A test for smoking????

triciat · August 21, 2008

I am having surgery on Oct. 9th. I have two more tests to do. When getting my pre-op orders. I asked about smoking, I smoke occasionally, they told me stop smoking 6 weeks before surgery, and stay away from second hand smoke, as it will show up in my preop blood work and they will not do the surgery. Any thoughts??

zombiigrrl · August 21, 2008

youre getting a surgery to permanently change your health. quit smoking, it hurts you :smile2: i finally quit when i was pregnant with my daughter, been a quitter for almost 3 years & it feels great.

Susie Girl 75 · August 21, 2008

I smoked a cig two days before my surgery and I was fine... but, then again I am not a chain smoker ... I'm more casual, social smoker!!!

Don't know if that helps or not...

dwrd73 · August 21, 2008

My thought is to start working hard at quiting smoking. It's not healthy for you and if you are like most people you want to have lap band surgery not to simply lose weight but to become a healthier person. If they will not do your surgery if you are a smoker, then use that as your motivation to kick the habit. It is going to be tough but think about how much better you are going to feel once you are banded and not smoking.

Debski · August 21, 2008

Hello,

My sergeon and his team told me to quit smoking 6 weeks before hand also. They never said if you slip up and smoke that you wont be able to have the surgery though! Well, I slipped and I just couldnt quit smoking right before surgery. I could not quit with my eating habbits and smoking all at once. It was and is too much for me to handle all at once. I figured that I would take it one step at a time. For me the biggest issue right now is getting my weight down. Yes this is a healthy lifestyle change...and I do plan on quitting smoking really soon (banded july 29th) now that I am banded and things are starting to change for me, I am feeling a bit better about myself and feel that quitting smoking is something I really want to do because I see the rest of me improving! Heck I want to rock climb n skydive one day and I know I cant do that being a smoker thats for sure! I know people are just trying to help by saying to quit smoking but unless they are walking in your shoes they just dont know. I will tell you this though..... When I woke up in recovery it was very hard for me to breath and I kept saying over and over like a broken record atleast 100 times that " I CANT BREATH I CANT BREATH I CANT BREATH....I CANT BREATH GOOD" !!!!!! They kept telling me your breathing Debbie your vitals are fine and your breathing, take good breaths....well I couldnt take good breaths....at that point I knew it had to be because of smoking...I had one on the way in the hospital infact...ok a couple!!! If I had it to do over again, I would have quit atleast 3 weeks before hand!!!! I didnt have a cigarette again until day five post op. I had no craving and with not being able to breath good because of the soreness and all I just didnt think about it. Well day five came and I had a craving for one and did induldge infact n wish ofcourse that I didnt but I DID. However Working on quitting WILL BE MY NEXT STEP IN MY ROAD TO RECOVERY...FITNESS...LOVE FOR MYSELF...OVER ALL HEALTH!!!!!!! I love myself finally and know I will do this for me and only me, and only I can do it! Just my personal experience, take it for what it is worth! Good luck to you on your journey of a life time! :smile2:

Debbie

CMTurner · August 21, 2008

My doctor advised they would be checking for nicotine in the pre-op testing and the surgery would be postponed if the results were positive. They advised to stop smoking 2 months prior to surgery. Not a problem for me as I don't smoke but, they seemed pretty insistent on that fact at a group meeting.