Quitting smoking reduced pain from peripheral artery disease
Angie Kulczar started smoking when she was in college. “I don’t know why I decided to try it,” she said. “I thought I was strong enough to not let myself get addicted to smoking; but I had no idea how powerful nicotine is. I became addicted pretty fast and was a smoker for over 30 years.”
In January of 2021, Angie was out shoveling snow and chopping ice in the driveway. The next day she had some pain in the back of her upper left leg. “It felt like a charley horse or a pulled muscle. The pain moved from the back of my leg to my calf and foot within a day or two.”
Angie saw several doctors and underwent several tests to find the source of the problem. A podiatrist told her because of the color and coldness of her feet, he believed she was having problems with her blood flow. When she saw Dr. Nathaniel Dew, he explained that she has clogged arteries and diagnosed her with peripheral artery disease (PAD). He also said the biggest contributor to her problem was smoking.
“When he started talking about surgery and how complicated it was, I just wanted to cry,” Angie said. “Then he said, ‘If you can make some beneficial life changes, you may not need to have this surgery.’” Those changes included quitting smoking, losing weight and becoming more active.
Dr. Dew gave Angie information about a support group at Goshen Health for people who wanted to quit smoking. That’s where she started. “It was really helpful to be accountable each week. The group encouraged me not to be so hard on myself. I was trying to cut back in the beginning; but that was just adding more stress to my life.”
Angie was experiencing a lot of pain. “I’m a Christian. I finally prayed, asking God to take this burden. I hadn’t really given it completely to God before then. And, then I kept praying for and learning ideas from the support group as well as family and friends about healthier alternative things to do instead of smoking.”
On August 10, 2021, Angie had her very last cigarette. Those first couple of weeks, she felt jittery. “But it wasn’t as hard as I’d envisioned. And it didn’t take as long – only a couple of months.”
“Angie’s experience is similar to others who quit smoking,” said Mark Potuck, Tobacco Education Specialist and leader of Goshen Health’s support group. “Those first days and weeks are certainly the hardest, but most participants find once they get past the first month, it gets much easier.”
In addition to the support group, Angie appreciated the support of family and friends (those who smoke and those who don’t). “They celebrated with me.”
In the past year, Angie’s lost over 50 pounds. “I have moderate damage to my left leg and foot due to having PAD. Being more active at first was hard because of that pain. But I’m walking at a normal pace now.”
“Even if you have some physical problems due to smoking, when you quit, your body starts to heal pretty quickly,” Angie said. “Being a part of the support group has been really important to me.”
