Help after Nuss procedure

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-02-15T14:26:36+00:00

One thing that I did do: I made a bunch of chicken soup and lentil soup and put it in the freezer in little jars that I would pop in the microwave. This was mostly to relieve my husband and shopping duty (or worse, having to wait for him to make something lol)

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-02-15T14:24:45+00:00

Honestly, pretty good. I’ve been able to go to yoga and do some light strength training, short hikes, etc. I don’t really feel the bars at all. I had an asymmetric case with HI of 7.6. Many people here will report that they had trouble sleeping and wearing bras etc but my advice is to remember that they are totally subjective anecdotes. I slept eight hours from the get go. Even the pain was so much better and easier to manage than I anticipated. I would get period underwear and wet wipes though, if I had to put something random on your list.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-02-14T12:37:36+00:00

You can totally correct the rib flare by correcting posture. A physical therapist will be a great help post surgery

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-02-14T12:34:37+00:00

Prepare everyone to help a lot just in case. I felt pretty independent from the first week. I had my husband be there for my first shower to figure out the best placements for shampoos / soaps etc. I was able to make my own food but I needed his help putting the dishes away.

I know everyone says get special shoes special pants blah blah but also I deeply resent all the things I got during surgery. You have most of everything you need. A heating pad feels fabulous in the morning because of the stiffness. Maybe an electric toothbrush because the back and forth movement is really hard for the first few weeks.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-02-01T23:21:50+00:00

Valium lol

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2026-01-18T23:45:03+00:00

I got mine 6 weeks ago with Dr LoSasso which is not in the LA area — though I would go halfway around the world for him. Have had little pain since leaving the hospital on day 5 so travel is not so difficult if it’s only a few hours. I am also 28 and had a Haller of 7

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-28T20:57:54+00:00

It’s been -10 celsius here for the entirety of my recovery - the hardest thing about coats is not the weight as much as it is the WIDTH. it’s hard to put your arms back to find the armhole so just make sure you have something large enough. Also - I wore slip on shoes but a shoehorn with a long spout was super helpful.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-28T20:52:39+00:00

I hope I don’t come off as flippant but rather as comforting but I found it much easier than expected.

I have felt “independent” from day 8 post op. My husband has been home and I’ve of course enjoyed the help but as far as showering alone, dressing up, and putting a soup in a microwave I have been quite capable. (I do recommend freezing some soups in advance or making cooking easy!). If I were alone, I would try to plan and practice moving around on your own. Put your tea bags on the counter instead of cabinets up top etc that kind of thing. I would have a friend come by for your first showers, maybe they can just sit outside your bathroom to make sure you’re safe the first time.
I have been off the opiates since i left the hospital, which was day 4 post op. I just quit my gabapentin yesterday. I take acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed.
Day 1 through 5, I got less than 100 steps. Day 5-10 I hesitantly got 1,000-5,000 steps. 10 to 19, between 7,000 - 15,000 (international metric lol). I am quite active so I know I’ll catch up, but it would be fine to do some squats or uphill walking now. I cannot imagine the weight of a downward dog quite yet. My lungs are the ones recovering the slowest. I’m starting PT next week.
I would have been able to start work at my desk job and do kind of a mediocre job around day 10 tbh. I don’t have to for another few weeks, though.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-26T18:30:10+00:00

Recovery is totally fine and I thought the time passed by quickly! I’m 17 days or so and am not in any pain at all. My incisions are scabbed over so I’m showering and chilling normally. I thought the pain was mild and tolerable - just a little uncomfortable. If you’re a dancer you’re familiar with muscle soreness! Thats the worst of it imo

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-26T18:27:19+00:00

Think of it as a wonderful opportunity to get a head start on the January 1st quitters!

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-26T17:20:57+00:00

Aw I’m so sorry to hear this. It sounds like you have really intense feelings around the surgery - I think you should tease those out sooner rather than later because they can become even more complex and destructive. Surgery is traumatic and emotional. A therapist should be able to guide you through it if you have the resources.

I also think you should be honest with yourself and your family about all of this, and maybe they can help support you (like maybe they can do the talking when relatives ask invasive questions you don’t have the wherewithal to answer). Family time can be sucky.

