Smoking

If you could that would really benefit you. It's very difficult I know but it would really improve your general health too.  Aside from obvious problems with anaesthetic etc, it would be good to be in the best possible position to recover from surgery.  Ask your surgery about cessation sessions.  Good luck 

I suppose its always safer and healthier not to smoke. If you smoke a lot would it be stressful to give up? I am a real anti smoker but I appreciate how hard it can be to stop.

Good luck with your decision

Take care

Kate

Definitely give up I am not a smoker but do suffer with asthma which when I had my hip op last week kept me in recovery a bit longer

Hi Vanessa:

I have posted on this issue, and am still waiting for definitive answers.  I have smoked for about 50 years.  However, I did not smoke every day.  I have a note in my Filofax that I stopped on July 1.  Howwever, events drove me back to it for a while.  I do not remember when I bought my last pack.  Must be at least two months, if not more.  I have noticed an improvement in my lung function.

I asked a neighbour who had been a smoker and had the op, and he said that he had to stop for a month prior to the op.  I don't know how long his history was, or how many, but I fugure that nost people smoked abut 20 a day.  My own smoking habit was a response to stress, but the triggers, of course, were there, and those are the ones that I try to avoid.

In short, I would quit asap.  I have been using the E cigarettes.  They contain nicotine, which is the harmful substance, and they do ot contain tar or carbon monoxide.  I am not necessarily recommending or suggesting this option, just that this is what I am doing.  The only time I smoke them, now is with my coffee, mid morning, or if I am on a particularly demanding and stressful phone call or social situation.

Hope this is of help,

Susie

Please do give up Vanessa, I know as an ex smoker it's easier said than done.

Start one morning and say to yourself 'today I'm not going to smoke' don't try telling yourself that you are giving up for ever; that would be too much pressure on you. Each morning you wake up say the same thing to yourself, eventually it will be a week and then two, and then three weeks that you have not smoked!

When I gave up finally after giving up many times before I used this method and it worked, for me anyway. Good luck.

Veronica

It can only help your recovery.

I know that losing weight brought down my cholesterol and blood sugar levels from 'ok' to 'very good'.  Apparently they both contribute to faster wound healing.

Graham

Hi Vanessa, I actually gave up smoking two years ago. I had my LTHR in May this year. I had patches for about three weeks when I gave up, you can gget them through your GP. As an incentive I did and still do put what I spent a month in a seperate bank account for treats for myself. So far I have bought myself a super duper computer and it pays for new clothes and anything else I want/ned without touching my pension. Its lovely to see the money grow too.

Give up if you can it will do you good. oh and by the way I smoked for 50 years too.  Love Gill xx

Wishing you a successful surgery I'm not a smoker so my input is more from reading research and talking with a gal who was asked to stop smoking before spinal surgery. The science seems to indicate smoking interferes with healing possibly by interfering with the circulation needed for wound healing. Research is starting to parse risk by #packs/day etc but I don't recall if that data is in yet. If you can quit, it's likely beneficial to the healing process. If you're interested in the studies they should be at the very top of google results before webpage results. wellness2u!

Hi Vanessa:

I smoked for about 50 years, although not every day, and was not a pack a day smoker.  Suspecting that I would need surgery, I decided that it was time to give up and invested in E cigarettes.  They contain only nicotine, and a couple of other chemicals.  What they do not contain is tar and carbon monoxide.  The only time I smoke now, is with my coffee in the morning, Es, of course.

Anaesthetists are concerned about smokers and General Anaesthetic, I believe, and a smoker takes longer to heal, as well.

I have have stoped drinking alcohol in any form, as I want to be as squeaky clean as possible to enhance my chances of a quick recovery and a healthier lifestyle.  It's bad enough that I cannot walk any distance at all, least of keep standing up for any length of time, without pain.

A man that walks past me with his dogs had a THR, and I asked him if he had been a smoker, he said he was, and had been asked not to smoke for about a month pre op.

If you cn bring yourself to do it, I would quit asap.  The Es are very helpful, but they ahve not been around long enough to determine whether or not they have any long term side effects.  They are certainly a better alternative to tobacco, but best to quit totally with the help of the Es.  

Contemplating surgery without the "crutch" of a good old "fag" is not easy, but I have found that having made the decision and switching to the Es, has got me through the worse stages, and it fills the "hand to mouth" void, which is where the habit is so hard to break.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Susie