This is my personal diary of having the Nuss procedure at age 23.

12.13.01 - 9:40AM - SURGERY DAY!!
I just arrived to the hospital waiting room at the Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia for my Nuss procedure. Dr. Nuss if performing my surgery today. I am so excited!!. This place is like a giant playroom. Toys are everywhere and lots of kids running around. They even have a TV playing a children's movie and a game station where you can play video games. It's kinda funny that I'm a grown man in this childrens hospital. They are calling peoples names to go into surgery. I am not until 1PM but I missed my physical I was supposed to have yesterday so that's why I am here so early. I am wearing my regular clothes, jeans and a sweater. I have my bag with my which has my CD player for entertainment after surgery, some slippers that I can put on without bending down, a couple of books, my toiletries and some sweats for when I am able to change in the hospital. I have heard that entertainment is not an issue at this hospital. After all it IS a children's hospital. So I didn't bring much to do. I have not eaten since 6PM last night. They told me not to eat after midnight. My mom swears that the earlier I don't eat the better I will feel when I awake from surgery. (Turns out she was right) I am not really feeling nervous at all. I have been just kind of pretending that I am not having surgery and keeping a REALLY positive attitude. I am actually kind of excited about it. Just relaxing in my seat has really helped. About to read a magazine.

11:03AM
A nurse just came and got me. I was put into my gown; they are light pants and a shirt that ties in the back. They gave me a bag to put all my clothes into. I was also given totes, the socks with the tread on the bottom. They also gave me some cream that was put on the back of my hand to numb them for the IV. I am very comfortable and back in the waiting room again. Reading my magazine.

12:30AM
The nurse came and got me to go into the back to start surgery. The anesthesiologist had been to talk with me about 15min earlier. They explained everything about the IV and the epidural and asked if I had any questions, I didn't. I was escorted into the operating room. It was a HUGE room with very bright lights. EVERYONE was so warm and friendly. I was hopped up onto the operating table, a very long thin table. I was lying on my back and they placed the IV into my right hand. A nice nurse was massaging my left hand to comfort me. Then the anesthesiologist came in to put in the epidural. I was instructed to lie on my side and curl up into a ball as to show my spine. Again I had a nurse holding my hand talking to me and asking me questions about my job, I was not nervous at all. I felt very warm and comfortable. In no time the epidural was put in and I was rolling over onto my back again. It didn't hurt at all and I couldn't even feel a thing. Then they put a mask on my face and asked me what flavor I wanted out of like 10 different ones. I asked for orange and the next thing I new I was smelling a wonderful orangey scent and drifted off into LA LA land. Nothing about the operating room was scary or upsetting. It was sort of fun actually.

2:30PM
A nurse just called my mom at the waiting room to let her know that everything was ok. They had just put the bar in.

3:45PM
Dr Nuss came and told my Mom that the surgery was over. The surgery went very well. Except there was an unusual problem when they were inflating the lungs after the surgery (which is usual to inflate the lungs.) They have these tubes going from the lungs, out my mouth and into a bucket of water. When the tubes stop bubbling in the water they know that the lunges are fully inflated. But for me the tubes never stopped bubbling, like there was a leak in one of my lungs or something. They had to put in a chest tube through my right side in order to monitor it after surgery. Dr. Nuss had never seen this before. He thinks they will be able to remove the chest tube tomorrow.

He also said they had some problems putting the tube down my throat for the anesthesia. Dr. Nuss estimates that they will keep the epidural in for 4 maybe 5 days for the pain. The pain will be the hardest part to deal with. They were slowly having me come out of the anesthesia. It will be 45-60 minutes before my mom will get to see me. Dr. Nuss also had pictures from the surgery that he gave my mom while I was still out and explained what they meant. Dr Nuss told my mom that I felt very comfortable and not scared and felt very calm when waking up from the anesthesia.

5:00PM
My mom was allowed to go into the recovery room and see me. I was wrapped up in 5 blankets cause at first I was totally freezing and quietly asked them to warm me up a bit. My mom said I looked a little pale. I was hooked up to heart and lung monitor, epidural and IV - but didn't even know it at the time of course. The worst pain was where they put in the chest tube to monitor my lungs. This tube is not normal for most patients and when I looked down and saw all the tape on my right said I asked the nurse what it was and she told me not to worry about it. So I didn't. When I woke up from the surgery in the recovery room I was wondering what I was doing there for a few seconds. I was like, "Where am I? Why am I in a hospital?" And then I remembered that I was having surgery. And I started laughing inside thinking, oh my god that's right I really did have the Nuss done and got all excited about what my chest looked like. I was thinking, ok so this is it huh, I am officially post-op then…but I don't feel a thing - my whole body was just numb. And just continued to lay there, very comfortable and almost in disbelief that it was already over.

