I need surgery !!

[gimp]

Havn't posted in a while, I just got back to school. Summer is over Anyway, I have a giant pit in my chest, 'pectus excavatum' is the medical term. It's just an indented chest. I was having chest pains this year, and we couldn't figure out why. Come to find out it's my bones or something. Got some tests done, went to see some surgeon. I have the worst case he has ever seen. When I wear a shirt you can't tell I have a pit in my chest. I used to work out, so even if I had a beater on you couldn't tell. I guess my pit is just really deep. The space between my breastbone and my spine is really small. There is some new procedure now for fixing it. It's called a nuss procedure. Here is a link with some info on it, http://www.chkd.org/about_us/pectus_overview.asp

Something like, 1 in 500 people have a pit in their chest. Nowadays, insurance will pay for the surgery because it's not just cosmetic most of the time. You have increased pressure on your heart, and you can't pump as much blood in one beat. That's what the problem is in my case. Maybe you can spread the word if you know people with pits in their chests. It's better to get the surgery done sooner than later. It would probably be a good idea to get it looked at.

[lord1234]

you know..amazing enuf someone else on this forum had the same problem..btw Gimp...come on down to paintball rocks....southern NH but its a great field

[Oh_Davey]

I have a friend that has one pretty deep, he never really thought it was a problem. I guess I'll tell him to get it checked out, thanks for the info Gimp.

[dwab3000]

i thought i had that for a while back

i mean theres not much to me...

but my chest pains were a broken rib...

[gimp]

.....come on down to paintball rocks....southern NH but its a great field

I'd love to come down to play, but I'm at school in NY, and I can't afford to play anyway. I've actually been switching over to airsoft. I'm saving my emag for when I get a real job and can afford to play on weekends.

[Mr.mike]

I think there was a guy with that on leno a while ago that ate cereal out of it.

[1ofkind]

GL Gimp

[whymillywhy]

One of my friends had one of those, it wasn't deep, but he ddi eat out of it a few times
but, he had it fixed, and from what I understand, he had to have a bone turned around on his chest, and he had to wear a really ugly brace over it for like 3 months or something, it really sucked, but it will pay off in the long run.....

[cpm666]

I think there was a guy with that on leno a while ago that ate cereal out of it.

saw that too

[spazzed]

That (surgery) sounds pretty damned painful..Good luck to ya man, hope all goes well

On the link Gimp posted, did anyone else notice the map w/ occurance rates? Take a look at Virginia...I hope that's a typo

[tony3]

My cousin had that done...

[1ofkind]

Anyway, gimp how small is the space between your chest and back?

[gimp]

I'm not sure the actual distance between my breastbone and my back, but I have a pectus severity index of 9.5. Here is a description of what that means, http://exerciselab.med.ucla.edu/PE/p...rity_index.htm. When looking at the x-ray, it looks like an inch, or an inch and a half.

The reason that virginia has so many patients is because that's where the procedure was invented. Dr. Nuss invented it, and performend most of the procedures himself at the virginia childrens hospital or something. That map shows the number of people who have travelled to the virginia hospital to get it done, not how many people have ever had the procedure.

I'd never eat out of my chest, it's nasty. It's like an armpit in there. It's hairy and it sweats. I have had people take body shots out of it. I can hold a good 4 ounces.

[dirty_canadian4894]

holy ****! i have that, i told my doctor and showed him and he just told me its nothing and blew me off and when i do sports i can never breath and everyone tells me to pick up the pace but i never can and im always in ****ty shape and could never figure out why i cant run much i guess ide better go to a dif doctor.

my hole is on the left side of my chest

[gimp]

holy ****! i have that, i told my doctor and showed him and he just told me its nothing and blew me off and when i do sports i can never breath and everyone tells me to pick up the pace but i never can and im always in ****ty shape and could never figure out why i cant run much i guess ide better go to a dif doctor.

my hole is on the left side of my chest

That's what happened to me. I would mostly get dizzy. It's because my heart can't pump the blood. I thought I was a wuss. If I were you, I'd look around on the internet for a surgeon in your area that's done the procedure. Do searches for, 'pectus excavatum', and 'nuss procedure', on google. There are tons of forums you'll find. Ask for surgeons in your area. The hardest part will be getting a referall from your doctor. I just told my doctor about this procedure. He didn't know much about it, but he saw my chest and said I should get it checked out by someone who did know about it. Nowadays it isn't considered just cosmetic, so insurance will pay. You'll need an EKG, a pulminary function test, and a catscan(I think that's what it is. It will give you a cross section view of your ribs/spine/and your heart).

My pit is more towards the right. The heart takes up more space on the left. You can see it move when you look at my chest. I have a fair amount of muscle in front of it too. Yeah, you should definetly get it checked out. I never thought mine was a problem, then I find out it's the worst the surgeon has ever seen.

Let me know what happens if you go see a doctor.