Quitting smoking can be one of the toughest challenges that anyone can face. Most smokers try to quit multiple times before they actually succeed, and "going cold turkey" can be next to impossible, particularly without support.

Thanks to the company's "Well...Stop!" program, Rosie Heath is a true tobacco-free success story. This smoking cessation program gives employees and their spouses the support they need to quit and, like the company's other wellness programs, helps individuals live healthier, more productive lives. Heath, who works as a senior secretary at the Mill Creek Station, hopes her story can inspire other employees to stop smoking.

An LG&E employee for 11 years, Heath had been smoking about a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for more than 20 years. She picked up the habit when she was 15 and, despite several attempts to quit on her own, she always gave up. Her father-in-law's debilitating emphysema, however, was a wake-up call for her. The mother of two adult children, Heath recognized that her smoking would affect more than her own life. "I didn't want my kids to see me like that," she said. Her husband, also a smoker, essentially dared her to quit when he saw that she really wanted to stop for good.

Heath had paid for nicotine patches out of her own pocket in the past, but they were expensive, and she had no support network to help her stay off cigarettes. When she began the Well...Stop! program, it only paid for one course of treatment, so her decision to join the program meant that she had to commit once and for all to quit. "I have no willpower," Heath jokes, "but I'm a cheapskate!" She also told everyone at work that she was quitting so that she would have the public pressure to stay on the program.

Heath joined the Bullitt County Health Department's Cooper/Clayton Method Smoking Cessation Program, which included a support group with about 15 members, and she started nicotine patches. "I'm a talker, and I like to be around people," she says, so the support group really helped her focus on staying off cigarettes, and it gave her the opportunity to talk about the challenges of quitting.

Heath's Well...Stop! success is obvious: she hasn't smoked in three years, and her health and quality of life have improved dramatically. "I've done this for my children," she says, but she also feels better physically. Her productivity at work has improved drastically ("no more smoking breaks"), her house, clothes, and car no longer smell like smoke and, most importantly, she's now helping her husband to quit.

What advice does Heath have for her fellow employees? "Go with the Well...Stop! program. I couldn't do it on my own," said Heath. "Quitting with the program wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought. The patches kept me from being irritable, and the support group really helped me."

She also feels strongly that E.ON U.S. is doing something that very few other employers are doing — helping their employees get better.

If you or your spouse is interested in quitting smoking, visit the company's wellness site for more information on the Well...Stop! program and other wellness benefits and incentives.