Official shares journey from smoky room to smokeout

ROCKFORD — In forty-plus years of time in smoke-filled political rooms, Harlem Township Supervisor and Winnebago County Board member Doug Aurand was one of the guys doing the smoking.

Now, he volunteers during the American Cancer Society’s observances of the Great American Smokeout to tell schoolchildren about the dangers of smoking — dangers that were brought home to him firsthand 11 years ago when he underwent surgery to remove tumors in his throat and right tonsil.

He had today — Great American Smokeout Day — off, but he spoke earlier this week at Machesney Elementary School and, Friday he’ll show classes at Lathrop and Beyer elementary schools the scars on his throat, the numbness in his face and the limited use of his right arm because tendons had to be removed from his right shoulder during the surgery.

“When I tell them my story, hopefully, they’ll never pick up that first cigarette,” said Aurand, who began smoking at age 21 when he was stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador, with the United States Air Force.

“When you got there, they gave you a welcome package that included all kinds of gifts and coupons and the like,” said Aurand, who was Winnebago County treasurer for 28 years and is a former Winnebago County Democratic Central Committee chairman. “One of the items was a coupon for a free carton of cigarettes.”

He said he had never smoked before then, but went to base PX and redeemed the coupon for the cigarettes.

“I thought, ‘What the heck, it’s free. I’ll give it a try,’” Aurand said. “It was the biggest mistake of my life. Of course, we didn’t know as much about how bad smoking was for you back then, but once I did learn I tried to quit. I struggled with it for the next 30 years.”

Aurand said he switched to smoking cigars in his late 20s, thinking he was doing himself a favor because he wouldn’t inhale cigar smoke but wasn’t able to give up the habit until the county passed an ordinance banning smoking in county buildings.

“I’m a big believer in annual physical checkups,” he said, and a check of his carotid arteries is what led to his cancer diagnosis and eventual survival.

“I could tell something was wrong, but the nurse wouldn’t talk to me,” Aurand said. His doctor told him that he had lymphoma cancer and said the tumors in his throat and tonsil were progressing rapidly.

“I’m a guy who believes in percentages,” Aurand said, “so I asked him what were my chances. He said they were 50-50, and I was scheduled for surgery in two weeks. Now, I’m a religious person anyway, but you really get religious when someone tells you that you have a 50-50 chance of dying.”

Aurand said he conveys his story to students, including showing them a special mask he had to wear during radiology treatment after surgery and telling them that he also lost a saliva gland in the operation, which forces him to sleep on his right side at night and only for 60 to 70 minutes at a time before he must drink some water to wet his mouth.

“I always end my talks by telling the students that I was very stupid, but that they’re not,” Aurand said. “They know the bad things that smoking can do to you. The incidences of cancer are going up fastest for youngsters, so the time to relate to them is when they’re in the third to sixth grade.

“For me, Great American Smokeout Day is 365 days a year. If I can stop one kid from picking up that first cigarette, I’ll consider it a success.”

All this week, students at Beyer, Brookview, Lathrop, Nelson, Machesney, Prairie Hill, Washington, Caledonia and Mary Morgan elementary schools have been participating in an anti-tobacco program called Day by Day We are Learning to be Smoke-free.

The program is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and the Winnebago County Health Department and uses various lesson plans across all school subjects to teach kids the dangers of tobacco.

Staff writer Mike DeDoncker can be reached at 815-987-1382 or mdedoncker@rrstar.com.

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