NEW ORLEANS — Twenty percent of people in Louisiana smoke. That is nearly double the national average. And the state ranks among the worst for lung cancer survival.
Now, there are two programs to help you quit and to find lung cancer early.
It's been an interesting journey for Lindy Brown and Augie Audirsch. They met in their 1960s hippie days in the French Quarter as friends. They went their separate ways, with previous marriages, but now find themselves in Mandeville acting like newlyweds after being married for three years. They have a lot in common, including being smokers since their youth.
“The sign of being a man. Yeah, my daddy smoked. So, I was going to smoke,” said Augie Audirsch, 73.
“I liked everything about it, except that it kills you,” said Lindy Brown, 75.
Like so many who try to quit, there was some short-lived success.
“Both of us were cheating at the same time, unbeknownst to the other one, remembers Brown.
“She was smoking at work, and out behind my shed was the most organized it's ever been,” Audirsch laughed.
But this last time was different when they, again, together, went through a free smoking cessation program at Ochsner. It has a variety of ways to help, medications both prescription and over-the-counter, group meetings, and virtual coaching.
“If you did everything the program said to do, it was OK. I was going to work and everybody around me smoking, but I was able to handle it without a whole lot of stress,” said Brown.
“We quit and it was obvious how bad the house smelled. Our clothes, everything stunk, and the money, the money, is unbelieve, you figure it out,” they both chimed in.
“You need to understand that it's not a one and done. Right? It's a life-long journey, and if you start smoking again, we understand, and it's addiction and we want you to keep trying,” explained Dr. Susan Gunn, Pulmonary Critical Care physician at Ochsner, who is also the Medical Director of the Lung Cancer Screening Program.
Dr. Gunn says there's also another program for smokers. It's a CT scan of the lungs that takes a few minutes to try to catch cancer early.
“Often times it's completely without symptoms. So, what we want to do is capture patients who are asymptomatic, who don't have a cough, who haven't lost weight, but qualify for that lung cancer screen,” said Dr. Gunn.
Augie sums up his new health journey this way.
“Well, as you get closer to the end, you'll do anything to give yourself just a little more time,” said Audirsch.
The smoking cessation program is for anyone 18 and older at any Ochsner location.
It's also for people who vape, or chew tobacco. And the scans covered through insurance for current or former smokers 50 to 80 years old
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