On June 1st I purchased my first electronic cigarette kit. I still had almost a full carton of cigarettes left, but wanted to quit, so when I bought my kit, I smoked my last cigarette & told myself, that’s it, no more!. So on June 2nd I woke up without reaching for a cigarette & reached for my freshly charged e-cig, (Joytech 510 manual & a Joytech C 1000 with the 510 atomizers). That was the beginning of my new life without cigarettes. The first five days to a week was a little rough. I wanted a cigarette, but everytime I got that urge, I reached for my e-cig instead. It was hard at first, but I’d made up my mind that this was going to work for me! Well, after the first week I noticed I was hacking up flem more. My system was getting rid of years of junk out if me. I’d been smoking heavily for over 37 years & had years of junk to get rid of! The hacking or what I would call smoker’s hack or morning hacking & coughing, lasted for about 3 weeks. Then I seem to clear up & not have that problem anymore. I thought, wow, I’m waking up every morning now with no more smoker’s hack! That was the first real great feeling I got from being smokefree! The other was that I told my doctors that I gave up cigarettes in place of e-cigs & they could tell my lungs sounded clearer & was glad I decided to switch to an alternative instead of cigarettes. Anyway, over weeks & then months I managed to buy my sister a kit plus enough e-liquid to get her started. She said she’d like to quit, but couldn’t afford to buy a kit, so that why I bought her one! To me, I’m giving her The Gift Of Life! You see, my father died of lung cancer 3 years ago. I was his Care Giver & was by his side until he died & cancer has got to be one of the most slow moving & painful deaths! So if I can help my family, friends, & others by getting off of cigarettes & on an electronic cigarette instead, then at least I’m helping them have a better chance at fighting to get cancer. For months, almost a year I’ve been using the Torpdeo Chrome by Totally Wicked, the iTaste I bought recently about two months ago from Mountain Oak Vapor & I use tanks. I prefer tanks with a good standard 2.0 & 2.1 catromizer. I also like using different clearomizers as well! I’m always trying new things. I carry cards from vape shops on me because I’m always getting approached by people that are curious & looking to quit smoking. Just in the past few months I’ve also gotten my CDL & have become a truck driver, so now I have people from all over the country asking me about vaping. I’ve been smokefree for over a year now. My VAPORVERSARY was June 2nd & I’ve managed to go from 24 mg of nicotine to 9 mg. when I tell people about vaping the first thing they ask me is, does it work & I say yes if you truly want to quit smoking. Then I also explain to them how the patch & nicotine gum never worked for me because it was at their levels of stepping down & on their terms & smokers are all different in how quick or slow it takes them to step down. Like anything else in life, I don’t like being rushed! So with e-cigs they can go at their own pace! Plus smoking was not just an addiction for me, it was also a habit. The hand to mouth habit! That’s a tough one to break, but by using an e-cig you’re still using the hand to mouth action without all those toxic poisons. Plus with your new found taste buds you’re not stuffing snacks & sweets in your mouth just to satisfy that habit! That’s important I think! Also in the months & now over a year that I’ve been vaping, I started making lanyards from leather. A classy, decorative & sturdy way to carry my nicotine delivery device! Got my own page on Facebook called Coyote Imprint (Custom E-Cig Lanyards). I also have a web page, but it’s not up running yet, due to driving on the road takes a lot if my time. However I do meet many, many people & hopefully rubbed off enough on them that they too go to a vape shop & quit smoking. To sum it all up……,nothing else over the years that I’ve tried has worked for me to keep me away from smoking, but vaping an electronic cigarette has! Because if it, I feel so much healthier & my lungs more clearer. No more smokers hack & cough & just the smell of cigarettes makes me ill! I can’t stand being around smokers & it amazes me that I use to smell like that! Just the smell alone should tell people that smoking us bad for them. Well, this is my testamoney & I’m proud to say I’ve been smokefree for over a year now, I’m proud to be a vaper, & I feel GREAT! Thank You for reading! ~Charlene Charlie McKinnon-Berst 🙂