Question:
Nine days post-op and I have had a few cigarettes...Help!

I know all the risks involved in cigarette smoking but not in relation to this surgery. Can anyone offer a kick in the butt explanation that will help me not to light up again?    — Mary Ellen K. (posted on July 8, 2004)

July 8, 2004
Beyond all the common known risks a postie smoking is a excellent way to develop a leak, heal slowly. and get a hard to treat ulcer. Coughing might cause a hernia. Would you give a baby a cigarette? Your pouch is that a baby. WLS is all about getting healthy, you risked you life on the operating table. I hope your able to stay away from them. Use the gazillion bucks you save for new clothes buying.
   — bob-haller

July 8, 2004
Mary Ellen- try dumping an ashtray into a mason jar, dampen them and then put the lid on- take a good whiff everytime you want to light up---should be pretty nauseating! Good luck! I am no saint- but it worked atleast long enough for me to heal before I went back to the dreaded cancer sticks! I am about to really give it a good shot again...I figure every cig I don't smoke- even if it is only 3 or 4 day sprints, is a break for my body! Fight the fight!
   — Stacy Forristal

July 8, 2004
Nicotine is a powerful drug. It causes tightening of blood vessels. That decreases blood flow and slows healing. There are a lot of incisions and suture lines with gastric bypass surgery. It takes a long time for them to heal and establish a strong suture line. As someone else said...coughing puts pressure/stress on suture lines also.
   — dianne E.

July 8, 2004
you had major surgery to get healthy.......so why would you want to smoke???
   — franbvan

July 8, 2004
You know, until recently I was of the attitude that it was none of my business if a person smoked and it was up to them to decide to quit. I am not a smoker and I didn't want to pass judgment. Then my brother had 2 heart attacks. He had been a smoker for nearly 40 years. He's okay now, but the cause of his heart attack was the smoking. Seems what I didn't realize is that smoking reduces the elasticity of your veins and arteries, making plaque more likely to build up. Well one afternoon a piece of plaque broke off of one of his arteries and blocked one of his main arteries 97%. This is a person who's almost never sick. He was medi-vac'ed to a hospital after going to his local ER and had a 2nd heart attack 30 minutes later. They put a stint in his artery and warned him if he valued living he'd better quit. If he can have this with relatively few health problems--what is the likelihood of someone less healthy to have major health problems? Please quit or get some help quitting. I'm sure it would leave a major hole in the lives of your family and friends if you weren't there some day.
   — Cathy S.

July 8, 2004
Look, until this surgery, I never had a fighting chance at trying to control my addiction to food. I tried everything. I am hoping that I have finally tried the one thing that will give me the ability to continue to fight and win. Please do the same for getting rid of the cigarettes. I lost my father last year to his second cancer (directly related to his smoking - which he hid from us) at 59 years old. We found out my brother's wife was pregnant the day after we buried my dad. He has missed so much. He fought like hell to live, and the cancer was stronger. Please, please do whatever you can to get rid of this poison. I feel that I have been robbed. Don't let cigarettes take you from your family too soon. None of this is about judgement - it's about how deeply this type of loss will affect those left behind. I wish you nothing but luck and my prayers.
   — Debra R.

July 9, 2004
Simple answer.. cause it WILL kill you. Smarten up.
   — SpyderS

July 10, 2004
Thanks to all for your responses. Your messages have been heard loud and clear-especially the one that mentions the increased possibility of a leak if I continue to light up. It is just not worth it! I haven't had another since reading your answers. Thanks again and my best to all of you as we continue to ighten our load. Mary Ellen
   — Mary Ellen K.