Patient Education Colorectal Cancer: Your Care and Recovery

Quit Smoking If you smoke, do your best to quit now. Smoking increases your risks during surgery and slows healing. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do to improve your overall health. Talk to your doctor about “quit smoking aids” such as the nicotine patch or other medications to help reduce cigarette cravings and help ease the withdrawal symptoms. Other helpful resources include: • Smokefree.gov The site www.smokefree.gov offers a Step-by-Step Quit Guide, Tools to Help You Quit, and professionals to help you (Talk to the Expert). • Ohio Tobacco Quit Line 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) • American Cancer Society Quit Line www.cancer.org 1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345) Report Any Illness Tell your surgeon right away if you become ill within 10 days before your surgery. This includes a cold, flu, fever, herpes outbreak, skin rash, infection, or a “flare-up” of a health problem. Sometimes even minor health problems can be quite serious when combined with the stress of surgery. 22

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