Golfmom, in addition to what Hellas mentioned, if you have a smoker's cough, the coughing will be more painful during recovery of stomach surgery. I had a ruptured appendix last year and had emergency surgery (I did quit while in the hospital and have remained quit) and every time I coughed, I thought my incisions were going to open up. It was very very painful!
Good luck with the surgery and the quit!
