Schwartz also referred Baim to the Courage to Quit program. "She got the right help at the time when she had the determination to quit."īaim started with a visit to her primary care doctor, Mindy Schwartz, MD, who ordered a low-dose CT scan, a lung cancer screening test recommended for some longtime, heavy smokers. "I’m incredibly proud of her," said clinical social worker Ethan Israelsohn, LCSW, who led some of the Courage to Quit groups that Baim attended. She hasn’t had a cigarette in almost four years and feels great. Baim tapered down to a few cigarettes a day and then stopped completely. She did it at age 77 in 2019, with help from Courage to Quit, a smoking cessation program at UChicago Medicine. She neither wanted to lie nor be hypocritical, the driving forces behind her decision to quit. When Baim was in her mid-70s, her dear friend and longtime "smoking partner" died five weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer.Īnd Baim’s grandchildren were nearing the age where they could smell cigarette smoke on her clothes and ask questions. "I once tried to quit, but it wasn’t a serious attempt, because I was sure I couldn’t do it," she said. She even smoked when treated for breast cancer at the University of Chicago Medicine. In the early days, she sometimes went through a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. Mary Baim started smoking as a teenager in the 1950s and continued to smoke for the next 60 years.
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