OH MY GOD

[anne15]

I am a 43 year old woman and I have smoked for 30 years given three breaks for pregnancies. I have continued to smoke eventhough smoking related diseases have killed most of my family. I have osteoporosis and other problems of my own associated with smoking. Recently I went into excruitiating pain which turned out to be three herniated discs. I am scheduled for surgery and have been told I will not heal if I have any nicotine in my system. I must quit without nicotine replacement and I was told I couldnt take Chantix because it makes the required post op pain medicine less effective. I am horrified because I cannot make a plan and I am also aware the 8 weeks of no physical activity and not smoking will baloon my weight. Weight is not a vanity issue for me. I have SLE arthritis and as little as 5 lbs stresses my joints and makes that problem worse. Id rather be fat than have a failed three level fusion but this is going to be extremely tough. Please advise.

[JoAnne5-14-2008]

Shawn Sue, please don't be so hard on yourself. Jesus told Peter to throw his net back in the water after Peter said they had been fishing all day and didn't catch anything. So don't give up. Be determined and keep trying. I'm praying for you.

[kerryanne]

Hi, Anne. I am a little late replying here, but I think I may be able to help you a little bit here. I too had to have back surgery. I actually started trying to quit smoking a while before I even knew I had to have surgery. In fact, my last and final attempt to quit was four days before my surgery. And it was the thing I needed to keep in my head, that if I didn't stop for good, no exceptions, I would have to have surgery all over again.

Anne, I know you are scared. It's a lot to digest. But... let me tell you something. I have a cousin who had the same type of surgery as I did. She is still smoking. She is scheduled for the THIRD attempt to fuse and if she doesn't quit this time, the doc will not perform the surgery. I had my surgery two years ago and I am doing great. In fact, I actually lost weight after my surgery because of the physical therapy.

It is tough, Anne, but you can do it. You have a lot of life left to live and you want to do it as painless as possible. Do not let this get you down. Show yourself how strong you are. It really stinks when your body decides for you that you have to quit, as opposed to coming to the conclusion on your own. But I really think having my surgery was a blessing in a very elaborate disguise because it was the motivating factor for me to just do it. I have two titanium cages in my back now and I went through a lot of physical therapy. I feel better now than I ever have in my life. I hope this helps you in some small way.

[betty5]

Hi Anne,
I have just today signed up with "Ex" and saw your message. My heart goes out to you! I began my "quit" 2/24/08 with Chantix which I have had to stop taking twice due to excessive dreaming. I am now smoking about 1/2 a cigarette once or twice a day and really get upset with myself over it 😕 Anyway, I just want to offer you support and prayers (please let me know where you're at in your challenges and I'll pray more specifically) and let you know that with the weight issue; I've taken up walking with a neighbor, drink a lot of water and green tea (to help with the detox) and found a wonderful sugar free candy called "Cinnamon Buttons" that are made for CVS (Drugstores). As for the smoking issue - have you considered hypnotism or accupuncture? Best of luck to you girl!!
Regards,
Betty

[lisa37]

Anne, I just saw this section and read through your post and replies. This started a while back, so I don't know when your surgery is, but I hope this reaches you beforehand. If not, my information will still hopefully be of help.

I just had an ACDF of C5-6 in February, and I too am a smoker. It wasn't until AFTER my surgery that I learned all the pitfalls of smoking on fusion, so at least you have the info up front! Yes, nicotine can and does inhibit fusion, which is every reason in the world to do all you can to quit, because believe me, you don't want this surgery twice! I didn't stop smoking until the night before my surgery, and I relapsed three days after. I am VERY blessed that at my three month post-op, fusion had indeed taken place. But that didn't mean I didn't pray like mad that I wasn't messing it up!

I too have never heard of Chantix being a problem interfering with pain meds. Quite the opposite. You can't take any smoking cessation products that contain nicotine, because again, nicotine is the problem. That's why Chantix IS a viable alternative to just going cold turkey. Part of the problem is also the loss of oxygen nicotine causes for proper fusion. These are the same reasons smoking contributed to the degeneration of our discs in the first place, and will continue to do if we don't stop smoking. I don't know about you, but although my surgery was thankfully successful, I don't want to go through it ever again.

There is a fabulous website that was invaluable to me after my surgery to answer questions no one else seemed to answer, or instead of calling my surgeon's office every day. It is Spine-Health.com. I HIGHLY recommend you check it out. Now it seems there are a lot of horror stories out there too, so don't be put off by them. That doesn't mean you'll be one of them. I wore a soft collar for about two full weeks, then was told I didn't need to wear it anymore and that I could drive again. I was lucky and fused beautifully even though I smoked. (That is NOT a recommendation to keep smoking!) They removed my disc, inserted donor bone, and I have a titanium plate and screws holding it all together. I'm doing great, considering. At 6 weeks I was given the clear to go back to work. (Sadly, I lost my job in Nov. so am still looking.) I do find I still tire easily, and am still sore as I had spinal realignment as well and my body's getting used to being in a new position. I also have fibromyalgia and get daily headaches and migraines, so that is an added challenge to my recovery, but I am NOT in an incapacitated, constantly drugged up state. I read of so many taking tons of pain meds and muscle relaxants, etc. Not me, even with my challenges. I had my surgery on a Tueday morning and was released Wednesday afternoon. I came home with one prescription of Norco, refilled it once and have not used that up. Right before your surgery and for three months afterwards, do NOT take any meds that are blood thinners -- in otherwords, no aspirin, no ibuprofin (Advil), no Aleve. That was frustrating to me, because Tylenol might as well be Sweet Tarts, but the pain meds will help, and soon enough you'll be able to use Advil again. I find that much more effective with the type of issues we have because it is an anti-inflammatory. Even doing everything right and having the acute immediate pain over, it will still probably be about a year before your body is truly "back to normal." That is not to say you won't feel better for a year -- you will. Full recover of such major surgery just takes time. Be patient with yourself and your body and take care of it.

Don't overdo or disobey your doctor's orders. Don't do the dishes, don't vaccuum, don't do laundry, don't lift more than that gallon of milk -- really!! You will heal MUCH faster if you REST. Your body truly needs it. And when you do start to do things, go slow, and listen to your body. Don't push it, and when it hurts, STOP! You didn't mention where your herniated dis

[lisa37]

This website makes me crazy! Went in to fix a misspelling, and it deleted the end of my post! I don't even remember what I wrote now, but hopefully all the important info is there. Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, and if you need us we're here!

~Lisa

[jamie23]

hi and good luck with surgery
I would not quit until a few days before the surgery
once your in bed on pain meds , you cant smoke anyway.
then once your able to take chantix , I would use it to stay quit
there are nicotine free cigs out there , use the patch and them to not eat
you wont get re-addicted to nicotine and still keep weight off hopefully with the smoking nico free cigs
i gained alot of wieght and still contine to try and eat right go to gym and i am in pain due to back and neck also
osteo/arthritis sciatica
so the weight is hurting me yes, but i figure eventually i wont gain anymore
slow thryoid though so its unusally tough for me to lose
I do need to find some med help with opinions on that
good luck stay strong god bless