Cancer patient issues cigarette warning

Swansea Bay University Health Board has launched its Help Me Quit campaign aimed at helping smokers pack in the harmful habit.

The move is timed to coincide with the annual Stoptober campaign which encourages people to give up smoking during the month of October and, sequentially, hopefully for good.

A similar campaign focusing on help new mums and mums to be give up smoking was launched in Swansea Bay earlier this month.

The health board has created a team of smoking cessation advisors to offer practical advice and behavioural support to anyone who wishes to quit. They will also be able to handout nicotine replacement therapy, with patches and oral products being made available free of charge.

Besides the health benefits to the individual once they stopped, there is also the ongoing cost to the NHS, as smoking is the leading cause of preventable and early deaths in Swansea Bay.

Cancer patient issues cigarette warning

A Swansea smoker has vowed to quit the habit after a cancer diagnosis, saying he never thought it would happen to him.

Paul Heaven (pictured left with his operation scar), a 67-year-old from Townhill, has taken the courageous step of sharing his story in order to support Swansea Bay University Health Board’s Help Me Quit campaign.

Mr Heaven – who spoke from his Morriston Hospital bed while recovering from an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his throat – said he had been a smoker for over 50 years.

He said: “I started when I was a pupil in Dynevor Grammar School, with my friends.  Players No 6 mainly. They were the cheapest – less than 2 shillings a packet.

“Almost everyone smoked back then. All my peers and my friends. It was a normal thing. My parents were smokers and lots of my uncles as well.”

The painter and decorator did not class himself as a heavy smoker.

He said: “I wouldn’t say I was a heavy smoker – it worked out around 15 a day. I was smoking rollies, a pack of 50g was lasting me 12 to 14 days.

“I knew it was bad for me but I didn’t think that it would happen to me. 

“Now I find out that one out of two people will, in their lifetime, are affected by cancer.”

And happen it did.

He said: “I’ve got what’s known as a squamous cell carcinoma. There’s two ways it’s generated – one is a natural reaction with the body, and the other one is self-inflicted through drink and smoking. And mine is the latter.

“This was brought on by smoking and drinking. There’s no two ways about it. The surgeon told me that it was my lifestyle.”

Above: Members of the Help Me Quit team

Mr Heaven hopes that they have caught the cancer in time.

He said: “They are trying to find the source of my cancer. They have removed my tonsils and sent them off for a biopsy, hoping that’s where the cancer is stemming from. If not, it could involve more surgery and radiotherapy and chemotherapy.”

While in hospital Mr Heaven was offered help to quit smoking from the smoking cessation service.

He said: “A member of the Help Me Quit team contacted me. She talked me through the process and sent me a prescription to take to the chemist. She spoke to me every week, asking how I was feeling. 

“I did have withdrawal symptoms. My sleeping pattern was affected and I was irritable. Unable to concentrate. I think I’m over that part now, and I’m looking forward to the future.”

It has been more than four weeks since his last cigarette and Mr Heaven hopes it will be a case of third time lucky in his bid to quit.

He said: “I packed it in 1975 after I was involved in a road accident but when I went back to work, I started again. 

“Then, around 17 years ago, I packed it in again for 18 months but I then went to the horse racing. We were sitting outside a pub on a lovely summer evening, a cigarette went round and I smoked one. I thought, ‘I’d just buy 10 and then stop, but I didn’t.

“This time, this is it. No more. I’ve been given a second chance and I’m not going to blow it.

“Smoking is not an option now because it could reactivate the cancer. I won’t be smoking again.”

His message to smokers is clear.

“It can happen to you, it can happen to anyone,” he said. 

“Smoking enhances your chances of getting cancer, and the odds then are stacked against you.

“It’s not something I’d advise anyone to do. If you get a chance to pack it in, then you should take that chance.”

Susan O'Rourke, SBUHB’s Living Well Service Development Manager for Smoking Cessation and Self-Management programmes, said: “I would like to wish Mr Heaven all the best with his recovery and congratulate him on giving up smoking. 

“If you or a family member have tried to give up smoking in the past unsuccessfully, contact Help Me Quit and try again. 

“We have a very caring professional team to support you through the programme, and recognise that smoking is an addiction, but with our help, combined with nicotine replacement products you are 300% more likely to quit smoking than going it alone.”

For further information call Help Me Quit on 0800 085 2219, or text HMQ to 80818.