowicz — a budget and fiscal associate in business and finance — kicked the habit in 2003 after more than 30 years of smoking. She gets grateful in airports when she remembers the stress she used to feel when she’d try to get outside to grab a smoke between flights.

Fran Neff — an office associate in the College of Public Health — quit smoking in 1998. She had smoked since high school. Today, she loves to simply say, “I’m not a smoker.”

Sue Pope — an academic affairs program coordinator in the College of Medicine — was a longtime smoker who quit earlier this year. She is happy to save the $70 she shelled out for cigarettes every 7 to 10 days.

Tom Klingemann, Pharm.D. — a pharmacist at The Nebraska Medical Center and tobacco cessation expert — quit smoking in 1990 after he smoked for 10 years. He enjoys the fact that tobacco no longer controls his life.

If you’re a former tobacco user who’s quit, click on the comment tab above and tell us about your favorite part of the tobacco-free life.