I had the modified ravitch surgery

this video is kind of hard to share because I've never been so personal publicly but I really hope it can help someone who's going through the same thing. this surgery was the scariest thing that I've done in my life and watching others tell their stories/experiences was so helpful I just feel like I need to give that back as well. I tried my best to cover everything that I could think of but if you have any questions on things that I didn't mention please feel free to ask below and I will answer! :) thank u for watching
TIMESTAMPS:
1:42 - my diagnosis and how I felt about it as a kid
7:00 - why I decided to have this surgery
10:16 - my surgery and hospital stay experience
14:55 - my recovery at home
25:00 - my chest and how it looks post surgery
27:00 - my thoughts on others getting this surgery

[@user-vq5nn1ex6s]

Thank you for this video. I am scheduled to get the Ravitch surgery in 4 wks and am feeling a bit apprehensive so it was lovely to hear how it went for you. And to hear how and why you decided to have the surgery. Any update on how you're doing now? Did you have a bar that had to be removed? Has your stamina noticeably improved now that your chest has healed? You said you had trouble running a mile before the surgery.

[@awkliz]

I’m so glad this helped!! I didn’t have a bar put in I just had a small titanium plate put in to hold my sternum up so it will stay in forever. I honestly haven’t been able to test my stamina much because I got pregnant soon after my surgery so I wasn’t working out. But at my 1 year check up my doctor said he could see on the x-ray that my lung expansion is much better now! I feel 100% healed and normal, I do still feel a bit of pressure in my chest when I do very heavy lifting but my Dr. said that’s normal. I also do still have a bit of numbness in the center of my chest where they froze my nerves while doing the surgery, my Dr. also said that is normal and most of the time will go away but even if it doesn’t i’m used to it now and it doesn’t bother me. I’m hoping to do more exercise soon so hopefully i’ll notice improvement in stamina once I start :) I hope everything goes well with your surgery!! Be patient in your recovery and remember how strong you are and will be once you recover!

[@FuturoVital360]

I have surgery in 1 month, I'm afraid, what do you recommend?
Does the post-operative period hurt as much as they say?🤯🤯

[@awkliz]

Don’t be afraid!! You’re already so brave for just doing the surgery! It is pretty painful i won’t lie :( but it gets better it just takes some time! Our bodies are amazing and they recover so well! Don’t rush the process, you need to rest and i hope you will have someone to care for you for some time! I remember i would feel so impatient because it seemed the pain didn’t get better but every week you will see improvement! By 4 weeks you’ll feel much better and time goes by so quickly you got this!!

[@patchgod]

🥲💗🙏😘