Re: Smoking Question/Bella

July 14, 2003

So being banded and all 7 days post op you were able to smoke without

causing infection??? my partner is freaking out A. because i am a

smoker now and B. affraid i will pick up afterwards..

being a semi full-time smoker i can see the concern but i can only

say i will try not to pick it back up..

should i tell my surgeon that i am a smoker? I have Kaiser and they

are totally a Smoke free HMO and promote quiting smoking, i just dont

want any lectures...

> Hi,

> I didnt smoke the day before. I was in the hosp for three days and

honestly after the surgery had no desire. But stupid me went back

slowly about 7 days after. I had allot of stress going on with my

dad in the hospital.

>

> At pre surg they always say dont smoke for a day before or at least

for six hours. I try not to at all.

>

> Good luck,

> Bella

> Smoking Question

>

> Hi all..

>

> i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a real

heavy

> smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

there

> is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a smoker

and

> once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

quiting

> easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations without

> smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

will i

> pick it back up?

>

> just curious??/

>

> thanks

>

July 14, 2003

Every surgeon I've ever talked with has said that smoking slows

healing. And that's not something you want to do to yourself, truly.

And maybe this will help somebody quit. Before my office adopted a

smoke-free policy, a friend who worked at the desk beside me was a

non smoker. Almost everyone else in the office smoked, some like

chimneys.

One day she told me, and she wasn't trying to work on me to quit, but

she said that nobody else in her family smoked, either, and that when

she went home after spending the day in that office, they all told

her that she stank. I stopped right after that, because I didn't

think it was fair to her or her family.

Cammie

> > Hi,

> > I didnt smoke the day before. I was in the hosp for three days

and

> honestly after the surgery had no desire. But stupid me went back

> slowly about 7 days after. I had allot of stress going on with my

> dad in the hospital.

> >

> > At pre surg they always say dont smoke for a day before or at

least

> for six hours. I try not to at all.

> >

> > Good luck,

> > Bella

> > Smoking Question

> >

> > Hi all..

> >

> > i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a real

> heavy

> > smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

> there

> > is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a smoker

> and

> > once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

> quiting

> > easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations

without

> > smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

> will i

> > pick it back up?

> >

> > just curious??/

> >

> > thanks

> >

July 14, 2003

i am having lower on August14th.. Hopefully just lower, my ortho has

corrected my upper midline but doc. says its all about the skelatal

structure and if need be they would have to do my upper but i wont

know that until August 11th...

i really do want to quit, i was going to quit by my 31st b-day

anyways which is is Sept. but my surgery date got bumbed up and

decided no better time than then to quit.. so whish me tons of luck

and will power..

> > Hi,

> > I didnt smoke the day before. I was in the hosp for three days

and

> honestly after the surgery had no desire. But stupid me went

back

> slowly about 7 days after. I had allot of stress going on with

my

> dad in the hospital.

> >

> > At pre surg they always say dont smoke for a day before or at

least

> for six hours. I try not to at all.

> >

> > Good luck,

> > Bella

> > Smoking Question

> >

> > Hi all..

> >

> > i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a

real

> heavy

> > smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

> there

> > is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a

smoker

> and

> > once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

> quiting

> > easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations

without

> > smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

> will i

> > pick it back up?

> >

> > just curious??/

> >

> > thanks

> >

July 15, 2003

Well, I have to wade into this, being a former smoker and not proud

of it. My husband and I both quit about 13 years ago, almost cold

turkey, with a little device called Lifesigns - I don't think they

are advertised any more. Basically it was a little calculator with a

button you pressed every time you had a cigarette, for about a week.

Then for 2-3 weeks, it beeped every time you were allowed a

cigarette. The time in between each cigarette got longer and longer,

and you ended up having cigarettes at odd times, and not when you

wanted to have them. I remember I used to have a program that took

five minutes to create a page of music on a printer, and when I quit,

I didn't know how I was going to survive those 5 minutes, because I

always had a cigarette. Anyway, the device gradually weaned us off

our regular habit and it was up to our own willpower to kick in. It

wasn't easy to do, but we never went back. I always say I'm two

cigarettes away from being a smoker again - the first one will taste

awful, and the second will kill the taste of the first

Our city has now gone non-smoking, joining an increasing number of

adjoining communities, and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be

able to go out to a bar or a restaurant, and not come home smelling

like an ashtray.

