Stephen Dotson: Strength to Survive
Part of: CCA Employees: Why I Gave Up Lighting Up
For Stephen Dotson, warden at Whiteville Correctional Facility, smoking was like breathing.
“I remember one time I decided to stop smoking while on the way to work one morning,” says Dotson, previously a smoker for 30 years. “I threw two packs out the window. I didn’t even make it a mile before I turned around and went back to find the cigarettes.”
Smoking had been Dotson’s coping mechanism. “I enjoyed smoking and didn’t really want to quit,” he says. “I had come to believe that the stress relief from smoking did me more good than harm.”
But a bout with serious illness quickly convinced him otherwise.
“While at work, I had a mini-stroke, and after four days in the hospital and several discussions with the doctor, I realized it was either quit smoking or possibly quit living,” says Dotson.
He chose to keep living and hasn’t smoked for three years.
Support from family and friends urged him forward. “Everyone was pulling for me because I was the one nobody thought could quit,” says Dotson. “I had smoked for so long and was smoking three to four packs a day when I quit.”
Dotson also turned to other forms of assistance. “I used the patch for two weeks and then I went cold turkey,” he says. “I replaced the cigarettes with fireballs that I buy five pounds at a time from Cracker Barrel. I had to have a replacement since I smoked so much for so long.”
As a result, Dotson has experienced a dramatic lifestyle change.
“I never realized before how bad heavy smokers smell or how strong their offices and homes smell,” he says. “Seriously, my sense of smell has returned. I breathe better and don’t feel like I'm coughing up pieces of my lungs at times. I actually believe I have a lot less stress now than when I was smoking, and my blood pressure is now controlled very well.”
Dotson encourages those who are quitting to remain persistent, even when it’s most difficult.
“It’s tough, especially the first few weeks, and it takes tremendous willpower,” he says. “I knew from previous experiences when I tried to quit that if I ever smoked just one cigarette after I had quit, it could undo all the work and suffering I had gone through.”
By Trish Barnard and DeAndra Mack
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Louise Grant at FSC:
Wow! Very powerful testimony, warden. Thank you for sharing this personal story.