Question:
I have a ? for ppl who smoked pre-op

hey sounds silly but i have to know....if you smoked before your surgery...for many years...did you still smoke after? I have to quit a month before surgery...and i wanted to know if i would still crave cigs after i get the surgery thanks in advance    — cinamoni (posted on May 17, 2003)


May 17, 2003
I had smoked for about 17yrs i quit for 2 mts then started back b-4 WLS even smoke b-4 i walked into hosp the day of my WLS but since ive had WLS i can not stand the smell of a lit cig it makes me very sick to smell one now witch i guess is a good thing
   — wildbrat

May 17, 2003
Well .. I smoked before surgery, well before. I quit 6 yrs ago. Long before I thought about WLS. I can tell you that after all these years I still get cravings once in while. Sometimes they are strong, and sometimes they are just a mild passing craving. I do know either way that I will NEVER go back to smoking. I'm now 2 days post- op ( I LOVE THAT PHRASE,,, LOL) and I've spent all this time and energy making myself better. I'm not going to blow it by starting to smoke again. Also.. cigs are so darn expensive in NY that I don't think I could afford them anyway. Don't blow it, try your hardest not to go back to smoking. It will be a lot better in the long run. AND Smoking also slows down the healing process. Good Luck to you :-)
   — KellyJeanB

May 17, 2003
I smoked before surgery and quit and it was very very hard the second time quiting right before surgery, I am now almost 7 weeks postop and have not lit up again and dont plan on it , I figured if I did it to have the surgery and be healthy than why go back to smoking ....good luck on your journey
   — Tammy 'Buckley McCool

May 17, 2003
I smoked pre-op....in fact I smoked up until the day of my surgery. I had smoked for 5 yrs, quit for 2 1/2 then started again for another 3 years. I had tried a couple times before the surgery to quit, but always had such horrible physical withdrawl. (when I quit for the 2 1/2 years, I quit when I was pregnant with my son, so it was easier for me) Anywho.....I think I went through the withdrawl the week I was in the hospital (and on morphine)...so I didn't feel the physical withdrawls of the nicotine. However, my second week home (post op) I was very uneasy, gittery and shakey in the evenings....I chalk that up to quitting smoking because that passed within about a week. Quitting was EXTREMELY easy this time around. I hope I never start back, because I don't think I could quit without another surgery...and I don't plan on having any more in my lifetime!!! Don't get me wrong, I do still miss smoking, and occassionally would like one; but that's going to be an ongoing battle. Heck, when I quit for the 2 1/2 years, I still craved them after 2 years. It's one of those things that will be a long term process. But I tell you what, I feel sooooooo much better since I quit. I would recommend anyone who is thinking about quitting, to do it when they have this surgery. IT HELPS! Not to mention, post op in the hospital; a cigarette is the LAST thing your thinking about!!! Good luck!!
   — Kim L.

May 17, 2003
Do yourself a favor and quit as far out from surgery as possible. This surgery is sooo tough on your body that it's in your best interest to control the variables that you can, i.e. smoking. I'm 34 with no co-morbidities and on the "lightweight" end w/ a pre-op BMI of 45. Translation, I'm young and in good health. I had smoked on and off (more "on" this past 2 years) since I was 16 . . . and generally no more than 1/2 a pack a day at my worst (aside from those drinking, partying events). I stopped smoking 4 weeks before surgery. My surgery went perfectly, by my lungs were not performing up to snuff. My resting pulse oxygen rate was around 73% (vs the 95% it should have been), my max on the inhaler thingy was 750ml vs the normal 2500-3000, it wasn't good. My chest x-ray showed that the lower part of one of my lobes was not inflating all the way. I almost had to go home w/ oxygen. And they had to do the blood gases test on me (drawing blood via the wrist ... NOT FUN!). All this negative info. just had me so freaked out when I was in the hospital b/c I was fearful of getting pneumonia (sp?) etc. BTW, I was surprised but quitting was not hard. I think it's because I knew what was at stake, i.e. if I didn't quit the surgeon wouldn't operate on me. Now that I'm post-op, the smell of smoke just makes my insides turn. It really makes me sick so the thought of smoking again is not an option. Plus there is no way I've put myself through this just so that I can die a painful smoking-related death. FYI, post-ops that smoke have a greater chance of pouch ulcerations (per my surgeon).
   — snohflake

May 17, 2003
I quit before my surgery and did a very stupid thing I went back to it. I had smoked a pack a day for 17 years. Well I just quit again for my plastic surgery. This time I refuse to go back!!!!! It has been just about a month now since my last cig.
   — Linda A.

