he did do my neck and i fused.gee,i hope they don't test me.how will i know if they are going to test me?

You may not know until they hand you the pee cup or order blood work.

Did you tell the Dr you did quit?

well i told him about a mo ago i'll try and quit.he said at least two weeks before surgery.ive been smoking 3 packs a day for years.i have cut way down but still smoking a half pack a day.

It isn't that you can't fuse if you smoke. It's that you increase the risk of not fusing. The percentage is significant enough that it makes sense to do everything in your power to stop smoking.

The NS I just used not only told me he would test for smoking. But that he expected his patients smoke free for a year. He really stresses the importance. Since I've stopped quite a while ago now it wasn't an issue.

Do yourself a favor and get it under control. If you;ve gone from 3 packs to 1/2 pack a day that is awesome!!! Once I got down to 1/2 pack it was a bear because the rest were all timed out with coffee breaks, meals, ride to/from work. Good luck on on that last part man.

EDITED

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Post Edited by Authority Member haglandc

You should continue to try and see what is stopping you from quitting and what would make you stop.

From experience I know those who should have stopped and did not who then go on to become ill and wish they had stopped given that opportunity, it then became too late to stop and the damage was done.

My Dad smoked and when his turn came for illness the relevance of having smoked at all impacted disproportionately on his ongoing health. I came across an old friend who was while we were in hospital at he same time, he was carrying a little electric breathing machine and told me he wished he had never started smoking, I could see that regret he had.

You have done well reducing your output and just continue with that strategy, perhaps stopping those last few is more psychological that physical, you are clearly thinking about it if you would rather not admit to your doctor the reality, this must be very hard for you, how did you reduce that volume.

Take care, you will do this.

John

I finally quit 14 years ago after about 5 unsuccessful tries. For me what finally worked was at the same time I started an exercise program and totally changed my diet. I also did it in the spring, which for me is gardening time, so I made sure I had lots of yard projects to do. It helped to stay BUSY.
Good luck, Lisa

I know how you feel. I have nothing to do.... I can't exercise, I can't go anywhere where I have to walk and/or can't sit down, I can't put my own shoes on. It's my vice.....

Now, I'm not saying I'm not going to quit, because eventually I am having a fusion, and I doubt my NS will do the surgery if I smoke.

My point is you are not alone, and it is EXTREMELY hard to quit. But if you're told you have to do it, then you have to, bottom line.

Good luck with everything. I know how hard it is...

Caity

and the pills made me smoke more.

There were not test, he just smelled it!!!

I just take extra Vit C and my Citracal, I do the best I can.

I keep trying but it is a terrible addiction. The pain pills made me really want to smoke. I don't know why.

I tried the Chantix...but because I take pills, drink Coke, coffee, <<< those are my additions. So the Chantix, made me stop all of that and did not hit the cigarette addition.

I you have no other vices, additions, whatever you want to call them. I think Chantix is a great choice if you are not depressed. That is a warning they do make clear.

I had car accident 9 mo ago have L5 S1 10-11mm disk bulge NS recommending fusion a L5 S1 and artificial disk for L4 L5 which is herniated 3mm. Doctor stated I had to quit or he wont do surgery. So I have smoked for 25 yrs since 15 and never tried to quit so I have no idea what I'm in for but committed and really want to quit. I'm a nurse and take care of a lot of patients who were dying of smoking related diseases and if u quit early enough u can reverse a lot of damage that has been done, so any suggestions on quitting and how to keep busy as I'm not very mobile.

I used Chantix to quit. Within one week, I never smoked again. That was over 3 years ago. You can ask your doctor for the prescription. Good Luck.

Dave

I used a mix of patches and nicotrol inhaler. I started for the last time, using the patch on Feb. 24th 2009-it was hard... talked to my doc again and I added the nicotrol 2 weeks in instead of most of my patches and boom, it was done!

I have been smoke free since that day. It did take me a total of about 3-4 weeks all told, as my problem was the hand/mouth thing, not the nicotine.... It's not easy but it's easier when you know what your issue is.

For me, I knew I had no problems being smoke free on vacation (with a non smoker) and on the plane 5+ hours... so it was never the nicotine, it was the oral fixation

Talk to your doctor and be honest with them and yourself... you have to WANT to quit, no matter what method you use.

Good luck.

many people try to quite smoking but only do it half heartedly .stopping smoking is a lifestyle choice and many think that its just stopping smoking ..and its not ..you have to make sure that your not put in situations where you want to smoke .there no point in stopping only to go out on a Friday night with the same people {that all smoke} because before the end of the night ..you will be smoking again ..that's why so many fail ..if you want to stop make sure you have a life style plan ready ..if you can't commit to that then don't bother tyring to stop ..you will fail and only load your stress levels up .
ba99

BA I disagree. At first you may want to stay away from the friends who smoke and the smokey bars. But once you stop you can continue to be with those friends. Today there are so many restrictions on where you can smoke. So don't give up the friends, but make them part of your quitting. If they understand that this is for your back they should be willing to help.

Friends are not something you want to give up.