Good luck to any of you who are contemplating quitting. If you want

to, you can, it just takes willpower, lots of it.

P.S. my yoga teacher says you inhale about 40,000 chemicals with

every breath. Among those 40,000 chemicals (and yes, secondhand smoke

has the same chemicals, so you're passing it on to anyone breathing

the same air) are the following carcinogens: Benzene (the mother of

all carcinogens), cadmium (carcinogen that targets the kidneys),

formaldehyde (an embalming chemical), 4-Aminobiphenyl (the most

powerful bladder carcinogen known), NNK (powerful lung carcinogen),

Polonium-210 (a highly radioactive element), Quinoline (genetic

mutagen; damages the retina of the eye), and Toluene (broad

carcinogen). I'm sure if these were listed on the label of any

product, you wouldn't buy them, they'd be marked POISON. Yet the

cigarette companies are allowed to market them. Here's the related

link if anyone is interested http://airspace.bc.ca/DSRunsafe.html

July 15, 2003

Cammie,

Great advise and great story. I do get mad at my husband at times because he

smokes allot. When I have company and people smoke I make everyone go outside.

Smoking is not a pretty habit. This from a smoker.

I very much appreciate your post. Hope your doing well,

Bella

Smoking Question

> >

> > Hi all..

> >

> > i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a real

> heavy

> > smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

> there

> > is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a smoker

> and

> > once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

> quiting

> > easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations

without

> > smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

> will i

> > pick it back up?

> >

> > just curious??/

> >

> > thanks

> >

July 15, 2003

Cammie,

Great advise and great story. I do get mad at my husband at times because he

smokes allot. When I have company and people smoke I make everyone go outside.

Smoking is not a pretty habit. This from a smoker.

I very much appreciate your post. Hope your doing well,

Bella

Smoking Question

> >

> > Hi all..

> >

> > i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a real

> heavy

> > smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

> there

> > is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a smoker

> and

> > once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

> quiting

> > easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations

without

> > smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

> will i

> > pick it back up?

> >

> > just curious??/

> >

> > thanks

> >

July 15, 2003

Cammie,

Great advise and great story. I do get mad at my husband at times because he

smokes allot. When I have company and people smoke I make everyone go outside.

Smoking is not a pretty habit. This from a smoker.

I very much appreciate your post. Hope your doing well,

Bella

Smoking Question

> >

> > Hi all..

> >

> > i am scheduled for surgery on Aug. 14, although i am not a real

> heavy

> > smoker i still smoke a few a day.. i realize with the surgery

> there

> > is no smoking.. i guess my question is if any here is a smoker

> and

> > once you quit for the surgery did you pick it back up or was

> quiting

> > easy? i have made it through many " stressful " situations

without

> > smoking,i just wonder once i quit (on surgery date of course)

> will i

> > pick it back up?

> >

> > just curious??/

> >

> > thanks

> >

July 16, 2003

I'll be 31 on August 31st. I quit about two years ago. I went 355

days without so much as a drag. Then I began smoking ... when I had

a drink, or a hard day, or just plain felt like it. I had it 'under

control' for about 6 months - smoking about a pack of cigarettes a

month. Then my company had major lay offs ... and my country went to

war ... and *boom* I'm smoking 1/2 a pack a day. I didn't smoke 24

hours pre-surgery like I was told to. And didn't smoke about 3-4

days post-op. Then I found myself gradually heading back to being " a

smoker. " My PLAN is to quit for my birthday. So ... anyway ...

thanks for letting me purge. And ... GOOD LUCK. I hope you are

successful in your desire to chuck the habit!

Carol

>

> i am having lower on August14th.. Hopefully just lower, my ortho

has

> corrected my upper midline but doc. says its all about the skelatal

> structure and if need be they would have to do my upper but i wont

> know that until August 11th...

>

> i really do want to quit, i was going to quit by my 31st b-day

> anyways which is is Sept. but my surgery date got bumbed up and

> decided no better time than then to quit.. so whish me tons of luck

> and will power..

July 16, 2003