Question: I'm a 57 yr. old female, scheduled to have ACL repair surgery on August 6. I don't know how much I weigh but I estimate that I'm 30 to 50 pounds overweight. For several years I've been engaged in work that demands very long days at a desk or in a car, with few days off. I've been a pack - sometimes 1 & 1/2 pack per day smoker for over 40 years. I have ADHD, undiagnosed until my late thirties, and have taken Ritalin regularly since then, with the exception of brief trials of other options early on after diagnosis. I have a strong dependency on diet caffeinated soft drinks - approximately 75oz. per day. I took birth control pills from age 17 to about age 30.
I've never had surgery before and am very anxious about the upcoming one, even though I know it's very routine and simple. There does seem to be one real somewhat higher risk for this kind of surgery, which scares me more because of my history and current general condition: the risk of DVT or PE or blood clots. I want to quit smoking anyway, and had already planned to get serious about it when I injured my knee. I plan on using a method called "Allen Carr's EasyWay." It's a "cold turkey" method - no NRT and no other meds. It involves mental preparation before actually quitting/smoking your last one. Materials are provided in book, webcast, or seminar form that help focus on and embrace your own choice and desire to be a non-smoker, to prepare you to dispel irrational dependency based fears, and to counter addiction mind tricks, so to speak. It was important to me to be smoke free for more than a week before surgery, but the time has crept up on me during a busy time, and also spending a lot of time on leg strengthening exercise. I tried to set aside the last couple of months for preparations like these, but it didn't work out very well.
Now it's two weeks til surgery and I'm feeling pressed and time limited to "hurry and quit smoking." I know this seems like one of those "addiction mind tricks" but I'm very afraid of this surgery, and that's WHY I decided I wanted to quit BEFORE having it. Now I feel between a rock and a hard place. So finally my question is: if I quit less than two weeks (assuming I'm successful in being nicotine free for that amount of time - a week or week and 1/2) is it long enough to reduce the risk of blood clot related complications? Otherwise, pre- and the first week or so post- surgery may be a very bad choice of timing to quit. I feel if I don't even get a good start on it, to see it through will be even more difficult. However, if it makes outcome significantly more positive - especially in reducing complication risks - then it may be worth it.
Please understand that I was already committed to quitting cigarettes and have many other powerful reasons for being so. A big part of me IS in a big hurry to get on with it, but not in a way where I have built in extra challenges. My local dr.s have said of course quitting beforehand would be beneficial, and always is, but that they don't see me as being at a particularly higher risk than any other patients for this type of procedure. But I haven't seen them since about six weeks ago, and one is the orthopedic surgeon, the other a family practitioner. I'm still nervous about this. It seemed they were somewhat glib about it. Thank you.