Kayleigh’s story:
You don’t realise what you’re missing!

After quitting smoking with help from our Be Well Stop Smoking Service, busy mum-of-two Kayleigh has more money, more energy, and – most importantly – more precious time to spend with her partner Nathan, daughter Isabelle (7) and son Brody (4). This is her story…

I won’t lie; I started smoking when I was at school.

It was the peer pressure just to try it, to ‘just have one’… and then I got hooked and there was no going back.

But having children changed things. You don’t want them smoking – that’s one thing I’d never want. And yet you’re doing it, and obviously children copy. So, I thought quitting would teach them that it’s not good. You’re not big, and you’re not clever.

If I’m honest, never in a million years did I think I would actually be able to quit. Even my family said it. I’ve tried before and never been able to manage it. I’d tried patches, I tried all sorts… and I’d always just caved.

But this time I’ve had Julie helping and she’s been amazing. After speaking to her the first time I thought ‘yes, I can do it’.

When you do it on your own, you’ve not got anyone cheering in the background, but Julie’s really helped me all the way through.

It’s good seeing someone each week and being able to say “no, I’ve not had one, I’ve not smoked”, and doing the CO readings keeps you accountable.

My first reading was 22, so when I came back next time and got a 1 it was unbelievable. Seeing that difference in the space of a week was crazy! And you don’t want it to go back up.

The savings are the biggest thing you see straight away. I was coming in to see Julie each week saying “look at my new shoes!” You can afford things like holidays, and after a month I even bought a puppy because I could!

And you do feel better virtually straight away. You feel fitter and your sense of taste improves.

But my biggest motivation has been my little girl, Isabelle.

She hugs me now, and she’s like “Mummy, you don’t smell like you used to. You smell nice now.”

She used to say to me “go and have a cigarette, Mum, before bed”. It became part of everyone’s routine, and I didn’t even realise.

Now everything’s different. Instead, we sit on the couch together, we have more family time, because I’m not outside. On birthdays I’m actually there watching them open the presents instead of at the back door.

It’s those small things, but they do make a massive difference. That’s the biggest change. When you’re not there, you don’t realise what you’re actually missing until you stop smoking.

Now we’re saving a fortune we’ve signed up to the gym and we take the children swimming every week. They love the fun and floats.

I’m trying to go to the gym two or three times a week. I’ve got a personal trainer who’s set me up a specialised programme, which is working really well.

I’m just a lot fitter, a lot more confident. I’ve got more energy. It’s been really good.

I’m so proud. It’s probably, other than having children, one of the best things I’ve ever done.

I used to go into Julie every week and be like: “Julie, I don’t smoke!” It’s unreal.

If you’re thinking about quitting… don’t think about it, just do it.
The more you think of it, the more you’ll think ‘oh, I’ll do it next week’. But it’s never next week, it’s always the week after and it never comes.

There’s no point saying, ‘oh, I’ll do it tomorrow’ because it doesn’t happen. You’ve just got to bite the bullet and want to do it.

If someone told me when I started ‘you won’t be smoking in five months’, I’d have laughed at them. But I’m here and I’ve done it.

Research shows you’re FOUR TIMES more likely to quit smoking when you have the right support. So if you’d like to find out about the help available from the Be Well Stop Smoking Service, get in touch today!

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