Quiting smoking on my pre op diet HELP!

[Abry 28]

How do I cut out all of what I like in a few short weeks!!!! I have just started my pre op diet and just found out that I also have to quite smoking,,

does anyone have any tips I have done good on the diet but not smoking....I went from a pack or more a day to just 3 or 4 but is that good enough... My nut never told me to quite but I read it in my packet...

what are the risks?!!!!!

[Cupcake 801]

You need o try and quit cold turkey I was informed in my group that you have to stop smoking 3 months prior to surgery, I would double check with my doctor since everyone requirements are different good luck.

[Abry 28]

_{Yeah my doctor packet said 3 to 4 weeks before surgery ...but I have had plenty of surgerys and no one ever said anything about smoking why is it this way with wieght loss surgery}

[PdxMan 4,292]

I quit a few years ago and used the patch. It took a few months and I slowly weaned myself off of them. There are a few risks:

http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20101019/smoking-raises-surgery-risks

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASMBS/20921

The thing that gets me is the delayed healing. You want the suture line in your stomach to scar over as soon as possible to remove your risk of a leak, which, IMO, is the greatest risk of VSG. Then, of course, there is the whole thing of we're getting this surgery to improve our health, so ... If it is time to make a change, then let's make a change.

Believe me, I know it is not easy and when you have some emotional turmoil in your life and your usual coping mechanism was to turn to food and/or a cigarette, and now you have neither ... well, it will force you to confront the factors in your life which made you turn to these vices in the first place. Having a therapist in our lives can be a blessing beyond our current understanding.

Got shrink?

[Sassy Pants1 186]

Though I'm no professional, I think it is to mitigate risk. Smokers have a greater risk of blood clots. Wounds may take longer to heal. Anesthesia complications are greater. And trust me, you don't want to have a coughing fit in that first week or so. Even a hiccup can be uncomfortable.

Good luck! I know it's hard.

[HeatherSchwartz 43]

I made the deal with my fiance that to have this surgery I would stop smoking. I want to schedule at end of May. I haven't quit yet but I know that I want to exercise later on and I won't be able to if I can't breathe. Good luck to you

[covered jewels 12]

I was a smoker I cut back to 1 a day the closer I got to my surgery date feb 28 the less u smoked I would take 2 pulls a day up Untill the day before surgery .my surgeon wasn't concerned about me smoking before surgery but let me know I could not smoke after surgery because it causes serious risk

[wilsonjul 4]

If your insurance will pay Chantix really helped me. I have been smoke free for over 10 weeks now. My surgeons requires a pulmonary test and I did not pass it. Now it is a waiting game until I can take it again. I was a smoker for 30 years.

[sassypants 673]

i was never told to quit smoking by my doc but I got a right bolloacking off the anaesthetist day of my op I actually cried and almost went home.

They basically don’t like you smoking as it effects your saturation of oxygen etc during the op mine did infact drop during mine and I was on oxygen for 3 days after my op because it took some time for my stats to be normal.

That was also effected as I didn’t know I HAD to be on it for a reason and I would be taken outside by my visitors and shuffle around the hospital at night out of boredom and not be on it lol

Also healing can be slowed by smoking as its toxins in the blood and you can get infections.

I asked my surgeon the next day about smoking I told him what was said to me he told me not to worry about it just worry about this for now and recover and if and when I decided to quit they offer a lot of help for doing so at the hospital.

If its required then you have to do it try a e cig (though I just light a cig after I have been puffing on them LOL)

Or do what some people do quit then restart after the op.

I do like the actual act of smoking I hate the health effects it has and I dislike the cost of it and I actually hate the smell of it too so I do wish I had been told/forced to give up because its really hard to give up especially when you have been smoking for over 15 years!

Edited March 19, 2014 by sassypants