Airman smoke free for two years

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Grace Lee
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  There's a killer on the loose -- tobacco. It entices many each day. More than 3,200 people smoke their first cigarette under the age of 18 each day, and about 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers, according to BeTobaccoFree.gov.

Tobacco also prematurely kills more than 10 times as many U.S. citizens than all those who have died in every U.S. war. It has been the cause of more deaths than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, vehicular accidents, homicide and suicide combined, according to the American Lung Association.

I can go on and on about the statistics and why you shouldn't smoke, but I know most of you who are reading this already know or may not be too concerned with the health hazards or risks that come with smoking. I can relate to this because I was once a smoker. In fact, I've been smoke free since August 2012.

Since I quit, I haven't had the desire to have a cigarette or any type of tobacco or nicotine-containing product, whether it be hookah or even the vapor or electronic cigarette.

Don't get me wrong, the struggle was real -- my journey to finally finding the right method to quit for me, that is.

It took me several months to finally become addicted, and when I realized it, it was too late. I wanted no part of smoking, but I had a new master named "Cigarette," and I was its slave. It had me in the palm of its hand. It had control over me and my moods. I was happy, or so I thought, when I was smoking, and if someone tried to stop me from having a cigarette, I got mad and would smoke anyway.

Just to smoke, I was willing to endure great discomfort. No matter how blazing hot or freezing cold it was outside, I was not deterred from marching outdoors and lighting up. In an airport with no smoking section available, I was willing to walk outside the terminal and find a smoke pit only to have to go back through security again -- I was committed.

Prior to smoking, I was outgoing and had a good attitude when hanging out with friends and family, but as a smoker, I had to constantly make sure my new master was pleased. I remember spending the day in Seattle with my brother and my mom. Instead of enjoying the time with my family, I was fixated on how I was going to escape their view to have a cigarette. Coming from a traditional Korean family who ostracized smoking, I hid it from them.

It was a daily struggle to keep my cigarette addiction satisfied while never really being happy with myself. When I was a smoker I never woke up in the morning and thought, "Another beautiful day to be a smoker." I always thought the opposite. I thought, "Wow, what an idiot I am to be a smoker."

Many smokers put up a front as if they don't care that they smoke but deep inside they do. When I smoked, I did care about what I was doing to my body but chose to act like I didn't. I would say things like, "Yes, I know I stink, may get cancer or die prematurely, but it's my body and I like smoking."

I won't go into great detail about how I quit, but all I can say is, it was easy. I quit by reading "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. For more detail on how I quit you can visit Luke.af.mil and search "Book takes Airman on journey to quit smoking." Don't get me wrong. Prior to finding the book I went through many obstacles when it came to quitting, and the book was my last hope. I had tried the e-cigarette, going cold turkey, chewing toothpicks -- the list goes on and on.

Today, I am happier than I was when I was smoking. I am free from the chains of smoking. It was tiring always making sure I had cigarettes on hand, and finding a place to smoke was becoming more difficult.

I'm not just saying these things because it is the right thing to say but because it's the truth.

I hope my story has sparked something in you or given you hope that you, too, can quit.

It's never too late to quit no matter what age you are or how many years you've been a smoker. Nov. 20 marks the Great American Smokeout. It's an opportunity for people to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day, according to the American Cancer Society.

For Airmen, there are several options available to quit smoking. Make an appointment with a provider to get a desired tobacco cessation medication or for more information on other options available to quit, call Sunny Hayes, 56th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Health and Wellness Center, at 623-856-7531.