CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie H.: “Terrie, What Are You Doing?”

Terrie smoked her first cigarette at 13. In 2000, she found a sore in her mouth that was diagnosed as oral cancer. Later she found out she had throat cancer. In this video from CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers campaign, Terrie talks about getting home from the hospital after having surgery and her first realization that she had to quit smoking. She picked up a cigarette, put it in her mouth, and “for the first time, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I thought, ’Terrie, what are you doing?’“ Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: This video can also be viewed at