Jeff N
One pound at a time.
I haven't really seen any questions about smoking during post op, so I gathered some information on the subject for those of you who had any questions.
Simply for educational purposes. Just in case your surgeon didn't go into much detail and just told you to quit smoking with no reason why. The concerns regarding this subject are very real.
Why should I quit before surgery?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1323208
-Smoking constricts your blood vessels in the brain, and prevents oxygen rich blood from entering your cells. The blood is carrying carbon monoxide and poisoning you, instead of the oxygen that heals. Healing while smoking takes much longer and sometimes never happens at all.
-Smoking encourages infections, blood clots and an increased susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. Coughing after surgery can be extremely painful, blood clots are potentially fatal, and it also can deplete vitamin and mineral levels. As bypass patients we already have enough issues with malnutrition and don't need the added problems from nicotine use. Something to bare in mind before and after surgery.
-There is a very serious risk of ulcers at the point where the pouch meets the small intestines. Healing here is imperative! Smoking after surgery raises the risk of ulcers to much higher percentage.
Just don't do it
-Jeff
Simply for educational purposes. Just in case your surgeon didn't go into much detail and just told you to quit smoking with no reason why. The concerns regarding this subject are very real.
Why should I quit before surgery?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1323208
-Smoking constricts your blood vessels in the brain, and prevents oxygen rich blood from entering your cells. The blood is carrying carbon monoxide and poisoning you, instead of the oxygen that heals. Healing while smoking takes much longer and sometimes never happens at all.
-Smoking encourages infections, blood clots and an increased susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. Coughing after surgery can be extremely painful, blood clots are potentially fatal, and it also can deplete vitamin and mineral levels. As bypass patients we already have enough issues with malnutrition and don't need the added problems from nicotine use. Something to bare in mind before and after surgery.
-There is a very serious risk of ulcers at the point where the pouch meets the small intestines. Healing here is imperative! Smoking after surgery raises the risk of ulcers to much higher percentage.
Just don't do it
-Jeff