6:00PM
I was wheeled up to my room (737) and installed in my home-away-from-home for the next 5 days or so. I was already in my own bed in the recovery room so there was no bed switching, thank god. The nurses just rolled me in and set everything up and answered any questions my mom or I had.



6:45PM
That evening I was in a lot of pain where the chest tube was inserted. I asked to have some morphine. They gave me lots. See the problem was that the epidural was in the area of my upper chest, where the Nuss was performed. So I had pretty much no pain in my chest are where the bar was. It was that damn tube they had to stick in me and it was below the epidural site. So the only control I had over the chest tube pain was shots of morphine. Which was fine with me ;-) But before I had that first shot the pain was not like I wanted to cry but like I didn't want to talk or move. Once I got the shot though I was ok. I started to listen to my relaxation CD with headphones. It really helped take the edge off and put me in a good mood again. My friend Jim just called to see how I was doing after surgery. A few minutes later a nurse came in and gave me some Valium to help relax. That was nice and in a few minutes I was so calm and relaxed; pretty much pain free. So I decided to turn on the TV and watch Friends.

8:15PM
I just finished my first breathing exercise. I did really well. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. My mom was with me so we just chatted for a while as I drifted in and out of sleep. I still felt very comfortable and warm. I continued with my breathing exercises about every hour or so, pretty much whenever I woke up I would use the breathing device. So with all this drifting in and out of sleep I hadn't been paying attention to my morphine levels. See, I had this morphine button and could push it every half hour. Well I forgot to push it for quite a while cause I was in and out of my sleeping and. . .

12.14.01 3:00AM
I woke up in agonizing pain where the chest tube was. Keep in mind that the pain is still not from my bar. That was feeling fine. But that tube coming out of my lower right side hurt so bad I was crying. It wasn't a full out hard crying but I was in LOTS of pain and I was so upset that it hurt so bad that I was crying a little. So the nurses saw how bad I was feeling and gave me a lot of morphine. After that I was drifting in and out of sleep but (and this is important) I remembered to push the morphine button every time I woke up as to not feel any pain. And I told my mom that if I was asleep for more then an hour to push it for me. This REALLY helped.

6:30AM
The anesthesiologist came in to see me. Nothing really important, just looked me over and asked how I was going.

7:00AM
My first x-ray of my new chest. They come in with a rolling portable x-ray machine; it's nice that I don't have to go anywhere. They just roll it over your bed and ask you to lift up your back. Excuse me? I just had a steel bar placed under my sternum not 15 hours ago. It wasn't easy. But with the help of 2 nurses and my mom they were able to get the COLD metal film holder under my back. ZAP! X-ray was finished and time for my first liquid breakfast. It had chicken broth, apple juice, I can't remember what else. But it was tasty even though I wasn't really in the mood to eat anything.

10:00AM
I got bored and asked the nurse if I could watch a movie. She brought me Aladdin. Cool. Not a second after I started the movie the physical therapist came in. She said I had to sit up in a chair for one hour. So she helped me get out of bed for the first time (not bad at all!) and I sat up in the chair. It felt really strange! But I was not in pain. When time was up I was ready to go back to bed to lie down and rest. All that sitting really made me tired! It's hard to sit up straight for that long. They gave me some Valium only this time they gave it to me orally instead of through my IV and I was so happy cause I wanted to start taking meds orally early as to not shock my stomach, as many people do when they get their epidural out and end up vomiting all over the place.



11:00AM
They came and x-rayed me again to make sure the bar had not moved. I called my friend Barry and told him how I was doing. Honestly I was not in the mood to talk to anyone so I made the conversation short. My liquid food diet was delivered again. This time I had some broth, Italian Ice (YUM!) , and Ginger Ale. Nurse Beth came and gave me some Zantax for my reflux digestion and against heartburn. I was doing fine. Just kind of wanted to rest in bed and not do anything but lay there.

12:00PM
I fell asleep…again. The first couple of days you really do sleep a lot. I didn't feel like doing much more.

