Is it emotional black mail.?

[WillieW]

My good friend had Colon cancer and the surgeon installed a colostomy. He hates it and now that he is in safe territory again, he wants the colostomy taken down. The surgeon agreed to do it but only if my friend stops smoking. He has tried hard to do just that, but still smokes 2-3 cigarettes per day. He asked me whether or not his surgeon is correct in denying the surgery or is the surgeon blackmailing him. Your input is appreciated.

[Vanje]

1. It IS emotional blackmail

and your friend should stop smoking

[drmeow]

2. There are risks associated with

anesthesia for people who smoke. For "necessary" surgery, they deal with them. Perhaps for "unnecessary" surgery, they won't.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Cigarette smoking can impede healing

because it restricts the flow of oxygen to the cells. I've heard tales of folks who had had fingers cut off and reattached. They were told that they needed to stop smoking--but they didn't, and the re-attachment didn't work, and they lost their fingers.

[Sanity Claws]

8. This is very true

and affects all kinds of healing. Smokers have a much tougher time healing from ulcers than non-smokers. Surgery sounds a lot harder on the body than ulcers.
I can see a doctor refusing to do a surgery if there is something going on that it will not allow it to be successful. In fact, it sounds like a good practice.

[WillieW]

10. Do doctors only operate on non-smoking people?

[Sanity Claws]

13. I imagine many would draw a distinction between

required and optional surgeries. I also imagine many subscribe to different sets of ethics. I'm thinking of the plastic surgeons who worked on Michael Jackson and certain others; they really should have said no.
Is there anything preventing your friend from consulting with another surgeon?

[WillieW]

21. No, but these high strung surgeons do stick together.

[ixion]

4. find a surgeon who will perform the procedure and

tell this one to piss off.

[WillieW]

5. I keep telling him to stop, but he apparently is so addicted to nicotine.

[WillieW]

6. smoking up to 3 cigarettes per day. . Will that harm him?

[fasttense]

11. Wow, down to 3 cigarettes. That is great.

Most people can't get lower than 10 or 11 a day.

If he is only smoking 3, then he should quit totally. It is soooo much easier to quit from 3 cigarettes a day then from a pack, or a half a pack, a day. He is so close to quitting completely.

He should try nicotine gum. He could easily substitute gum for the low amount he smokes.

[WillieW]

19. He has been taking Commit and now is eating licorice by the pound

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. Of course he's blackmailing him, and he has no right - However...

he should stop smoking along with starting a healthier diet (fruits, vegetables, soups, salads, organics if possible), exercise, meditation, and whatever else he can to improve his health.

[WillieW]

9. He said that he will tell the doctor that he stopped, but I don't know if the doctor will believe it

[haele]

18. Umm, no. A blood test will show he's still smoking.

And nicotine actually stays in the bloodstream - thus affecting healing after a surgery - longer than the THC in marijuana, according to the surgeon who will be doing a relatively minor-now-but-critical-in-the-long-run surgical procedure on my husband in a few months.
Surgery that won't heal right can cause all sorts of problems - like peritonitis - or, if your friend works blue collar, is a contractor, or does not have a sympathetic boss, potentially keep your friend from getting back to work in a timely enough fashion to be able to continue paying bills.

Good luck on helping your friend kick the habit if he wants to. I've worked shipyards and other stressful blue collar jobs a long time, and have lived with people in mindset that requires a smoke and a drink to settle down after work, or to be able to endure the stress working long hours of dangerous work for not enough pay or recognition for companies that work contract to contract. People working those jobs never know if they are going to be going home after the shift, or if the job will still be there the day after they finish the installation...it's hard, and smoking dulls the anxiety.

Yes, smoking is a comforting addiction, but in this economy, it's an luxury rather than a necessary survival expense - and I know too many people who really can't afford the habit and end having issues paying bills and basics(rent or groceries for the family) because they "need" to have their $40 carton of smokes a week and won't consider getting help to quit. There are lots of low-cost and even free smoking cessation support programs out there, they just have to be in the position in their heads to want to quit.

Haele

[Sarah Ibarruri]

22. Isn't there a way to tell from a blood test? nt

[Warpy]

15. He does have the right

because smoking + anesthesia can lead to disaster very quickly. They risk it for emergency procedures but forget having a good surgeon assume that kind of liability for an elective procedure.

Maybe he can find a bad surgeon to do the job, but does he really want to risk a bad surgeon over quitting those three butts a day?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. Well, I have plenty of women friends (one a judge, one an attorney, one an accountant)...

who quit smoking just prior to their FACELIFTS, then restarted.

I'm not passing judgment either way, but this is fact.

[Warpy]

25. Relapsing addiction is very common

as anybody in AA or NA meetings will tell you.

[cosmik debris]

12. It seems clear that your friend

Has made smoking a higher priority than health or comfort.

He should find a surgeon with the same priorities, or at least one who can accept his priorities.

[Warpy]

14. A little bit of both

Tobacco smoke is incredibly toxic stuff and continuing to smoke not only reduces his chances of survival after a second surgery, it has a synergistic effect in the body and has been implicated in all sorts of tumors removed from the lungs.

Tell your buddy to start using the patch or gum or mints or something. Give him some drinking straws cut to the right length and tell him to "smoke" those when the urge hits.

Just tell him if he wants to get rid of the bag and he wants the best surgeon to do it, he's going to have to figure out a way to stop smoking himself up before the surgery.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

16. either he trusts his doctor or not. Sounds like he doesn't.

If he doesn't believe what his Dr is saying about the smoking - which may have negative
impact on his recovery chances, then why does he trust this doctor to cut him open?

Sounds to me that the friend just wants to keep his addiction and wants some way to rationalize it.

If you really want to live, you do what you have to.

[WillieW]

20. Oh, he wants to quit, but it is so hard for him. He has been smoking for over 40 years and

is totally addicted.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. If he is down to 2 or 3 cigarettes a day he is likely not physically addicted to the nicotine.

[notadmblnd]

17. My grandmother was a smoker and had colon cancer.

back in the 70's they took out several feet of her colon, she was hooked up to a colostomy bag for about a year to make sure the cancer was gone and had her resection with no complications what so ever. Keep in mind, this was 30 years ago.

This is an on going thing with Dr.s these days. I currently have a friend who needs a kidney transplant, He has a donor, but the Dr won't do the surgery until he loses weight.