 As an employee at the Sleep Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an affiliate of Barnabas Health, 40-year-old Jessica Lupkovich of Harrison, has been witness to countless patients with sleep and breathing disorders related to smoking. A 20-year smoker, with a pack-a-day addiction, Jessica knew that the problems she was seeing each day could be a glimpse into her future and she did not want the crystal ball she was looking in to become reality.
“I wasn’t feeling well,” explained Jessica when describing what motivated her to have her last cigarette in January. “I knew smoking was making me sick. I had to stop before a ‘real’ problem surfaced.” That is when Jessica partnered with Dennis Lee, Tobacco Treatment Specialist with the Institute for Prevention (IFP), Barnabas Health Behavioral Health Network, also an affiliate of Barnabas Health, to join the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program offered by the IFP. Having tried to quit unsuccessfully in the past, she knew she needed additional support.
According to Dennis, as an employee of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, Jessica was entitled to eight weeks of free tobacco cessation treatment, free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), a customized quit-smoking plan, and ongoing individual, group and/or family counseling. Dennis recommended Jessica start the nicotine weaning process by using the patch and NRT lozenges.
Jessica freely admits that breaking the addiction to cigarettes was a challenge, even with the tools provided by the Treatment Program. She described wanting to be near people who were smoking just to smell the second-hand smoke and struggling to manage the urge to frequently snack. But now, smoke-free for three months, she feels the benefits of her hard work and dedication. “I can breathe better, have stopped coughing in the morning, the sinus problems I have are improving and I have more energy,” she describes. “And, my sense of smell has increased so dramatically, I feel like I have superpowers!”
For more information about the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program offered by the Institute for Prevention, please call
973-926-7978 (northern NJ) or 732-886-4149 (central/southern NJ).
Date: May 27, 2011
Contact – Public Relations
ltortorello@barnabashealth.org
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