1:00PM
I woke up that afternoon feeling very restless and anxious. I wanted to sit up in a chair and just get out of the hospital bed. My mom helped me sit up in the chair but it didn't help, I just felt, blah! So the nurse gave me some Benadryl to relax me and I got back into bed. I listened to my music, my mom gave me a foot massage and I fell asleep right away. It's good to have something familure to relax you. Like I had my relaxation CD. I just kept getting anxious in the hospital bed. I felt really confined to it with all the tubes and stuff.

2:10PM
A doctor came in and removed my chest tube. Thank god, I was so happy to get rid of that stupid thing that was causing most of the pain. I had to turn on my left side, which was so very painful. I had to take 3 deep breaths and on the 3rd I had to hold my breath and the doctor pulled it out. The pain was so bad that I got the shakes and my teeth were chattering. Then I got really cold and I had my mom put my socks on my feet and cover me with blankets. I tried to relax and listened to my music again and fell back to sleep. I didn't feel like doing much but sleeping.

3:15PM
The physical therapist came in and walked me around the 7th floor. That was so much fun. I was so happy just to get out of that hospital room for 5 minutes. That's what I really needed. The nurse told me I did really well for a 23 y/o Nuss patient. After that I was feeling really good and wanted to see my chest for the first time. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was standing there in the bathroom looking in the mirror at my new chest. It was amazing. And perfect. Ok so it was a little bloody and really swollen but I got the idea!

SATURDAY - 12.15.01
I was up walking in the morning. Even to the 1st floor to the vending machines to get some food. I didn't have much energy the rest of the day. I mostly slept and rested the whole day. My friend Jim and my dad came to visit me. I wasn't much entertainment for them but it was nice that they came to visit me.

SUNDAY 12.16.01
I was feeling so much better today. My dad was staying in a nearby hotel and came to visit me from 9:30-11:00 am. My mom and sister came at about 11:00 am. I was very upbeat walking and talking. I just felt no pain at all and was so happy that I could get in and out of bed by myself and walk around when I wanted to. Before I felt really confined to the bed and I really hated that.



12:30PM
I ate some chicken fingers for lunch. YUM! The pain was starting to come back but it was no problem, just a click of the morphine button and all is gone, haha. I laid down to rest. I was very restless and couldn't sleep. I just didn't like the hospital bed very much. It just wasn't comfortable unless I was drugged up. They came and gave me some Valium. I really just wanted peace and quite so I asked my mom and sister to leave the room so I could rest.

2:00PM
My mom and sister came back and I was awake and up. I walked around the floor with my mom, which was really nice. I had my first small bowel movement earlier that day which was exciting since I had not gone in all that time. I walked with my mom a couple of times around the 7th floor. After that I was getting tired and wanted to rest and sleep.

3:45PM
My mom and sister left to drive back home. Dr Nuss came later in the evening and checked on me. I was doing great he said.

MONDAY 12.17.01
They removed the epidural this morning. WOW! The pain was absolutely excruciating. Not the actual removal of the epidural, that was no problem, but the pain after. It was like my chest was in a vice grip and someone was squeezing it as hard as they could. The nurses have a pain scale from 1-10 and they ask you what level you are at when you are in pain.. I told her it was at like 15. The nurses gave me a lot of morphine through my IV and I was ok in about 30 minutes. But boy oh boy did it hurt!!! That day the pain was worse than any other day of the surgery. By early evening they had the pain totally under control. I had my last chest x-ray. It looked good and I get to keep this one! Dr. Nuss came to see me again, he came to see me everyday. He was very happy with my progress and everything looks good. They said they found a good combination of drugs to keep my pain under control. Yah!

TUESDAY 12.18.01
I can't wait to go home! I was so ready to leave the hospital. I was just tired my room, tired of all the people and couldn't wait to get home to my own comfortable bed! My dad will drive down to pick me up this afternoon. He is bringing pillows and a blanket to try and make me as comfortable as possible on the ride home. It's a 3-hour car ride. Then, totally out of nowhere, I got the hiccups!!!! Bad and wrong!! With every hiccup it felt like someone was jolting my insides around. It hurt so badly and I was trying everything humanly possible to make them stop. Finally, after what seemed like forever (which was like 10 minutes) they went away. I was the happiest boy on the earth. Really.

2:00PM
I was packed and ready to go. The nurse went over some details about my meds, when to take what and stuff like that. They also gave me some papers telling me what to do and not to do for the next couple of days.

4:15PM
I left the hospital with my dad. I can't tell you much about the car ride. I had a pillow, which did help a little. I was in minor pain during the ride but I can't think of anything that would have made the ride more comfortable. I was just glad to be home and well.