{"id":35008,"date":"2009-08-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-19T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/08\/19\/wellness-wednesday-going-tobacco-free\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:34:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T01:34:44","slug":"wellness-wednesday-going-tobacco-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/08\/19\/wellness-wednesday-going-tobacco-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness Wednesday – Going tobacco-free"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pictureCarla Burke will admit it – she liked to smoke.<\/p>\n

A smoke break, she said, served as a sort of meditation for her. <\/p>\n

“Often I would go out for a cigarette and return to work with a clearer mind,” said Burke, an office associate in pediatric pulmonology. “It was like you gave yourself permission to relax for a few minutes.” <\/p>\n

But she also was aware of the price she paid for her relaxation methods. Aside from the money she spent on the cigarettes she smoked for more than 30 years – there were significant health risks, which grew the longer she smoked. <\/p>\n

Her clothes, hair and home smelled of cigarette smoke. <\/p>\n

And then there was that tone of voice she’d hear from others as she’d head outside for smoke breaks. <\/p>\n

“The way they’d say it, ‘Oh, she’s a smoker,’… I just hated it,” Burke said, channeling the same uncomfortable emotions she’d experience as she’d take smoke breaks. <\/p>\n


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\nOther stories
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\nBelow is a list of stories in this series on tobacco cessation.
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