Surgery! God do I feel good!!!!!!!!!!

[NightrainSrt4]

Sorry I was to anxious to post before hand, but as some of you may have seen me alluding to, I got my surgery yesterday. The bar that has been in my chest almost for the duration that I have been here on TBCS finally has come out!

I can breathe! I sneezed without an ounce of pain! I rolled up out of bed (just now, it's early but I got 5 hours of sleep and slept/was put under all day yesterday) without any pain for the first time in years.

For the first time in four years I can breathe, completely. For the first time in two years I can breathe without any pain! Aside for the swollen cuts on both my sides that is, :whistler:.

The reason I had so much pain these last two years when I wasn't supposed to was not because my bracket was tied into a nerve, but bone had formed around the entire bracket trying to seal it off from my body. So every breath I took, every time I moved it was sharp stabbing pains, for two years.

Sorry for breaking the rules here a little bit, and feel free to edit this, and I probably will at a later time but...
I FEEL SO FOCKING ALIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS!

[billygoat333]

YAY!!! Glad to hear that man. I am sure you are feeling MILLIONS of times better. which is good!

[NightrainSrt4]

Oh yes I do! I mean, I sneezed and I didn't feel a thing. For the past two years when I have sneezed, and I have allergies so it happens all the time, I let out this horrendous scream like a pig being butchered or something.

I just sneezed and my fiance came running out of bed to check on me. She's like "Are you okay? Are you sure? OMG are you really okay?" and I am like "Ya, didn't feel a freaking thing. Go back to bed sweetheart".

Just Wow is all I can say. So this is what a normal person feels like. I didn't realize how much I envied being able to breathe and feel normal. I didn't realize just how much pain I've endured the last few years. I've always just brushed it off and avoided the meds they gave me. I can't believe I've lived with that much pain. I don't think I could ever do that again knowing what it can feel like to just breathe a breath of fresh air.

[OvRiDe]

Now that is some awesome news!! Fantastic!!!

[NightrainSrt4]

Hehe, thanks. They gave me the bar that was in my chest, so I can take some pictures of that tomorrow and post them up. They didn't let me have the bracket or wires, lol, but that is probably because of all the bone that started to grow on it. Ewww lmfao, wouldn't want that hehe.

[blueonblack]

Outstanding news! Congratulations and here's to a swift recovery from the surgery as well. :D

[Zephik]

Thats great news! I've always read here and there about that awful bar you had in your chest and how much pain it constantly caused you. Good for you man, I'm pretty sure at this point you deserve having that thing taken out. I would of pulled the trigger long ago, so to speak. lol

Enjoy you're brand new life! One without chest pains from doing the simplest things, like sneezing. That would of driven me stark raving mad!

I can't seem to remember although I'm sure you've mentioned it before. Why did you have to have that bar in your chest again?

[NightrainSrt4]

I have something similar to Marfan Syndrome, but not quite. It is genetic and a couple of my brothers have similar symptoms as well. Basically my connective tissue does not act normal, it loses all its elasticity, and can lead to different kind of bodily issues/muscle failures. It can affect the eyes, heart, skin, cartilage, etc.

Basically the cartilage/tissue in my sternum did not form the way it should have. This caused the inner portion of my chest to cave in a bit. Cosmetically it didn't look too bad before, unlike some children who look quite crushed. But it was in fact crushing my heart and lungs. The biggest thing I guess with this issue is that you can have premature heart failure/heart attack. Basically your heart works too hard all the time, even for the simplest things because it is being compressed 24/7 that you just pretty much die randomly. My 13+ years of martial arts was both a blessing and an issue. It caused my heart to become stronger, which held me away from having a heart attack, but it also worked much more than a regular heart works doing pretty much anything. So it would have failed eventually had I not ran out of energy and started having breathing issues. As it was my lungs were not functioning well because of the added strain.

And so, the bar was put in place. Two incisions on the right side, one on the left, all about an inch and a half to two inches long, right along the ribs, horizontally. A stainless steel bar was then curved to the shape of my chest wall and put in backwords, and then popped around to the correct position by flipping it around. This causes the chest wall to expand outward. A bracket holding the bar was attached to my ribs with what I understand to be like steel wire. This bracket and wire was what the bone formed around. After two years the chest is supposed to be able to form correctly again and when you take it out it is supposed to be able to hold its position, allowing you to breath correctly and not have your heart and lungs crushed. It is normally performed on very little children, as their cartilage is still forming then, but for me it wasn't caught until later on.