May 18, 2003
You may not. Surgery can do that to some people. Iam not a smoker but I have an aunt that had surgery many years ago (not WLS, she's thin as a rail!) and then after the surgery she just never craved cigarettes anymore, and she smoked 2-3 packs a day for many years. Hopefully the same thing might happen to you! Good Luck!
   — Kris T.

May 21, 2003
I was told to quit smoking 2 months prior to surgery. I have been a heavy smoker for about 19 years (sometimes up to 3.5 packs a day). I made excuse after excuse as to why the quitting didn't happen until I was staring at my pre-op appointment 2 weeks prior to my surgery date. That night - and I'm being totally honest - - I chain smoked until 11:59PM, took a half a pack of Marlboros all my lighters and threw them away. My surgeon recommends that 2 weeks pre-op be all liquid diet shakes with egg beaters mixed in. I am not an egg person - so I was so queasy from the egg shakes, I didn't have time to care about the nicotine. Unfortunately or fortunately, post-op, I've been queasy and my sense of smell is so acute I can't take being near it - almost makes me throw up. Not being a person who truly wanted to quit, I asked when would be safe for me to smoke again and the answer was 6 months post op. By that time, I won't care about it anymore - - I'll be too busy out there LIVING! Good luck to you!
   — B G.

May 24, 2003
I stopped smoking three months before surgery and I am almost three months post op and have wanted a cigarette more since surgery than when I first stopped smoking. I refuse to give into this and will remain smoke free for as long as I live but it is soooooo very hard but I keep reminding myself how good I feel since quitting smoking..not to mention how great I feel since surgery. Keep concentrating on the positive. I smoked 3 packs a day for 20 years and I refuse to give in now. WE CAN DO THIS! Josii*
   — meltedbuttr

October 12, 2003
In order to prepare for the surgery, I quit the night I found out that you HAD to quit for the surgery. That was only 11 days ago, and I don't even know when I'm having surgery, I haven't even met with the surgeon, but I'm terrified of complications and want this surgery to go well, and if quiting smoking will lower my chance of complications, then I quit. In comparison to last time I tried to quit, this has been a walk in the park! I've had those times where I want one, but then I just mentally tell myself "You don't smoke anymore" and then the feeling goes away. For a few weeks before I stopped smoking, I had been wanting to quit anyway, and I had done something I never did before - I changed every single smoking pattern I had. If I lit up when I rolled out of bed, I waited until I got out of the shower one day, or until I got into the car another day. I never established another ritual - meaning I didn't replace the wake-up cigarette with the after shower cigarette, I just chose a totally different time for the first cigarette each time so nonthing in particular triggered it. I did the same thing with meal-related cigarettes and I swear that's what has made this so much more easy. However, the cigarettes that I'm having the most problems with are the ones that you go to get when you're thinking or reading or playing cards with your friends. The ones where you weren't really aware that you were smoking, but there were 5 butts in the ashtray when you were done. I don't regret it's just harder some days than others. There are periods of 5 minutes where there's nothing I can think of more than wanting a cigarette, and I have to talk myself down from it. This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but it's worked for me: I have never had anyone close to me die so I've never experienced a loss before - but a few months ago, my cat suddenly got very sick and died. I would cry and just want to hold him again one more time, but what I really wanted was to have him back forever becasue one more time is never good enough - for anything But the ultimate truth was always there, I could never see him again, and I would accept that. So, now, my friend of 16 years is gone too, and I miss smoking - I miss it a lot, but it's gone and I'm better off now.
   — asilanne




Click Here to Return
×