Question:
52 yrs old, smoked for 30 yrs, surgery is on july 9th

My mom has surgery on july 9th, im scared to death! she is 52 and has smoked for almost 30 yrs. im just wondering if there is anyone out there who has had the surgery and has smoked for so long. I had the surgery in october of last year and my lung partially collapsed, im 23 and i dont smoke. im scared that my mom wont make it. any advice or words of encouragement from anyone that can relate to my situation or my moms would be greatly appreciated.    — lisa N. (posted on June 30, 2003)

June 30, 2003
hello! i am 52, smoked for 40 years, had surgery feb 20, 2003 and had no problems. i quit smoking april 2002 so i had been away from them for quite sometime. i had to go to a pulmonologist and cardiologist for testing and was surprised that i had no problems. i was very faithful in doing the breathing exercises before and after surgery. i had a little "catch" in my breathing post surgery that went away in about 1 1/2 weeks but i had to work at it. i just couldn't take a good long deep breath. i had no problems coming out of anesthesia at all. remember that my experience is mine and might not be the same with your mom. i hope she has quit smoking for good. it is one of the best things i have ever done for myself and a huge source of pride. you know the other is wls. i'm down 68 lbs. good luck to you and your mom. get her to use the breathing thingy as often as possible. it really helped me.
   — Priscilla A.

June 30, 2003
I smoked for 22 years and 42 years old. I quit on 5/24/02 had surgery 9/3/02. Everything went fine, I did my breathing exercises all the time, no problem waking up from surgery either. If she follows orders she should be ok.
   — Jeana S.

June 30, 2003
I smoked 2-3 packs a day for 30 years, and quit 2 months before my surgery....I had no respiratory complications. My surgeon will NOT operate on anyone who has not been smoke free for at least 30 days prior to surgery.
   — Linda 1.

June 30, 2003
I smoked for 20+ years and had surgery and did fine. And I didn't quit for the surgery - had a smoke 3 hours before the operation and as soon as I was up walking. In fact it motivated me to GET UP and get walking :>) It depends a LOT on her general over-all health. I'll say a prayer for her!
   — [Deactivated Member]

June 30, 2003
I had my surgery when I was 44 and had been smoking for 28 years (had quit for 6 years, but went back to it 2 years before my surgery). While I intended to quit before the surgery, I was just too nervous, and wound up smoking even more during the few weeks prior. I was up to 2 and a half packs a day. I even had two cigarettes on the drive to the hospital the morning of my surgery. The nurse didn't like the sound of my lungs, and had me inhale Provental (an asthmatic medication) for about 30 minutes prior to going into surgery. I had no complications AT ALL. I'm not advocating smoking, and the best thing your Mom can do is quit before hand (it really is a nasty habit), but don't assume the worst. Plenty of smokers have all kinds of surgery and survive it.
   — Cyndie K.