sleevegenie

Sadly, I do smoke, but am trying to quit again. I've stopped and started back up 3 times now in the year. It's way harder to give up than food. My surgeon advised that we shouldn't smoke obviously during the healing period, and I did refrain for a couple weeks once I got to go home. My surgeon never gave me an "okay" time to start again, but he knew that I had picked it back up again. My stress level was just too high when John was deployed and our communication was done. I could only take so much. No food, no booze, no cigarettes was a bit too much. Smoking was the lesser of all the evils. I've read other people say their surgeons told them to not touch them for a minimum of 3 months because that's when the swelling and inital trauma from the surgery is really apparent.

Go easy, don't do it any time soon. You don't want to cough and hurt yourself. Plus, be aware that now that you've had surgery, your immune system may be a little weak. You don't want to get a chest cold.