My boss has been nagging me to quit smoking (he's a former smoker) and he said they would not do the lap band (or any voluntary surgery) on a smoker. He said they'd make me quit and wait two months.

I think he's yanking my chain.

Is there any truth to this?

They do make you quit smoking for lapband, and can refuse to do the surgery on you if you don't quit.

yep... it's what i've heard at least. i think they can do a blood test to see if you've been smoking but i've never heard of anyone actually getting cancelled. maybe it's a scare tactic?

I know my doctor refuses anyone who smokes. You have this surgery to have better health, if you continue to smoke...it destroys that concept. Also, in the pre op class, he said that smoking erodes the band.

Your boss is right....I don't think they consider you as a canidate unless you can prove that you haven't smoked for 6 months. Since the procedure takes about 5 - 6 months to go through, you can quit now and by the time of surgery it will be around 6 months.

my doctor's said nothing about smoking. I answered that I did on the questionaire and the subject never came up.:smile2: I was banded 6/20/08 and smoke. No mention of it eroding the band ever came up. It is hard enough on the pre-op diet and to throw trying to quit smoking on top of it is asking alot of someone.

Edited July 1, 200818 yr by dpeddy

Luckily I heard about this ahead of time... I researched lap band for 2 years before deciding... and I quit 2/07. My surgeon required that I be quit for 6 months prior so it worked out no prob my surgery was 4/08.

Really no reason to have a surgery to make you healthier if you plan on killing yourself with smoking.

Hi:

I think they try to avoid putting smokers under with anesthesia because they have big issues with breathing when they are under and while they are waking up.

Please talk with your band doctor about it. It doesn't make sense to lie about it because it will possibly hurt you, and could also hurt your relationship with your band doctor.

I used to be a heavy smoker and believe me when I say that quitting smoking is easier than dieting. After all, you need to eat, but you don't need to smoke.

I hope you can quit and then get banded.

Take care.

Sue

to each his own. I speak from experience when I say I have had a total of 8 surgeries while being a smoker and have not experienced any problems. But each doctor is different just like the individuals on this board and everything we do is a personal choice.

Of course they want you to quit smoking all doctors do,will they test you to see I doubt it.Will smoking hurt your band?Depends if you ask the doc or the maker.But they do say it slows healing.Just try to quit or at least cut down.Should this stop you from getting the band?I say hell no lie if you have to,we lie about our weight our size even our age why not lie about if you smoke.

I smoke my doctor is aware of this and made no mention of band erosion....Someone explain that to me how would that erode the band...unless I am wrong it would be your lungs that are affected...Needless to say I had no problem at all with this!

I am a smoker who is trying to quit using Chantix for the 2nd time. I was banded 2 years ago as a smoker and smoked up until a few days ago. I have had no problems whatsoever. Ask the surgeon to be sure. I heard 8 weeks is what they make you wait before anastethia.

I was told he wanted you to quit 3 months before surgery - well my 1st visit was 5/31 and surgery on 7/17 - so no 3 month period in between consultation and actual surgery - I had lung test heart test - I did quit for 10 days put was smoking again right before surgery - heck asking me to give up food and cigs at the same time - cruel & unusual punishment..

I told the anesthesiologist that I had cheated and smoked the night before - they still operated on me - and again pple quit before surgery and go back after -

The boards hate smokers more than the hate obesity - it's just another addiction that pple don't understand the alcoholic (obese) person thinks their habit is not as bad as a druggies (smoker) - reformed smoker can be the worst..

This is a load question - you need to ck with your doctor - not the board..

There are still a few smokers among us... We just don't advertize

I am also a smoker and my Dr is aware, and was prior to surgery. I was just told to cut back as much as possible a few days before. Just yesterday when I went for my 2nd fill (in a wk) he said that even though I smoke , he wants me to get a grip on my carb addiction 1st, he said you can't fight both of these demons at once.

< Dr. Brad Watkins> Nicotine causes spasm and constriction of small blood vessels. You need healthy small blood vessels to heal all those connections and areas where the intestines have been cut. Ideally, you should be off all nicotine prior to surgery so your small blood vessels are healthy. Smoking does not affect band surgery because you are not cutting or rearranging anything.

So there you have it,from a real Doc

Smoking and anaesthesia are a pretty dangerous combination which is why many docs will refuse to do elective surgery on smokers. If you add obesity to the picture, well, I'd want to quite smoking to reduce the risks.

You dont strictly *have* to quit forever, just stop for a month or two pre surgery. But really, if you were going to put yourself through that, you'd probably at least try to keep going.

Smokers heal slower too due to lack of circulation to the skin.

But everyday, smokers have surgery and are absolutely fine because ultimately the risk is down to the combination of factors in YOUR body and is unique to you alone, no doubt you've got other factors that make you less of a risk than other people.

I have had four sinus surgeries and a hysteroscopy, all under general anesthesia. Anesthesiologists and doctors knew about it, and all they asked was that I didn't smoke while my wounds were healing because it can cause infections and delayed healing. They said if I couldn't quit, then cut down quite a bit, maybe a few a day.

My lap band doctor asked me to quit, so I have, reluctantly. His reasoning is that I am doing this to better my health, why not go all the way and finish making yourself healthy.