When Brennan’s son said, “Dad, I’m going to be like you and dip when I get bigger,” he knew he needed to do something to break the cycle.

 

He was ready to quit, and he wanted this attempt to be his last. Brennan wanted a program with proven success rates, so he called the HPRC Tobacco Treatment Research Program (TTRP) at The University of Oklahoma.
 

As a young child, many of Brennan’s role models used smokeless tobacco, including his father. At age 15, Brennan began using tobacco products and smokeless tobacco, also known as snuff, which became his go-to tobacco product. Also, when entering the workforce, he was surrounded by others using tobacco. After several unsuccessful attempts to quit using other programs, Brennan felt stuck. He did not feel he had all the tools he needed to be successful, until he found the TTRP.

Brennan shared that the first few days of quitting were the toughest. However, with the support and FREE medication provided by the TTRP, Brennan has been tobacco-free for over a year. Brennan’s counselors checked in with him weekly to discuss his progress and helped him to develop coping strategies for relapse triggers that had previously derailed his attempts to quit. Brennan is tremendously grateful for the patches and nicotine gum provided by the TTRP free-of-charge. “Nicotine gum is not cheap. Each time I called to request supplies, they arrived the next day. It’s an awesome program. I couldn’t have quit without them.”
 

Brennan recently started a new business and has days where he thinks about going back to dipping. Instead, Brennan relies on what he learned during his twelve weeks with the TTRP. Brennan is proud to tell people that the TTRP helped him to quit tobacco. He has suggested to others, including his father, that they should consider enrolling in the TTRP. Brennan said he feels his greatest sense of pride when he looks at his son and believes he broke the cycle. “I’m his dad; he looks up to me. I know I did the best thing for both of us.”
 

The HPRC’s Tobacco Treatment Research Program (TTRP) offers free tobacco cessation counseling services, nicotine patches, and lozenges or gum along with opportunities to participate in paid tobacco cessation research studies involving smartphone apps, prescription medications, and monetary rewards for quitting.
 

For more information about smoking cessation treatment and participating in research, please call: (405) 271-QUIT (7848), email: TTRP@ouhsc.edu, or visit: 271quit.com.