smoking

To smokersor ex-smokeres, has anyone continued to smoke before and after surgery? Any complications?

This is such a heavy subject for me right now. I have been smoke free now for 20 days. At times I feel as though I would rather give birth to the Brady Bunch all at once rather than to quit this habitual act. Thing is....as disgusting as it smells and is....I enjoyed smoking. The feeling of the first hit....that is what I miss the most. I am too early on to feel any "healthy" effects of quitting.

I passed the cotinine test (pre-op). The RN stated that if patients do not pass this test then there will be no surgery. I made my mind up that smoking is not going to stop me from getting this surgery. I do not plan on smoking again after surgery. It is getting better day by day but there are moments that I take it minute by minute. I am a nurse and I se the ill effects of smoking....I know deep down inside that it is the best thing for me...to quit that is. And the only way for me to explain this feeling to non smokers is....that piece of chocolate cake with fudge icing on top is sitting right in front of you...Do you dip that finger? Hmm.. I can't...that is why I did it cold turkey...the patch, lozenges, e cig....its a dip....ahh.this turned into a vent...sorry. Good luck to you....you can do it;)

I quit after 30 years because may surgeon wouldn't touch me if I was smoking before surgery.  And I knew he meant it.  I have been smoke free since June 2009 and it was the best thing I ever did.  Even more so than having the DS which was a miracle.

I used about.com's smoking cessation forum, patches and gum.  I needed daily support which I got online at that website.

I never even think about them any  more.  I am FREE of them and never realized how they tied me down.

So I strongly encourage you to quit...if not forever at least before your surgery.  It is just too dangerous to be smoking before this major major surgery and you need all the chips on your side.

~Becky

I have been smoke free since June 2009 and it was the best thing I ever did.  Even more so than having the DS which was a miracle.~Becky

I second this.  I did not try to quit during this surgery....  but I picked a date and stuck with it.  The more times you try quitting, the better you get at it.  And eventually it will stick.  And it is wonderful to not be tied down to it any more.

It's not the DS that causes problems with smoking.  It's the difficulty of recovery for a smoker after surgery.  Many have trouble clearing the anesthesia from their lungs and wind up with pneumonia.  Many surgeons insist on quitting for a certain amount of time before they will do surgery to allow the lungs some time to improve.

Both my parents were heavy smokers. My dad died of lung cancer at 59. My mom just turned 76, but she's been dragging around an oxygen hose for the last 8 years. She gets out of breath taking a shower, she can't do most of the things she used to love doing. She says she'd give anything if she could go back in time and never start smoking.

I've been told giving up smoking is harder than giving up heroin. Do the best you can.

Yep, I was the one that thought the hell with it!  I am scared  and I love smoking.  On the way to the hospital to have my ds, I smoked.  I ended up with a seroma and a wound vac pump for 8 weeks.  People who smoke do NOT heal well.  I quit smoking AFTER I had the surgery but the damage was already done.  I have not smoked in 3 years.  I can honestly say, I do not miss it.  I do not miss my clothes smelling like a cig.  I do not miss my kids complaining because I was the only one that smoked of all their friends parents. 

PLEASE, take it from one hard headed, loved to smoke smoker....QUIT NOW!  It is so not worth having to carry around the pump, having an awful scar because you do not heal.  QUIT for YOU! 

wow, that's har****hx for your insight, i'm gonna try my darnest.

I am a mess.  I have gotten down to a few cigarettes a day and I am petrified that my surgery will be cancelled because it is only 20 days away.  I don't want to postpone the surgery and the more I stress about it, the more I want to smoke.  I have so much anxiety from this that I feel lost.  I definitely will NOT smoke after the surgery.  Any advice?