Smoking after VSG?

My surgeon highly recommended quitting smoking before surgery, Which I have.. Well, I switched to the ecig and he is completely fine with that, I wanted to quit cigarettes anyways since I am trying to change my life around and be healthy, but... I am wondering, Has anyone had surgery and NOT quit smoking?

Most surgeons will do a nicotine test prior to surgery.  If you test positive your surgery could be canceled on the spot.  Smoking prevents the body from healing.  It also is a huge factor in the formation of ulcers.  Ulcers after WLS can be very dangerous. Anyone who smokes after WLS is taking a big risk with their life.

I stopped smoking cigarettes because the chemicals in cigarettes will slow the healing process down.. Its not the nicotine, its the ton of other chemicals, thats why he allowes the ecig which has nicotine but not the other junk.

No, it is absolutely the nicotine which plays havoc with healing. It doesn't matter if it's in a regular cigarette, an ecig, or gum. Nicotine is extremely dangerous going into major surgery. As Rocky said, many docs will refuse to do yhe surgery if you test positive. Yours is not one of them. But it's not his life at risk, it's yours. Get off the nicotine, please.

Nicotine is what my surgeon is concerned with.  When I met with Dr. Cottam, he said no to any and all nicotine, stating it could cause problems with healing.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072740/ states that both nicotine and carbon monoxide are the culprits.  But even if you use a patch or gum, you have a better chance because you are cutting the carbon monoxide.

Dr. Cottam said he tests for nicotine.  Dr. Richards is part of his office and doing my surgery, but i have quit as of Saturday.  I won't say that I won't have a smoke between now and then.  Smokes are my stabilizer. 

I wish you luck.  I know I will need it!!  LOL.

Hi from Ma, I also was told no nicotine, no ecigs gums, patches etc. 

try ecig with juice that has 0 nicotine, it is hard but can be done. Best of luck!! 

When the surgeon asked my husband whether he smoked, my husband answered truthfully -- a very occasional cigar. He was told in no uncertain terms that he had to give up smoking, however occasional, completely and never smoke again. Without this promise, (plus nicotine tests to make sure he's compliant), the surgeon refused to do the surgery at all.

I suspect that you won't find any VSGers who still smoke. It's just too risky.

psychoticparrot

The nicotine truly is the problem. It's has strong vasoconstrictive effects and can impede healing. I quit 3 month prior to surgery with Chantix. About 2 months post op, I had some stressful events and started smoking again. I regret it and thankfully haven't had any issues except for worsening GERD, which is concerning.  I am back on Chantix to quit for good this time.  My post surgical life has been very full and I feel fantastic and I don't want to mess that up.  My recommendation is to quit and never pick them up again.