Subscribe today for more stories, tips, and updates.

Cincinnati Children's Blog
  • Subscribe
  • CincinnatiChildrens.org
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Healthy Living
  • Rare and Complex Conditions
  • Safety and Prevention
  • Heart Conditions
  • Learning and Growing
  • Research and Discoveries
  • ?
  • Blog
  • Healthy Living
  • Rare and Complex Conditions
  • Safety and Prevention
  • Heart Conditions
  • Learning and Growing
  • Research and Discoveries
  • ?
  • Subscribe
  • CincinnatiChildrens.org
  • Contact Us
HOME/Rare and Complex Conditions/How Pectus Excavatum Brought Two Teens Together

How Pectus Excavatum Brought Two Teens Together

How Pectus Excavatum Brought Two Teens Together
February 20, 2015
5 Comments
By: Jennifer Stricker

Sam’s Story

Pectus Excavatum! Sounds like an incantation from Hogwarts. Nope! It is what our 16-year-old son, Sam, was diagnosed with in July 2014.

We always knew Sam had a noticeable indentation in the middle of his chest, but never thought the pediatrician would tell us, “This looks more pronounced since last year. Sam needs to have some tests done to make sure it isn’t causing any heart or lung function problems.”

We never connected the dots that our athletic 6’5” child had any reason to be so winded while playing tennis—to the point that he could no longer keep up. Instead, we truly believed he was burned out on tennis when he told us he didn’t want to play any longer. No significant health complaints other than we noticed some shortness of breath with any physical exertion.

pectus.samHe was playing LOTS of music: upright bass in one band, keyboards in another band, and taking electronic sound production classes whenever possible. Until the pediatrician in New Albany, Indiana, pointed out that there really could be a problem, we just figured that sports were no longer “his thing” and because he was so content playing music, we didn’t think much about why he dropped out of sports.

Sure enough, after a pulmonary function test, an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound), and a CT, we were told that Sam had severe Pectus Excavatum — PEX, as I like to call it. It’s a much friendlier sounding term, right? I much prefer friendly terms when we’re talking about our son’s chest wall deformity! PEX. What causes it? What does it cause? How is it fixed? Who fixes it? Who has fixed it the most? Of those who have fixed it, what is their success rate? And on and on and on…ad nauseam.

Yes, we are those parents. We read everything we could get our hands on. As we researched, the name Victor Garcia, MD, at Cincinnati Children’s Pectus Center continued to come up – so much that we decided to take Sam there for his consultation, even though Southern Indiana/Louisville, KY area is our home.

When we were told that Sam had a condition that was causing him to have decreased pulmonary function and his heart to be compressed and displaced, we paid attention. We understood that this condition was not life threatening, but having this corrected would be life changing for Sam. He understood that the initial recovery would be the hardest part, but knew we were all there for him. In fact, his words to me were, “Mom, I think you’re more worried about this than I am. I know it will be a few hard weeks, but I’ll be fixed forever. I can be done with this.” Ok then. Let’s do this.

On October 27, Sam underwent a surgery called the Nuss Procedure, in which Dr. Garcia placed two surgical steel bars between his sternum and heart which were then manipulated to push his chest wall outward. This maneuver gained Sam a full “two fingers” worth of much needed space for his organs to go back into their intended places – and to function at normal capacity.

He came out of surgery singing. Of course he did —did I mention he’s into music? But we had been warned that there would be a “honeymoon period” for the first few days. They didn’t lie to us; the next four days were rough. But they were there to help Sam through it all. On the fifth day, we drove Sam home where he comfortably healed and got back into his normal routine slowly.

Ninety days later, Sam is doing extremely well and ready to begin some physical activity again. In fact, as we make a few college campus visits over the next few months, we are meeting several tennis coaches, too!

That is Sam’s PEX story. Obviously the shortened, blog-friendly version of Sam’s story. But now I want to tell you Sara’s story. Have you ever met somebody to later realize that you are supposed to know them? We feel that way about Sara.

Sara’s Story

As part of our preparation for Sam’s one week trip to Cincinnati for his PEX surgery, and then his three week restriction on most things, I thumbed a text to Sam’s band members and their families about his upcoming absence.

pectus.saraOf course, every other person I had told about PEX said, “I’ve never heard of that,” so I took great care in describing the details of the condition and the correction. You can imagine my shock when within minutes I received a reply from Sara, the 16-year-old singer in this band, “I think I have that. I just wanted to share that with you. My mom really wants to talk to you soon.”

I was floored. I’m not a clinical person, but I researched enough to understand that this isn’t the most common of conditions. I believe it is more common in boys than girls. I also believe it is more common to have it repaired for cosmetic reasons, as opposed to it being considered medically necessary – as Sam’s and Sara’s cases were. Surely not, she probably doesn’t have PEX, too. Keep in mind, we had just met this family several months earlier as Sara and Sam were randomly placed in a band together based merely on their musical interests and ages. What an odd coincidence this would be.

When Sara’s mom, also named Jennifer, and I spoke shortly after we got home from Cincinnati, I couldn’t get over what she told me. She had taken Sara to two different doctors – and when she questioned them about the hollowed out looking area in Sara’s chest, that also caused some chest pain and shortness of breath, both told her to take some ibuprofen and that she’d be fine. She asked me what I thought. I told her that I thought she should get another opinion! I told her the name of Sam’s pediatric cardiologist and that it was worth a visit. That after an echocardiogram, she’d have a better idea of what was going on with Sara.

Sara had the tests done, and sure enough – it was PEX! Severe pectus excavatum. Sam and Sara talked. He showed her his scars. He told her about how the first few weeks were hard, but it got easier. Jennifer and I talked about our sleepless nights, heart palpitations and panic attacks we both had thinking about the procedure and the metal bars in our kids’ chests. The bond was forming. Our kids and their families were learning a new language together and experiencing new emotions together. Sure, our kids were in a band together – but who knew this “friendly PEX” would be another significant connection between our families?

