That belief is shared by Dana, who carries on her mother’s important work with the Tips campaign to ensure that Terrie’s message makes a difference even after her death. She believed that if she could prevent just one person from smoking, then she had done something great. “If you don’t start, you never have to worry about stopping,” she said. Through the Tips From Former Smokers ® ( Tips ®) campaign, Terrie wanted to encourage young people to never start smoking. Terrie died in 2013 from smoking-related cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer returned many times in the years after Terrie was first diagnosed. “I’m busier now than before I got cancer,” Terrie said about her life over the last few years. She lent her time and support to several health and advocacy organizations. Terrie worked tirelessly to educate young people about the dangers and consequences of tobacco use. “It’s been very difficult for the family because you go through everything they go through,” Dana explained. “Maybe not in the same way, but you’re still there.” Her daughter, Dana, described how painful the experience was for their family. Terrie’s family was by her side through the ups and downs of her illness. Yet, one concern remained for Terrie, “My fear now is that I won’t be around to see my grandchildren graduate or get married.” Terrie welcomed three grandchildren into her life. When children ask me why I talk like this, I tell them it’s because I used to smoke cigarettes. “I miss being able to sing lullabies to him. “This is the only voice my grandson knows,” she said. From then on, Terrie spoke with the help of an artificial voice box that was inserted in her throat. The doctors informed her that they would need to remove her larynx.
Later that same year, Terrie was diagnosed with throat cancer. The radiation was getting rid of the cancer, so I could still smoke,” she said. Terrie continued to smoke throughout her radiation treatments. As she recalled, “I had a sore in my mouth and had to go through all these grueling radiation treatments. In 2001, at the age of 40, Terrie was diagnosed with oral cancer. She eventually was smoking up to two packs a day and started feeling the effects of tobacco at age 25-a sore throat that never seemed to go away.
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