For years Naval Hospital Bremerton's (NHB) tobacco cessation counselor has cut through blown smoke to annually circle the third Thursday of November for the Great American Smokeout.

Refuting exaggerated claims promoting tobacco usage is something Pat Graves, NHB tobacco cessation counselor, along with NHB's Health Promotion and Wellness Department, will address on November 16, 2017. They will team up on the Great American Smokeout to encourage those who smoke to quit for just that day, or make a plan to quit.

"We celebrate the ones who do quit. For them it's a huge life victory. For those who try and don't succeed, it can and does take time. It actually takes on average four to seven tries for a smoker to quit," said Graves, noting that an estimated 70 percent of all smokers want to quit at some time, but are generally not sure where, when, or how.

"The irony is that 100 percent of all smokers want to quit before they have health-related problems. Unfortunately by then it might be too late," Graves said.

Growing up in Minnesota, Graves did smoke. His best friend in high school was allowed to smoke at home by parents who both smoked. At 15 they both began to smoke. After high school Graves joined the Navy and found out later that his friend's parents both passed away due to emphysema. Graves quit smoking over 20 years ago. His friend kept smoking, also developed emphysema, and by age 54 got a lung transplant.

"His quality of life has improved. He no longer has to lug around an oxygen bottle all the time. It's because of smoking that he ended up like that," related Graves.

Naval Hospital Bremerton provides support to approximately 600 to 800 beneficiaries - active duty, retirees, dependents - who try every year to quit using tobacco products.

"There are also approximately 200 repeat customers who have tried and failed and are determined to try again. We turn no one away," said Graves. "We don't worry about those we can't reach and don't want any help. We focus on those who want help and are trying."

The most gratifying aspect of Graves' job is having a former smoker come back and thank him for his assistance.

"We have had retirees with significant health issues all due to smoking say that their life is so much better now that they have quit. There was one young lady we helped quit a few years ago. At the time she was trying to quit, she and her husband were having fertility issues trying to start a family. She came back recently and introduced her baby. She credited giving up smoking as part of why they were able to become a family," Graves shared.

Yet despite all that Graves does, there still is some frustration.

"We recognize that there are defiant and stubborn smokers who want to remain willfully ignorant of the perils from smoking. The evidence is there. Even pre-school children know it. But these smokers will openly ask 'who are you to tell me what to do?' But if they get to the point where they want to quit, we are there to help. We won't say, 'I told you so.' We will say, 'I'm glad you made the decision,'" said Graves.

Graves does acknowledge that giving up tobacco products is extremely difficult. Nicotine is highly addictive.

"Nicotine has an addiction property that is on the same level as a dangerous narcotic like heroin. That's just not good," Graves said.

The theme of this year's Great American Smokeout is 'one day is just the beginning,' which Graves considers entirely relevant.
"A person quits one day at a time and builds upon the success of that initial day. As the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. That's when it all starts. Same with quitting smoking. Just take a day, and go from there. That's what the Great American Smokeout is all about," Graves said.

For those deciding to quit, Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center statistical evidence notes that on the first day of quitting, within just 20 minutes, a person's heart rate and blood pressure drop. Within 12 hours, a person's carbon monoxide level in their blood drops to normal. By the completion of that day, the chance of a heart attack has decreased.

Fast forward from that initial one day to the one year mark. A lot can and will happen - health wise - during that time. In the first month of quitting, a person's skin appearance improves. Within three months, their circulation and lung function gets better. At the nine month mark, there's less coughing. Even breathing becomes easier.

After an entire year of not smoking, the risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half. After five years, the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half, and the chance of getting cervical cancer and a stroke return to normal.

Ten years after quitting, a former smoker is half as likely to die from lung cancer and their risk of larynx or pancreatic cancer decreases. After 15 years, a former smoker's risk of coronary heart disease is the same as that of a non-smoker.

Additional improvements by quitting smoking include, lower levels of cholesterol and fats circulating in the blood; thinner blood which makes a person less likely to develop blood clots; reduced belly fat and a lower risk of diabetes; wound healing improves; hand and feet temperature return to normal; fatigue and shortness of breath decrease; risk of bone fracture reduces; and smell and taste ability improve.

Those health benefits aren't just a bunch of blown smoke, especially on the Great American Smokeout.

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