smoking... ugh

Ok - so I quit smoking a few months ago... and when I met with the surgeon, I was at least six weeks w/o even ONE cigarette... but, alas, I have been smoking for about 3 weeks now... my insurance approval came through today and I'll be getting a surgery date SOON.  How much trouble is this going to cause?!?!!?!  BTW - I refuse to smoke tomorrow - no matter how grouchy I get!

Hang in there sending you positive thoughts.

should i be worried if I'm not back to 6 weeks non-smoking by surgery?

Someone with a medical degree should probably say yeah or nay.  BUT I have had 4 laparoscopic surgeries (gall bladder, band in, band repair, band out).  Smoked through all of them and still here.  Your healing will be faster without any constriction of blood vessels if you quit, and then there's that peskie anethesia issue. If you can, quit now and pretend you never restarted.  I'm down to 2 or 3 a day with my electronic vapor smokes.  I imagine I will need to quit it too.  Feel for my family.  Truely do.

My surgeon's office does nicotine testing and will not go through with surgery on those testing positive....but I am sure their are plenty of surgeons that will do it anyway. Also, the plastic surgeons that partner with the practice will not work on anyone nicotine positive.

Anne

Same here!  I went thru pre-op testing with a smoker and she was worried about the test.  She left in a huff so I am guessing she was told she would have to do the six weeks over.

omg i remember going in for sinus surgery and the nurse said 'you better get your last ciggy in before they get you'.  

i'm trying to quit for this surgery because i know smoking affects my stomach, i want to heal well.  im going for accupuncture on the 30th, surgery is on the 16th.  

I vape. (Electronic cigarettes - although don't buy the ones out of Walgreens, go to a vape shop or one online - send me a PM). You can get zero nicotine juice and if you buy from a reputable place, the ingredients are actually not too horrible.

Of course, in a perfect world, you would just quit inhaling anything, but the world... it ain't perfect.

What is your surgeons rules on it? Mine asks everyone to quit 30 days ahead of surgery and he tests too.

 

Good luck with this!!!! 

My surgeon tested for nicotine. A positive test meant no surgery - end of subject.

Being an ex smoker I will tell you how wonderful it is not to be controlled by the cigarette. My life revolved around smoking. It is so freeing to be a non smoker. I also have no breathing issues any longer. I don't cough, and boy did I cough. My BP is GREAT (Losing weight helped, too, I'm sure, but I think it is mostly losing the cigs that did it.) I also don't stink like smoke which is nice. I don't have to leave a restaurant to have that much needed after dinner cigarette, etc..... (I don't vape either, just in case you were wondering.)

It will be two years exactly this coming Sunday that I gave up smoking.  Seriously, if I can quit, so can you. I considered myself a hopeless smoker - a smoker for life - but I did it.