To celebrate World No Tobacco Day let us introduce you to Fran Minahan.

We changed Fran’s life. Can we change yours?

Our Quit educator Kate Bradshaw worked with Fran to reduce her smoking.

She gave up instead.

“A friend wanted help to quit so she came to the (Quit) program and I just came as a bit of support for her. I decided to participate as I wanted to support my friend but also to see if I could reduce my smoking or even quit completely,” Fran recalls.

The first thing Kate worked on was getting Fran to understand why she smoked.

“I learnt a lot about why I smoke, what my triggers are and how to delay each smoke. Mostly I learnt that I’m a lot stronger what I thought I was.

“I reduced my smoking, then quit completely.”

Kate then combined education with emotional support to keep Fran on track.

“Learning strategies to deal with my triggers helped but mostly it was Kate’s voice in my head telling me I don’t need them. Every time I thought about having a smoke I would hear Kate talking to me,” Fran said.

“I had amazing help and support through my quit educator. Having weekly visits helped keep me on track.”

Giving up smoking has not only given Fran a new lease on life but improved her financial situation.

“It has had a huge impact. The money I have saved has changed my life so much. I can now treat my great grand kids with different things,” Fran said.

Fran encourages anyone wanting to give up smoking to take a vital first step and ask for help.

“It has been great to have been part of the Quit program. The support has been invaluable – I don’t think I could have done it without the support I received.”

Now it’s your turn! To follow Fran’s lead and kick the smoking habit, book a place in our Quit program by calling the Eaglehawk site on 5434 4300.

We also have community health nurses who can help you with the respiratory management of many chronic conditions such as asthma.

The staff will help you use medications and breathing devices correctly, develop plans to focus on behaviour changes to help your condition, identify the things that are stopping you being as healthy as you can be and carry out spirometry testing and explains the results.

To learn more about our Quit program click here: https://www.bchs.com.au/quit-smoking