Sara’s situation became more complicated when her dad had a serious heart attack a few weeks before her surgery, from which he never recovered. Sara had surgery on December 31 in Cincinnati, the very same day that her dad passed away back home in Louisville. Our hearts were broken for Sara and what she must be feeling, physically and emotionally. We went to Cincinnati to see her the very next day. We needed her to know that she was not alone and that we would do anything we could to support her.

The 4-Bars Bond

Now that her initial recovery is well underway, Sara is back at band practices and singing her heart out as they prepare for a busy spring and summer performance schedule. She and Sam text when they are experiencing new sensations within their chest walls – a normal part of the healing process. They confer about the discomfort a sneeze can cause when you don’t brace for it.

Pectus band photoThey’ve discussed the humor in changing the band’s name from “All The Motions” to “4 Bars.”

They have an awkward hug when they greet each other—one that only two kids with surgical steel bars in their chests really understand.

They have bandmates who have been there supportively awaiting their return. They have families who have peace knowing their kids’ medical team is the best available.

They have each other to talk about this potentially scary procedure, the recovery process and the life changing aspects of correcting Pectus Excavatum at Cincinnati Children’s.

PEX. Who knew?

Subscribe today for more stories, tips, and updates.

Related Articles

A Trifecta of Diagnoses: Chiari Malformation, Pectus Excavatum, Ehlers-Danlos
A Trifecta of Diagnoses: Chiari Malformation, Pectus Excavatum, Ehlers-Danlos
Pectus Excavatum: The Student Becomes the Teacher
Pectus Excavatum: The Student Becomes the Teacher
TAGS:
  • pectus excavatum

About the author: Jennifer Stricker

Jennifer Stricker is a Marketing & Business Operations Consultant from Floyds Knobs, Indiana. She and her husband enjoy traveling with their two sons. The goal is to never vacation in the same place twice...so many things to see and so little time!!

Write A Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

Penny Henry February 20, 2015 at 5:55 pm

So glad Sam and Sara are both doing so well.

Linda Taylor February 21, 2015 at 7:27 pm

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I’m glad both kids are doing well. It breaks my heart to hear Sara lost her father with all that going on and at such a young age. Our 14 year old son, Jerry, was diagnosed with Pectus in August 2014 and had his surgery December 1, 2014. It is so comforting in a weird way to hear how similar Sam’s recovery was to Jerry’s as far as the “honeymoon period” and the difficult following days. We had Dr. Victor Garcia too. He was amazing with Jerry but also with us, his parents. Thank you again for sharing Sam’s story. It is rare to read about this illness. I wish both Sam and Sara and their families the best.

nancy mcdevitt February 22, 2015 at 2:46 pm

Jennifer , how amazing! And your family is awesome ! so hard to believe that these two both had this very unusual condition,! Love you all! Love

victor garcia March 10, 2015 at 1:13 pm

Jennifer,

Thank you for trusting Cincinnati Children’s and our team. It is no small thing for a parent to entrust the life and health of their child to another.

I am at once humbled and honored and grateful.

Stay well and tell Sara and Sam hi for us all at Cincinnati Children’s

victor

Melanie January 4, 2019 at 9:44 am

Hi Jennifer. My daughter has PEX also and is having shortness of breath, pulse ox dropping and most of it being blamed on anxiety. She’s had to stop swimming and can hardly go down a flight of stairs without being winded. Everything is checking out ok—blood, heart , lungs— but there is weakening of the muscles around her lungs and in her hands and feet. Her pectus is low like 2.9 so we were told that is too low to be the problem but i keep coming back to it. Any words of advice would be great. TIA

Topics

  • Cancer and Blood Diseases
  • Child Development and Behavior
  • Childhood Obesity
  • Chronic Care Networks
  • Cincinnati Walks for Kids
  • Featured Faces
  • Fetal Conditions
  • Fitness and Nutrition
  • Food Allergies
  • Ghana 2012
  • Health Care Public Policy
  • Health Care Quality
  • Health Care Reform
  • Healthy Living
  • Heart Conditions
  • Hospital Operations
  • How We Do It
  • Learning and Growing
  • Meet The Team
  • Nurses Week 2012
  • Patient Family Experience
  • Patient Flow
  • Patient Safety
  • Patient Stories
  • Pin of the Week
  • Radiology
  • Rare and Complex Conditions
  • Research
  • Research and Discoveries
  • Safety and Prevention
  • Share Your Story
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Vaccines
  • Volunteerism
  • What Makes Us Different
  • What's New
See All Topics
See Less Topics

Subscribe

Never miss a post! Sign up to get new blog updates delivered to your email.

Popular Posts

  • 6 Questions to Ask When Your Child Complains of Chest Pain 2k views
  • Caring for the Caregivers of Children with Congenital Heart Disease  1.2k views
  • Stuttering In Young Kids: When To Be Concerned 892 views
  • Would You Pass This Pesticide Safety Quiz? 626 views
  • Laryngomalacia: Is My Child’s Noisy Breathing Serious? 587 views
  • 4 Questions to Ask When Your Child Has Recurrent Croup 551 views
About

The Cincinnati Children’s blog features thoughts and perspectives from our experts on all things pediatric health. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Learn More »

Contact Us
  • 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3026
  • 1-513-636-4200 | 1-800-344-2462
  • TTY: 1-513-636-4900
  • socialmedia@cchmc.org
Connect With Us
  • Subscribe
  • CincinnatiChildrens.org
  • Contact Us

© 2009-2022 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center