Pectus Excavatum (or Poland's Syndrome)

I don't have pectus, but my 16 year old son had a severe pectus excavatum.  He had a surgical repair done in May 2007 where they put a steel bar in his chest which pushes the chest out where it should be.  It was so sunken prior to this that he looked like he had a hole in the center of his chest that you could have put your fist in.  Insurance covered the surgical repair as it was not considered cosmetic due to the severity of his pectus.  As he grew older, it could have compromised his heart or lungs.  They actually have a way to measure the severity of the pectus, and this determines whether the repair is considered cosmetic or medically necessary.  He spent 4 nights in the hospital with an epidural in his back afterwards.  Since I only spent one night in the hospital after my bilateral mastectomies and my expander placement was outpatient, my surgeries were nothing in his opinion.  As soon as the metal bar is implanted, the chest immediately looks normal, other than the incision scars (which were very small).  The metal bar alone was $10,000.  The bar will stay in for 3 years, and then be removed in an outpatient procedure.  After that, the chest should stay in its corrected position.

I know this wasn't helpful to you at all, but very few people know what pectus is and when I find someone who does I have to tell this story.

 Good luck with your reconstruction.  I just had my expanders placed 3 weeks ago after being boobless for 10 months.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Geez_Already! We hope the appointment with your plastic surgeon goes well, we know how important it is to feel comfortable. Please keep us posted!

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