Review Detail

We first noticed my pectus when a teammate asked me what was wrong with my chest, within minutes of researching I learned of pectus excavatum and decided to see a doctor about it. He diagnosed me with pectus excavatum and told us that it was pretty much cosmetic but that it could be fixed with surgery. After taking a couple of tests and a CT-scan we discovered that it was causing pressure on my right ventricle. After this we decided that surgery needed to be done, the aforementioned doctor told us he performed the surgery, but he seemed inexperienced and I didn't want a man who thought that pectus excavatum was only a cosmetic deformity to perform such a difficult procedure on me and I was not able to put my chest and life in his hands. I wanted not only a surgeon who knew and understood everything about the deformity, but I also wanted the best. So, after researching, we discovered Dr. J who seemed to meet the above criteria. After contacting her we decided she was the one and went ahead and scheduled the operation a year in advance.

My whole life up until this point had been perfectly healthy, I had only even been sick a handful of times, much less had surgery. So, for over a year, the operation loomed over me, constantly stressing me out and many times leaving me wondering why I was putting myself through this, but I always knew I had to do it. Finally, over a year after scheduling, the day finally came to fly all the way across the country to Arizona, in the 105 degree weather to have bars ran into my chest. I was scared, more scared than I've ever been in my life, but the next morning at the pre-op appointment I met Dr. J and her team. Dr. J is such a nice and caring person, and it was surreal to finally meet her. After their explanations my fear was gone. When we arrived at the Phoenix Children's Hospital we signed in and were almost immediately taken into the pre-op room where I met all the people who would be involved in the operation. Next, they gave me something to calm down, took me back, and put me to sleep.

When I woke up I looked at the result and was amazed, it was perfect. I had a pretty deep asymmetrical pectus with some pretty bad rib flare, but she fixed it all. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I'm sure if I had expectations she would have exceeded them. I can finally walk around without a shirt unembarrassed, she has made my chest perfect and I now have a body to be proud of and comfortable in. My care team was also great and my pain only rose above a two a couple times when I got in and out of bed and when they removed the chest tube. My team helped me heal and was always there when I needed them and were always very friendly. Within four days I was able to leave the hospital. I am now coming up on three weeks post-op and my pain is a lot lower than I expected and is getting better everyday. There have only been a handful of times when I've experienced any bad pain, and overall this has been a great experience, I would definitely recommend Dr. J to anyone young or old, no matter how bad your deformity is. Dr. J is truly the best.