You should stop smoking not only for the dreadful things it will do to you but for the obnoxious smell and tooth staining that many people find offense. One of the biggest problems is the cost.
Do you know that you could take the money you spend on cigarettes, put it in a jar on your kitchen counter and every year take you and a friend for a two week all expenses paid vacation to Cabo San Lucas? I would find that incentive very enticing!
In my opinion, you do need to quit smoking for 4-6 weeks to prove to yourself that you can quit. The use of BMP (bone morphogenic protein) in surgery will generally overcome the negative effects of smoking if you do fail in your quest to quit.
Fusion surgery is generally elective surgery (there is no urgency) but there is a time penalty for waiting too long as a compressed nerve root can develop chronic injury if compressed too long.
Dr. Corenman
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.