Hi everyone I had my surgery 11/7/16 and as soon as I walked out the hospital I lit a cigarette. It is so hard to stop.

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While complication rates for gastric sleeve surgery are usually 5% or lower, research has shown that the chances of complications increase with smokers. Some studies put the rate of complications around 18% for smokers, which is a dramatic increase and a reason why patients really should not be smoking when they are considering bariatric surgery of any kind. In the nicest way possible why did you bother with the surgery if you're not going to follow the doctor's orders you're putting yourself at serious risk I'm urging you to please stop as a nurse I've seen so many people end up in ICU and I've seen one die because they lied to the surgeon and said they quit smoking when they did not I wish you the best of luck in your journey I know the quitting smoking is hard I smoked up until I started this journey seven months ago when I started my journey and was told that I would have to quit I quit cold turkey and I have not touched a cigarette since believe me I go 50% of my day wanting a cigarette but I also know the repercussions and consequences that goes with smoking one having the surgery and it's not worth my life it's also not worth anybody on the surgical team he's going to operate on me having to know that they lost somebody underneath their time and their hands and having to live with that all because I chose to not have the willpower to quit. I wish you the best of luck in your journey and hope that things get better for you.

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I would find a therapist ASAP!! Why risk your life by damaging your sleeve/pouch by lighting up?? You need to STOP now. It could be a matter of life and death. If you weren't ready to stop smoking for good, then I think the surgery was probably a bad decision.

I work for a national home oxygen and respiratory company so I really shouldn't be saying this because smoker's pay my wages but... If you are taking control of your health through surgery, why are you still smoking? I see people every day who are dying from their choices. I was also slowly dying from my diet choices. That is why I did something about it. I know that you won't stop until you are ready but with giving too much detail, I have patients in their 20's and 30's on oxygen 24 hours a day. I also watched my mom die of lung cancer. She just turned 50. The choice is yours...

I hear ya. I smoked for almost 25 years before my surgery.

2 months before I quit using the vape. I started normal nicotine, then slowly tapered off until I was at 0. By the time I'd had surgery, I had completely lost interest in even vaping. You should try it to see if it will work for you!

2.5 years later smoke free, and even after losing all my excess weight and keeping it off for a year, I can honestly say I'm more proud of quitting smoking. You will be, too, if you can because it's so damn hard!

I would find a therapist ASAP!! Why risk your life by damaging your sleeve/pouch by lighting up?? You need to STOP now. It could be a matter of life and death. If you weren't ready to stop smoking for good, then I think the surgery was probably a bad decision.

Now I wouldn't go that far. That's just silly.

My husband was a smoker when he had a bypass 10 years ago. Thank goodness he had no complications healing, but he was a textbook WLS patient other than that. Lost 130 pounds, and has kept off 110 for 9 years.

Might be silly, but why would you want to risk it. There's a reason why surgeons want you to stop smoking before surgery. In my program, they would even cancel the surgery if they discovered you were smoking (they run tests). You're taking HUGE step to change your life. I wouldn't do anything to sidetrack or derail it.

Might be silly, but why would you want to risk it. There's a reason why surgeons want you to stop smoking before surgery. In my program, they would even cancel the surgery if they discovered you were smoking (they run tests). You're taking HUGE step to change your life. I wouldn't do anything to sidetrack or derail it.

Hey, I hear ya. Why do you think I quit before my surgery?

But telling someone they aren't ready for the surgery because they didn't quit smoking is a false equivalency.

If you've never smoked, you don't realize how hard it actually is to quit. Just like with being obese, we KNOW it's not good for us, but we also have to be ready to do something about it.

I sometimes find it ironic that people who needed major surgery to control our eating to lose weight get so judgy about smokers.