I went to Boston Hospital and was told by the doctor:

There is nothing wrong with you. You have anxiety. You should grow a stronger skin to the world around you, and when you do that things should ease away.
So screw Boston Hospital, as it obviously wasn't anxiety lmfao. Didn't matter anyway, as how Boston does it is by cutting out your chest plate in its entirety and then forming that and wiring it back up with steel wires. No thanks, I'm glad I took the less invasive method anyway.

So ya, I think that covers most of it. ;). All there is to it now is to take some tylenol with codine and wait till the cuts and such heal up. Oh, and it wasn't just sneezing that hurt, simply breathing was enough to want to cry yourself to sleep and hope it all went away. After a while you get used to living with pain. But god do I never want to go back. It is an amazing feeling to suck in a full chest of clean air, well at least as fresh as an urban area can give you lmfao.

[rendermandan]

Wow, its great that you are feeling better!

[Kayin]

Pectus cavernosum, right?

I've got Marfan's. I lucked out with that, but my ribs separate from my sternum instead.

So glad to hear you're OK from that, nice to find someone else understands about this...

[NightrainSrt4]

Mine was pectus excavatum, not sure if it is any different. Quite on the serious side of it though. My little brother went through nothing compared to me, he even said it himself. Different body types different issues I guess. But ya.

I am starting to feel the pain of the cuts now though, as the anesthetic must have worn off, and they cut through some muscle (again). But, the pains of the cuts, compared to the stabbing pains everyday, just feel like itchiness to me to be honest. Kinda annoying. Can't wait till they go away. Took some of the tylenol, and will see how that goes.

And Kayin, if you ever need anyone to talk to I am here. Feel free. I do understand, and it def isn't something someone should have to go through alone. I was lucky I didn't have to.

[SgtM]

Awesome news! Surgery rep.

[NightrainSrt4]

Thanks again.

Not me, nor my pictures, but here you can see before and after of the average case. You can see how much more pressure it puts on the heart by forcing the lungs to relocate and puts the heart right up against the chest wall.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/1752/pectusctaxialpre.jpg

And after, more like a normal persons chest wall.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/8297/pectusctaxialpost.jpg


And Here is a wiki link for those wiki lovers explaining how my procedure was done. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuss_procedure)

And here is how Boston Hospital (Children's too) still does the surgery as of the time I got mine put in. This is the same place the doctor pretty much told me to man up.


Ravitch technique

The Ravitch technique is an invasive surgery that was introduced in 1949,[18] and developed in the 1950s to treat the condition. This procedure involves creating an incision along the chest through which the cartilage is removed and the sternum detached. A small bar is then inserted underneath the sternum to hold it up in the desired position. The bar is left implanted until the cartilage grows back, typically about 6 months. The bar is subsequently removed in a simple out-patient procedure. The Ravitch technique is not widely practiced because it is so invasive. It is often used in older patients, where the sternum has calcified, when the deformity is asymmetrical, or when the less invasive Nuss procedure has proven unsuccessful.
HELL NO LMFAO.

[Oneslowz28]

Awesome news man!

[Kayin]

Do you exhibit other skeletal deformities? Just curious, I've got a list as long as my arm.

Funny story, went to the doctor, mother swore my neck pain was sleeping wrong, though I sleep either curled in a tight ball or flat on my back-out of the corner, normally with just one pillow-and the doc orders an X-ray. X-ray shows an extra vertebra. My mother was floored. I'm a bona-fide freak of nature.

[xRyokenx]

Congrats, dude!

I know how it is with doctors... I have hypoglycemia and many doctors haven't been helpful with it at all.

I'm glad you're feeling a lot better. Being unable to function hardly at all really sucks.

[Mark_Hardware]

Bad times man. I won't say bad luck, because I don't think you would consider it so. But I will say congratulations, and I am glad to hear it went well and everything is ok.

[NightrainSrt4]

Thanks guys!

Kayin: I don't think I show any other skeletal deformities, although my arms are a bit longer than average, the chest wall thing, and I do have a bit of kyphosis which wasn't created by slouching.

Mark: At one time I definitely would have labeled it as bad luck. Felt like the world was crashing around me. As when I started to get ill I was set to run my own Kung-Fu school. Other issues came up at the same time, but getting ill put the nail in my coffin and shot my dreams away. At least it seemed. Once I get better I am going to find a new martial arts school and start from scratch again, at least to get back into shape. I'm not about to throw away everything I had worked for over 13 years.

Now my question is when I get well enough to train again, do I tell whomever I get the opportunity to do so with about my past experiences. People get all weird and try to treat you differently when they know you've got multiple black belts in different martial arts. If I go back to it I'd rather just work my way up something new like everyone else. I need it to get back in shape anyway.