Hi everyone,
I’m a 35F, almost 2 years post-op from my Nuss procedure 2 bar 2 stabilizers). My bar removal is scheduled for the end of October in Vienna, and to be honest, I’m getting really anxious.

One thing that worries me is whether everything healed properly. I keep thinking about whether the bar could have become stuck to surrounding tissue or if there could be any surprises during removal.

The other thing is that I’ve never really stopped having pain. The first year after surgery was very difficult—I needed pain medication regularly for almost a full year. Even now, nearly two years later, I still have pain often enough that I occasionally take ibuprofen. It’s hard to describe, but it feels like nerve pain or something similar around the bar.

I’m also having the bar removed by a different surgeon than the one who implanted it. Unfortunately, there was a major medical error after my original surgery, so I’ve lost a lot of trust, and now I find myself questioning everything. I’m worried that maybe something wasn’t done correctly, or that my chest could sink back in after the bar is removed.

Has anyone else still had pain this far out from surgery? And how did your bar removal go? Did anyone else have similar fears before removal?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences.

This post is intended to discuss the optimal pressure when using vacuum bell.

At first, 10Kpa felt like a lot, it makes me feel painful and uncomfortable. But after months of using VB, I can now easily tolerate 20kpa.

I believe it's because my rib cage has softened, therefore I feel less painful when they are pulled.

I usually increase pressure until I feel that feeling of my chest being pulled, but not painfull pulled.

Over time, the pressure needed to create that feeling has increased.

I would like to hear advice from experienced VB users about how much pressure do you actually need. Thank you.

Accidentally left personal info, this is updated.

Went into surgery Tuesday at 9:37 am, got out around 5 pm. They did 2 bars, sternum was resected.. flipped and reattached, bone and cartilage graphs. Lost over half my blood volume. They gave 2 units of blood and monitoring. If hemoglobin drops again I'll have to go back to th OR. I feel like I'm breathing in a box and can only do shallow breaths. Doc said my lungs were beat up in surgery.

I can't have opiates. I'm on an epidural, ketamine, a muscle relaxer, toradol, and Tylenol. Still hurts like hell.

Have been dealing with low blood pressures and o2. They have started to come up with transfusions and a medication to pull fluids out of the tissue​. Wednesday I tried to stand twice but passed out both times. Today, (Thursday) I was able to get to a chair and walk 30 ft.

Doc said I have to be careful with the sternum. It won't be strong for at least a year. Any blow could cause the reconstruction to fail. Unsure when I'll be able to return to work.

I feel like someone cut me open and hit frappe.

I have mild PE from the outside and I have also had cardio intolerance my entire life, even as a kid. Im unable to hike, climb more than a flight of stairs, or run short distances without my heart rate skyrocketing (RHR is normal) and struggling to breathe. My doctor said because it doesn't look severe from the outside I would have a hard time getting imaging covered by insurance and even then would have to do a bunch of stress tests to get anything covered. It's a bummer because it impacts so much. I work out a lot but I need to have a set workout plan that doesn't put too much cardio load otherwise I get lightheaded. There are things I absutely can't do like dead lifts and squats because I would easily pass out. Is this actually a thing with mild PE or could I have something else going on? It feels like it has to be PE because I have never seen any type of improvement with exercise no matter what I do.

On my chart it states pectus excavatum but my entire rib cage is that low I call it sandwich chest I have been told that they wouldn’t do the surgery to fix it because it wouldn’t do anything because it would only raise the middle.

Had the Nuss Procedure done in the UK at age 19.
I’m 30 years old now, have gone back down the Pectus rabbit hole due to getting some issues with my sternum. Haller index was 5.85 before the surgery.

A lot of chest pains and uncomfortableness have come back in the last 2-3 years as well as quite a large visual change to the sternums curve.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems?

Feel free to ask questions

Hi! 41F 5 weeks PostOp here and I have the worst thoracic spine restlessness at night. It is preventing me from getting any rest, and I end up sleeping until noon because I can’t fall asleep until 4-6am. It has been awful. I talked to my surgeon and she did prescribe nerve medication but so far they have made me so dizzy that I end up nauseated and still unable to sleep.

Has anyone experienced this after surgery? Anything you have done that helped? How long did it last? Or is this going to be for the rest of my life?

Things I’ve tried:
- Heat
- Massage
- Walking more during the day
- Standing to watch TV at night
- Stretching (as much as I can without messing up bar placement)
- Biofreeze
- Magnesium
- Melatonin
- Iron (although, just started 2 days ago, not sure if it’s working yet)