Not if it clears the blockage without surgery. To him that's a win, ultimately it's up to you Pam. You have to make the decision if you want to live or die. No surgeon is going to agree to do a planned surgery on you with your current health problems, blocked arteries & you continuing to smoke. It is too big of a risk. Now if you came in coding in heart failure they might go in, but I don't know. I am not saying these things to hurt you or to be uncaring. I just know what they said with my dad. They just don't take those risks unless their hand is forced. Almost 12 years ago when they finally figured out what was wrong with me. I had to make a decision, did I want to spend the rest of my life suffering terribly & risk paralysis down the road or bite the bullet & have the surgery done. I chose the surgery, but in order for the brain surgeon to agree to do the surgery I had to be smoke-free for atleast 2 weeks prior to the surgery date. I had smoked for almost 25 years. I quit cold turkey exactly 2 weeks before my surgery date. It has been one of the hardest things I have done. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it, but I'm very thankful to be alive. I'm thankful that I quit when I did because I had been diagnosed earlier in the year with early COPD. For the first year after my surgery I struggled for every breath. It was a very scary thing. I had watched my grandpa die with emphazema (sp) & I never want to feel like I'm being smothered again. My lungs are damaged & I'm paying for being a former smoker, but if that feeling alone keeps me from lighting up, then so be it. Big
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