Doc pushed my surgery back a week because I was honest and told him I was still smoking. Im trying to quit and really want too, but why did he push my surgery back? He said he is gonna do a blood test to see if I was still smoking the day before surg and if I was he was going to cancel me.

Smoking impedes healing, increases the risk for ulcers, pulmonary embolisms, DVTs/blood clots and anesthesia complications due to decreased O2 saturation levels.

Yes they can test for nicotine in your system.......They dont want to risk losing there license if a patient is non compliant and not really mentally ready to do what it takes for this surgery Are you taking any aids to help you stop smoking? They have pills, Patches, hypnosis etc..........Good luck on your journey.

Doc pushed my surgery back a week because I was honest and told him I was still smoking. Im trying to quit and really want too, but why did he push my surgery back? He said he is gonna do a blood test to see if I was still smoking the day before surg and if I was he was going to cancel me.

Gotta do what you gotta do if you are gonna make this thing happen. Only you can decide whether the cigarettes are more important to you than this surgery or not.

Yes they can test for nicotine in your system.......They dont want to risk losing there license if a patient is non compliant and not really mentally ready to do what it takes for this surgery Are you taking any aids to help you stop smoking? They have pills, Patches, hypnosis etc..........Good luck on your journey.

thanks for the replies. Quitting was something I wanted to do for a while anyway so getting my surgery and saving my life is FAR more important then puffing up. Im going to try to go cold turkey and if it gets rough I'll get my doc to prescribe an aid.

I feel your pain. I gave myself a week to completely quit, allowing myself to smoke one a day. After that week, I didn't smoke again. So, today makes it exactly 8 days since I've had a cigarette. Try the gum, it helped me a lot.

When can you successfully pass a cigerette blood test and doesn't the gum have nictine in it?

Check with the doctor about the nicotine in the gum, but I'm pretty sure that there are additional chemicals in cigarettes that aren't in the gum, so it is easy for them to tell if you have been smoking or using a quitting aid. I quit using Chantix prior to my surgery. It was rough, but really worth it. No way I could be jogging & working out like I do if I was still smoking. Good luck!

Krista

They check your blood for Carbon Monoxideand it has to be below a certain level in your red blood cells. It hangs around in those cells for 3 months before they die off and make new ones. Just being around smokers can make the level raise up. I had a friend who is a Lab Tech explain it all to me. So it isn't the nicotine that they're testing in your blood, it's the effects of the cigarrettes that they're testing for. And you can't get around it! I quit in March of this year and used Chantix, and it worked really well! It was still hard, but more manageable that way. Good luck-it's worth it in the end! Keep your eye on the prize!

They are checking your blood for carboxy hemoglobin (sp?). Basically the carbon levels that are elevated by smoking. Since there is no carbon dioxide in chewing the gum, it shouldn't effect the results of the test. I work with a group of really respected respiratory therapists out of Sloan, Columbia Pres and Montefiore hospitals in NY and this is information they shared with me.

I smoked from 16 to 30. I tried to quit many times It finally worked when I started thinking of myself as a non-smoker before I quit. I wrote out a card and used it as sort of a mantra I'd start each day and instead of thinking that I was giving it up or quitting, I thought about how I wasn't a smoker, how good it felt to not stink, how much easier it was to breath. I did this while I was smoking with the idea that I would quit on a specific date in the future. I think I had the date set for 2 months out. Anyway, I never got to that date. Somewhere along the lines I just quit smoking. I have no idea exactly when except it was in the fall. (My goal was to be a non-smoker by the first of the next year.) That experience taught me how amazing the human brain can be if you are feeding it the right messages. So I know you might not have enough time, but for others who are facing this issue it's a suggestion. Apply it to our weight loss journey too. Sometimes the positive, assuming success, can do you a lot more good than lamenting your past.

I love that I quit smoking and you will too. With this weight loss journey, start banking all that extra $$ you will not be using to kill yourself with cigarettes. Because in a year's time you are going to need a whole new wardrobe and maybe a nice fun away from home weekend. And you'll be able to do it without it costiing you a cent....just the money you would have wasted anyway!!

I also was a smoker. From the age of 15 till I was 56 when I watched my X brother in law die of pancreatic cancer. I had other family members and friends die due to smoking. But that one really got to me. I had tired quitting at least 7-8 times!! But now I've quit for good and have been off them for about 2 years now. So it can be done!!

But just know that, my insurance will NOT bariatric surgery on you if you smoke. They also test your blood to make sure you don't have nicotine in your body. If you do, they will cancel the surgery.

Best of luck to you and I hope you can quit!! You can, but YOU just need to be ready.

I stopped smoking on 9/1 and took the nicotine test my doctor ordered on the 27th. There was no nicotine in my system. I don't think it takes that long. It can be out in 48 or 72 hours. I suggest you Google it. It's hard to quit an addiction. You will have withdrawals, but you can get through it and feel better than you have in a while. Good luck!

i quit 2 days before surgery. they didnt test me i guess? anyhow i know that it hurt my breathing after surgery. i felt like i couldnt get a good breath in. they had to give me inhailers and breathing treatments. definatly a good idea to quit!

I quit cold turkey on 1/4/2011. This was before I was considering surgery. The first 3 days were horrible - I slept as much as I could. After 72 hours the only thing to kick is the habit. The nicotine is gone at that point and it is up to you and your determination not to go back to smoking. Less than a year later it is the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I haven't been sick once! I know it's not easy as I still live with a smoker (outside only!). Good luck and believe in yourself! You can accomplish anything you put your mind to!