Quitting Smoking Before BA Surgery

[weez]

Hi Ladies,

I am scheduled for my BA & Lift on Nov 24th. I was told to quit smoking because it would be better for my healing process. I am having a difficult time quitting cold turkey but have cut down quite a bit. Has anyone out there continued to smoke cigarettes prior to their surgery and what was the outcome. Should I be worried because I haven't completely quit.....I'm not a heavy smoker to begin with.....Any advise would be great.

[Brun3tt3Grl]

Sweetie, I will be honest, I am a half a pack a day girl and have been forever. The nurses at the clinic told me to quit too, and told me some horrible stories that totally freaked me out. When I went in for the pre-op with my surgeon, I told him I was having a hard time quitting and that I was extremely stressed about it. He said honestly, its not going to cause alot of issues and that the nurses were just trying to scare me. Obviously it is bad for you, but he also told me its almost worse to quit, as the symptoms from quiting may not subside before surgery and could cause more complications then not quiting.

Hope this helps!

XOXO
BG

[Tootzie]

Doll You need to quit...
I am an x smoker.. I smoked 3 packs a day... Put them down cold I did..
If you smoke you are a greater risk for capsular contracture (cc).
I wish you luck....
I sucked on those real sour candies you buy at walmart... It worked...
Oh and I was 42 years old when I quit and I had smoked from the age of 14..
I wanted a life change... For the positive quitting smoking was the beginning.
Hey look at the bucks I save on cigs I can spend on bras!!!

Good luck!!!

Oh and I lost weight! So I quit smokin and I lost weight win win situation.. You go girl!!
Drink lots of water girl! Drink with a straw it helps.

[CuriousMama]

hey, well i didnt have much time to let myself slowly quit, because my consulation and ba was only like 10 days apart, so I didnt really quit. I usually smoke around half a pack or more sometimes in a day, so basically i just cut down to like 5 a day. I had a very hard time quitting also. I already had my surgery and I feel ok, I don't think it affected me with the healing, but everyone is different so.. Well good luck, and just try the best you can to cut back but if not, dont let it stress you out.

[jj2009]

i quit exactly 2 weeks before ba. and smoked again as soon i got back to the hotel after the surgery.
i shouldnt have. its amazing how quickly u go back to smoking exactly what you were smoking before. within 2 days, i was smoking the same as before ba. i do think it delayed my recovery. i had no bruising or pain etc, but the incisions took about 4 weeks to completely close up (no scabbing) which meant no showers. ewwwww. its really annoying having to have baths every day.

[hoobagirl]

I smoked every day before my surgery because if I didn't there is no way I would sleep (had to have my MJ). And trying to stop just gave me stress so I figured I was better off without the stress. But I did stop for like 9 days after my surgery. It's hard and I don't think it'll really hurt you if you don't stop, but it's probably good to cut back as much as you can. There are lots of us on here who didn't quit but thankfully haven't had any complications from it.

[from A to D]

Wishing you luck, and strength to do it! You know what you can do, and dont let the stress get you, maybe focus your energies on some pre op preparation- like cleaning... or cooking pre made meals!! Goodluck!

[raeyn]

I quit smoking about a week and a half before my surgery. Get the patch! It really really helps. I am still using the patch a month later, but I've stepped down to the lowest dose. I am 32 and have smoked a pack a day since I was 17, except for when I was pregnant, and let me tell you, I feel so much better now that I've quit! For some reason it was so easy to quit cold turkey when I was pregnant, but not being pregnant and quitting was a real struggle. The patch made all the difference! I started with the highest dose, did that for 2 weeks. Then the middle dose, did that for 2 weeks. Now I am almost done with the lowest dose.

[firek15]

I slowed way down! I think we should all quit period end of story but............reality is it is hard to quit so do what you can!

[Dee-D]

I quit 3wks before my BA, i was so scared of all the complications it might cause, excessive bleeding, horrible scarring increased chance of CC. So i put a picture of a really bad crease scar on my ciggie packet (instead of looking at those crap ones of lungs and eyes and stuff that they have on packets these days) cause they did nothing, and everytime i though mmmm i could go a smoke i would pick up the packet and see the horrible digusting scar and put it straight down. I am now almost 3 months post op and still not one single smoke. The money i save i spend on new bra's and bikini's

( P.S. - My secret is i got hypnosis done, worked a treat dont even think about it anymore was sooooooo easy)

[Fosse]

I'm in the same boat..my surgery is Nov 27th and I'm a social smoker (though I used to smoke a pack a day), but I'm also a "stress" smoker meaning if I'm having a really rough day..nothing soothes like a cig! And considering my nerves have been on a roller coaster ride lately, it's been a lot harder to NOT smoke than normal. That said, I think everyone is different and it really depends. My friend had hers done and she smoked literally ON THE WAY to the surgeons office and she said she had no complications and healed well. I think sometimes doctors and nurses are just doing their jobs. In my case though, I am trying to not smoke as much as possible because I'm paranoid and I don't want to risk ANYTHING..but if I have one here or there before the surgery I don't think it would ruin everything. If you can quit though, try to..it's better in the long run anyway!! Good luck!

[Barbara Ann]

Originally Posted by weez

Hi Ladies,

I am scheduled for my BA & Lift on Nov 24th. I was told to quit smoking because it would be better for my healing process. I am having a difficult time quitting cold turkey but have cut down quite a bit. Has anyone out there continued to smoke cigarettes prior to their surgery and what was the outcome. Should I be worried because I haven't completely quit.....I'm not a heavy smoker to begin with.....Any advise would be great.

The wisest thing is to quit. Complications can and do happen with smokers and surgery that are preventable. It's a risk and may not happen to you, but why take a chance? If you get a complication due to smoking, how will you feel then? Smoking reduces circulation to the skin and impedes healing and many other issues.

I quit a month prior to my surgery, though instructed to quit 2 weeks. Some surgeons will not perform surgery unless you are quit. That is how important it is to quit and the risks involved. I know it's hard, but try, try, try. It's so worth it and such a sense of accomplishment to stop this bad habit.

Good luck!

[Demitra]

I am a long term smoker and quitting wasn't such a simple thing as some people made it out to be ( " Oh make sure you dont smoke prior to the surgery--..umm... yah..no!") I have quit once in my life and stayed quit for 3 years..but I wasnt ready to quit again, and frankly I didnt.

I was perfectly honest with my surgeon, and he advised to cut down as best I could. Also he said he does not like to perform lifts on smokers.
Which was fine because I wasnt wanting a lift.

I had my surgery on monday and lit up for the first time on friday. So I went four straight days. Because I was on meds, and in that "not feeling well" mode it was easy.. But as soon as I started feeling better voila- out came the coffee and cigerettes...

Because I had a hematoma I was even stronger to not smoke right after my surgery... So I feel good about that.

Smoking does constrict your vessels which lessens the flow of oxygen to your healing parts, which can delay healing...

Do what you can girl.. Every smoke not smoked helps with healing Your body will work / heal best without the poison

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