BY the time you read this I will have been cigarette free for 456 hours; not that I'm counting! That's the good news, but it hasn't been easy.

In fact things that may look very ordinary have turned into cigarettes, my mum for example, and I've found myself sucking pens and pencils more than is strictly healthy for me but the main thing is I am determined to quit.

No. More than that. I have quit. The trick now is to stop thinking fags are good things and remember that they will actually kill me.

However bad I feel at the moment is as nothing to the pain I would feel with a body full of cancer, or half my face not working because I've had a stroke. Tends to focus the mind, that does.

The support from strangers and friends has also helped enormously. There are those however who still say: "Ah well, you could get run over by a bus next week".

True, but I would have to point out that I would be far more likely to meet such an undignified end if I chose to constantly lay down in front of buses! Smoking massively increases your chances of meeting an untimely end, it wouldn't be a random piece of bad luck to die of a smoking-related disease.

My NHS anti-smoking advisor has been a terrific help handing out a vast array of nicotine replacement products, which has helped me get over the cravings.

Although the nicotine patches, lozenges, gums, and inhalers have meant I had to buy a new coat with extra pockets, I'm looking to a smoke-free Easter... and lots of chocolate!