Think back to when you first took a chew or a dip. Can you remember that day? For others it could have been many, many, years since your first chew or dip.
“Does the length of time I’ve been using my tobacco make any difference in how hard it will be for me to stop?” you might be asking yourself right now.
Does it really matter? I hate to have to say this but, yes, it does matter!
The reason it matters is because as we use tobacco over a period of time, we seem to use it to “fill in” or “compensate” for certain coping skills we would normally develop in order to cope with particular situations.
For instance:
Brandon P. has been dipping snuff for 8 years now.
He started when he was in the 4th grade and has used it everyday since his first chew!
Brandon really enjoyed the feeling of elation and confidence he experienced when he first started dipping.
Of course, he’s been dipping now for 8 years, and he doesn’t get those feelings of elation anymore.
All Brandon gets now is a sore and tender place on his inner lip that feels terrible when he first wakes up in the morning.
He deadens this feeling with his first chew of the day—taken from the can on his nightstand as he gets slowly out of bed each and every morning.
Brandon finds himself chewing more when he is under stress.
It doesn’t matter if the stress is caused by a nice and exciting surprise that fills him with elation, or by some letdown that leaves him depressed.
It’s all the same to Brandon as he reaches for his chew…
The bottom line to Brandon’s story is…to show you what happens psychologically over a period of time.
The longer you chew or dip the more psychologically dependent you become upon it. It becomes harder for you to “disassociate” yourself from chewing or dipping because of external stimuli.
Dipping or chewing is used by us as a reward after experiencing happy and excited feelings or, as a consolation prize after becoming depressed or miserable. We often chew to alleviate boredom, or as a reward for attempting something that we dread to do!
The psychological triggers (people, places, or things that make us reach for and take a dip or chew), are mostly what cause us to stumble when we are trying to quit.
The physical addiction only takes about 7 days to overcome, but it takes several weeks or months to lay to rest the psychological triggers that hold us prisoners to that little round can or pouch. How long will it take? That will depend on you. Each person is different.
THE TRACEY M. STORY
One early morning in May, Tracey M. decided that he wasn’t going to continue dipping snuff anymore!
He was sick and tired of waking up every morning with a raw and tender mouth, and his gums had begun to bleed every time he brushed his teeth!
By god, he just didn’t need this anymore! Just as soon as he was finished with the pressures of this rodeo, he was going to throw away his can of snuff—forever!
“Tonight’s the big night!” he thought to himself, as he felt a rush of adrenalin shoot into his bloodstream.
“I’m goin’ to ride that ol’ bull all the way for the full count!” he mused excitedly while washing his face in the bathroom sink of his motel room in Mesquite, Texas.
While Tracey brushed his teeth, he noticed that his tongue seemed to feel a little more sore than it did last week.
It had been getting a little more sore each day for about 6 weeks now!
“Guess I’d better get it checked out when I get back home tomorrow,” he decided while pulling on his boots.
After Tracey’s event that night, someone shouted, “Hey, Tracey! Nice ride, partner! Second place money is still pretty good, ain’t it?”
Tracey grinned and waved his hat towards the crowd. His friend, Dusty, waited by the gates for him.
“Hey, Trace,” he grinned as Tracey came up beside him, “Nice ride, bro!”
“Thanks,” Tracey grinned. “Let’s load up them ol’ horses, hit the road, an’ head the ol’ truck for home, Dusty!”
“All right!” Dusty readily agreed, while slapping Tracey on the back.
Tracey and Dusty stopped at a cafe around 11:00 o”clock that night for a bite of supper .
Tracey told Dusty, “Order me a burger and fries while I use that bathroom over there and get rid of this chew.”
When he returned to the table, their order was ready. They ate in amiable silence.
After their meal, they gassed up the truck and headed down that long ol’ highway toward home!
Tracey kept his word to himself and made an appointment with his family doctor. Dr. Thomas frowned apprehensively as he looked at the angry red sore with an ugly, white core on the tongue of Tracey M.
“Tracey, I don’t like the looks of this thing,” he said as he slowly shook his head.
“We need to get a biopsy on this as soon as possible and get it up to the lab in Lubbock.”
Tracey felt a weakness start in his legs as he looked at the doctor’s forlorn expression!
“I-Is it a cancer, Doc?” he asked in a shaky voice barely above a whisper.
Dr. Thomas looked Tracey in the eye, hesitated for a moment and tried to figure out how to tell this fine, athletic 23 year old man that he probably had less than a year to live!
“Trace,” he solemnly stated, “I’m afraid that it might be. We won’t know for sure until the results of the biopsy get back, but I promise you that I’ll do everything possible to help you if it is.”
“Doc,” Tracey whispered, “If it is cancer…what will you have to do?”
Two weeks later, Tracey underwent radical surgery.
He had waited too long to see his medical professional. The cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes.
He lost most of his tongue, the lower Jaw on the left side, all of the lymph nodes, muscles , and blood vessels in his neck, with the exception of the life-giving carotid artery!
After several more surgeries and radiation treatments were finished, Tracey was not even recognizable without a chin to support his pallid, swollen face!
Tracey put up a tough and dedicated battle against cancer during the following months, only to succumb to it less than two months before the anniversary of his first operation.
Dusty entered the bull riding event in Mesquite, Texas the next year alone.
No faded, white circle will ever develop on the right-rear pocket of his new wranglers—for only a month had passed since he had been a pall-bearer at his best friend Tracey’s funeral. He rides the bulls now, with the memory of his best friend, Tracey–and a lip free of smokeless tobacco!
COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?
Tracey M. isn’t a real person.
He’s a composite of hundreds of people who have died from tobacco related cancer!
They are now only memories in the minds and hearts of mothers, wives, fathers, husbands and children across this great nation!
These were people who were cut down in the prime of their lives.
Cut down by a silent, but deadly killer that, until just recently, has been touted as a safe and enjoyable (just a pinch between your cheek and gums) alternative to smoking!
“Could this actually happen to me?” you ask. “Well…do you chew or dip?”
If your answer to this question is yes… then it could definitely happen to you!
There is a FREE eBook available and can be read at the following link: stopsmokeless.com/freebook.php “Stop Using Smokeless Tobacco Now!”
If the link above isn’t working you can copy and paste the following link directly into your browser window: stopsmokeless.com/freebook.php
Zach Malott is CEO of Stop Smokeless.com, a site that is dedicated to helping others to eliminate the addiction of smokeless tobacco from their lives. Malott has spent most of his life addicted to smokeless tobacco.
In his search for a means to quit and stay quit, a program developed over the years that has helped 1,000’s who are ready to quit succeed. This resourse can be found at: stopsmokeless.com Stop Smokeless.com
Don’t forget the FREE eBook located at: stopsmokeless.com/freebook.php “Stop Using Smokeless Tobacco Now!”
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