LAFAYETTE – Jerry Silver had tried to quit smoking more times than he could count over the last four decades. Unfortunately, none of those attempts were ever successful, that is until he enrolled in the Aspire Tobacco Free program at Franciscan Health Lafayette in January 2023.
The 60-year-old, fourth-generation farmer, whose great-grandfather moved to Indiana to start a farm in 1892, cited wanting to see his grandchildren grow up as the biggest factor that led him to make the decision to again try to quit smoking. He also has battled chronic COPD and Emphysema, compounded by decades of working in dusty fields, while on the farm.
“I never got very far the previous times I had tried to quit,” said Silver. “While I was hospitalized last winter, they came in my room and told me about the Aspire program which was available. They asked if I be interested in trying it and I said, ‘Absolutely, I’ll try anything.’ The first Friday after my discharge, I had my first Aspire session.”
Working sometimes 16-18 hour days, especially during harvest time, Silver often would smoke three or four packs of cigarettes a day, while on farm equipment. As his COPD got worse the last few years, he tried to scale back to a pack or so a day.
This time around, he is going on nearly one year since he last smoked a cigarette. In fact, Silver still has the last pack of cigarettes he bought, sitting on the kitchen table with a lighter. Early on in his journey to quit smoking, he was tempted to pick up the cigarettes, but did not want to let the team at Aspire down.
Silver, who grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa, two miles east of the Indiana/Illinois state line, looks at those cigarettes every time he walks in the kitchen and before he heads out the door to start his day on the farm.
“I had one day in particular that was tough,” Silver said. “I was physically shaking from my toes to the top of my head, wanting a cigarette so bad. It lasted about a half hour. It was serious. What got me through was knowing that the ladies at the Aspire clinic would be supportive. They were there for me. From the word go, they were there for me. I could not go in that Friday and tell them, I had failed. That is what got me through it.”
That motivation and support led Silver to complete the Aspire program. He even has the certificate he received from his “graduation,” hanging on the refrigerator. Another reminder of the journey he is on and the success that he has had in his battle to quit smoking.
“I did some things that were unorthodox that they said other people who had been successful on the program didn’t do,” Silver said. “The things that most people had done to be successful, didn’t work for me, so they tailored the program a bit to my own personal journey. They worked with me to help me be successful.”
Silver completed the required sessions that comprised the Aspire program, but asked if he could have a few more weeks of one-on-one sessions, following that, which he points to as key factors to his success.
“Every single time I walked in, I was greeted with a smile and confidence,” said Silver. “When I left, they would say goodbye with a smile and ‘See you next time.’ When you have support like that, you know you are going to be successful.”
As a token of his appreciation to the team at Aspire who were instrumental in his smoking cessation, Silver would bring them treats, such as brownies from a local bakery and even Crumbl Cookies. He joked that with how much money he was saving from not buying cigarettes anymore, he could bring cookies in every day.
Silver has been a big proponent of spreading the message of the Aspire program and the work that the team involved partakes in. While around individuals who are smoking in various establishments, he often has folks ask him about quitting smoking and he is quick to share his story and offer advice.
“I’ve had people in those kinds of environments say to me, I heard you quit smoking, I need to,” he said. “I tell them, when you are ready, call me and I’ll tell you where to go and they will help you be successful. So far, I’ve yet to hear from any of them, but I’ve told a lot of people.”
The Indiana native, who knew when he was in first grade that he wanted to be a farmer, has planted 37 crops over the course of his farming career and would like to plant an even 40 before he starts to scale back, at which time his sons would take over the farm. Thanks to the Aspire program, Silver believes he will be able to do achieve that goal.
“I guarantee you, 100 percent that the reason I was success quitting smoking this time, was because of the team at the Aspire program,” said Silver.
Aspire is a multi-faceted tobacco cessation program designed to help people break free from addiction and move toward a healthier life. The program is designed to help participants quit smoking, chewing and using all tobacco products. In order to overcome tobacco use, it needs to be treated like an addiction. Treating an addiction means changing behavior. Aspire programs use a non-judgmental, personalized approach to help participants change their behavior around tobacco use.
The Aspire program offers: individual coaching sessions, assessing nicotine dependence, determining reasons for tobacco use and motivations for quitting and medication management.
Learn more about Aspire here or call 844-441-6609.
