Dan picked up his first cigarette at just 14 years old. At that time, all his friends were experimenting, and he didn’t know about the health risks of cigarette smoke, so he began smoking casually. It wasn’t until he graduated high school and joined the full-time work force, that his smoking increased. By his 40s, he was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and had no idea how he had gotten there. “I used it to cope with stress, which is just an excuse. I didn’t smoke in my house or my car, mostly I did it when I was walking my dog or out on my balcony,” Dan explains. “Looking back, I can see that anytime I didn’t want to deal with something, I would grab a cigarette.”
Dan qualified for lung cancer screening under the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines, which recommend annual low-dose CT scans for adults at higher risk of developing lung cancer—such as those with a history of smoking cigarettes. Following these recommendations, his doctor advised him to get a yearly scan. The first few low-dose CT scans came back clear, but in October 2022, a nodule was found on his upper left lobe. Although the nodule did not yet require a biopsy and his healthcare provider suggested just watching it for any changes, it was a wakeup call for Dan. “Whenever scans came back clean, my doctor would say to me ‘you dodged a bullet,’ as if to say you can’t avoid this if you keep smoking, something will happen eventually,” Dan remembers.
The appearance of the lung nodule shook Dan to his core. He immediately went home and called 1-866-QUIT-YES; managed by the American Lung Association. He had seen many of the ads on television and decided it was a good place to start. “They gave me instructions on how to wean off the cigarettes, little tips and tricks,” he said.
“The point was to not to quit so drastically, they suggested you follow a specific format until the free nicotine patches, they were sending me were delivered,” he continues. “The patches were all I needed because I was done because of that medical scare. If there is one thing I don’t want to die from it is suffocation, or lung problems, caused from smoking.”
On November 1, 2022, Dan received nicotine patches and never looked back. From that point on, Dan followed an eight-week quit program that was available to him for free through the Illinois Tobacco Quitline. He also began to carry hard candy with him constantly to help quell the oral fixation, but this caused him to gain some weight, so he replaced the candy with changes to his exercise and diet.
One of the requirements of the program was that he needed to call in once a week to ensure he was on track and had the support from the Quitline staff that he needed. Resolved to stay off tobacco, Dan found that after the first few months, he felt strong and able to stay tobacco-free on his own. But because relapses are common, he still called into the Quitline weekly to speak with a counselor and let them know how he was doing. “In the beginning I would talk regularly with Shawn, until she retired. But I don’t need to be congratulated or encouraged anymore, I just feel so good about what I did. And because of that, I have never regressed.”
Since then, Dan’s lung nodule has disappeared and his follow-up lung scans have remained clear. In July 2025, Dan hit 1,000 days smoke-free, and the Quitline counselors and management called to congratulate him and celebrate his milestone.
Encouraging Others to Quit
Dan continues to mark his calendar every day he stays tobacco-free. Although his smoking never caused him noticeable respiratory problems, Dan admits that now, when he takes a breath, he can feel a difference in his breathing. “Even though I didn’t feel affected, that stuff was polluting my lungs. Now that I’ve quit, that tightness is gone, I can breathe fully.”
Dan has also made it his mission to share his experience with anyone who will listen. “I walk up to people on the street who are smoking and tell them I am going on three years quit. When they ask how I did it, I tell them to call the Quitline. Talk to someone, it doesn’t cost you anything and they will provide you with options that work for you,” he continues.
“Now the smell [of smoke] nauseates me, and I can’t believe I was ever that person. But I think, if I can quit, anyone can.”
Blog last updated: August 27, 2025
