I struggled with smoking most of my life. It was my crutch to lose weight until I aspirated something which caused pneumonia and major problems for one of my lungs. I had quit for 9 years and foolishly started up again when my kids were teenagers (it wasn't a very fun time).
My anniversary of quitting was 11/30/07, so I've been smoke free for a year and I'm very proud of that. I had quit before I ever decided to have this surgery, but I did gain a significant amount of weight after quitting, thus I opted for this surgery. I wanted to make myself healthy again and was tired of the yo-yoing and knew I could never smoke again. Because of my history of smoking, I was required to take a blood test to prove that I was smoke free prior to surgery. I don't ever want to smoke again and I hope that I can stay away from them for good. It's difficult when your spouse smokes, but he does it outside.
I heard a story about one of my surgeon's patients. As he wheeled her into the operating room, she commented that she was glad this was almost over. She told the doc she couldn't wait to have a cigarette. Well, he wheeled her right out of there and told her that he wouldn't operate on her and that she wasn't serious enough about making a healthy change in her life. After jumping through all those hoops, that woman lost a good chance in changing her life just because of a dumb habit and a stupid comment.
Smoking does so many bad things to your whole body, not just your lungs. And it does contribute to heart problems.
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Vicki
RNY 11/04/2008
248/140/138
Pre-op/Current/Goal
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