I started smoking when I was 14 – like most people, I think, believing that I could quit any time I wanted to. I smoked a pack to a pack and a half a day. By the time I was in my early to mid twenties, I had discovered that it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Over the next 30 years, I tried repeatedly to quit – I only managed to make it as long as a week once. I tried nicotine patches, Chantix, Zyban, cold turkey… nothing worked. I felt guilty every time I it a cigarette. I felt weak. I felt like a failure. I had a cough, my blood pressure was going up, I developed a vocal polyp and edema of the vocal chords and sounded – as my sister said – rather like Homer Simpson’s sisters. When my father died of COPD, I knew I had to find a way to quit. I tried the disposable e-cigarettes that you find at convenience stores, but they were really unsatisfying to me. They didn’t taste right and there wasn’t much to exhale. I kept hearing, though, about people using them. Then my stepdaughter’s in-laws told me they were using them, so I went on line and started doing research. I did a *lot* of research. I wanted something that was enough like smoking that it might work for me – that meant a taste I liked and reasonable vapor. After about a month of research, I ordered a kr808 starter kit. I got the kit on a Saturday – April 21, 2012. In the next month, I had maybe 6 actual cigarettes, and each one I had I hated more. It’s now August 2013 and I haven’t smoked since. I usually order a nicotine strength of 18 mg, but plan to reduce that over time. Since the absorption rate is so much lower with the e-cigarette, I know I’m getting much less nicotine than I was My heart rate has gone from almost 100 down to about 72. My cough has cleared up. My voice, while still not what it was before I ever smoked, is around 90% better. I haven’t had bronchitis or a bad respiratory cold since before I quit. My house doesn’t smell like cigarettes. *I* don’t smell like cigarettes. My grandchildren aren’t breathing secondhand smoke, and neither are my dogs. I tell everyone who mentions wanting to quit smoking about my experience – I can’t say enough good things about it. E-cigarettes have drastically improved my health and my life. The only negative at all is that it requires some planning ahead and the ability to order online if you want the better quality materials and a selection of liquids.