If you smoke:

• it takes longer for your wounds to heal;
• your surgical wounds are more likely to get infected;
• you have a higher chance of lung and chest infection after surgery; and
• you will probably need to stay in hospital longer.

Stopping until after your surgery could be the first step to quitting for life!

How to Stop

• Talk to a health care professional - such as a doctor, pharmacist, or counsellor - about proven ways to help you quit.
• Try a quitting aid, such as NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) or stop-smoking medication. Call 811 to register for the BC Smoking Cessation Program, to access free NRT or get information on subsidized stop smoking medication.
• Nicotine gum is also helpful. Make sure you chew and then hold it against the inside of your cheek.
• Use the internet and free telephone-based resources to get help and support. In British Columbia, call 811 and ask for QuitNow, visit QuitNow.ca, or use QuitNow's text service: text "Join" to 654321.

For more information about the BC Cancer Agency Prevention Program's Stop Smoking Before Surgery program, please visit TobaccoEd.org or contact a Prevention Educational Leader (PEL).

 Fact sheet about Stop Smoking Before Surgery program