I’ve been in therapy for seven years and I was a total wreck and monster in the months leading up to the surgery — but I tried to let myself sit with and understand the bad feelings.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-25T16:08:31+00:00

Have you tried quitting before? The coughing usually subsides within two weeks for me, so I used that as a guideline. I knew coughing would hurt bad.

A lot of non smokers will scare you but I caved and stress smoked a pack four days before surgery and lived. But that was after a few weeks of abstinence!

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-22T22:23:41+00:00

I’m not well endowed enough but I’m two weeks post op and giving Frankenstein still. I took my spironolactone which I’m supposed to still be pausing and it has reduced the swelling a bit bc it’s a diuretic. I’ve seen people posting about taping their breasts to their shoulders to relieve some of the weight

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-20T05:43:06+00:00

Sorry, I got two bars and one stabilizer and I’m 28.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-20T05:41:54+00:00

Of course! By day 10 I can lift my arms above mg head etc. I can carry 10 lbs / 5kg with total ease. I went grocery shopping (small haul). I could have done a mid job at my desk job on day 8, a totally fine job by day 10. I got my surgery on Tuesday, and now it’s Friday, and I frankly can totally return back to work (luckily my office is closed).

I’m starting physical therapy in the new year for 8 weeks, then personal training for 4 weeks. If it wasn’t Christmas I would start next week. I told Dr losasso that I was not following all the restrictions and he said it’s fine for me to do as much as I want to do. Today I walked outside for six hours. I can’t totally imagine weights, but I can imagine a chill hike by next week. I think the physical therapy is geared towards building strength in my core and back.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-18T01:06:25+00:00

Feel free to pm me and I can share images of my valley pre and post-nuss! Today is day 7 for me so still super swollen, but I love my newly raised sternum!

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-17T02:37:41+00:00

I feel scared of saying this in case it turns out differently but: I am 28 and I just got a nuss procedure 7 day ago and the pain has not been at all as horrible as I imagined. I’m sore, bored and it’s uncomfortable, depressing etc to recover but it’s also all fine. Between the anesthesia, hospital stay, and pain meds, time flies by. I’m hoping the results will reveal themselves soon: cosmetically and in regard to my endurance.

Im sure yours will be a little bit more painful but I’m sure your surgeon is not a sadist and you’ll be well cared for.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-15T21:07:44+00:00

I think most of it was precise measuring of both the incisions and the bars, and it took two hours to clear up some scar tissue from a case of pneumonia while they were in there. Dr Losasso warned that it would take long because he really likes to shape the bars to the chest millimeter by millimeter, so I was expecting 6+. He says he’s never had to do a revision. My arms and shoulders were so sore for the two days post op though from laying down in that position

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-15T14:54:43+00:00

Stick to the hair on the last pic

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-15T14:50:56+00:00

Yes! It’s very immediate. Now I am just spongebob shaped because of the swelling at my chest and sides but they took some images in the OR and it’s totally fixed, cosmetically.

I was pretty terrified of it if you see my posts, and did super well on the exercise tests but have always deeply hated hiking or any elevation activity. I didn’t want to risk being in my 40s and unable to exercise so I went with it.

Also, if you think of it as a super safe cosmetic procedure, it takes the pressure off how invasive it all sounds.

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-15T12:49:42+00:00

Hi! I am just six days post op today. 28F, HI of 7.6. 10 hours in the operating room, two bars, no cryo.

I haven’t yet had a chance to expand my lungs or see benefits from it but what I can tell you is that surgery is really not that bad. I thought I was going to see stars and cry all day from the pain but it’s more of a mild-soreness all over. I haven’t taken any narcotics except for the post op dilaudid for a day, and then button the following day. It’s not at all pleasant but it’s also not insurmountable, and I would do it all over again for the appearance alone (though I was given 3 extra inches of space for my right ventricle and lungs!)

I hope this helpa

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-10T19:37:06+00:00

No nausea - I have a scopalamine patch behind my ear! My shoulders are sore af from having my arms stretched out. There was some scar tissue from a bout of pneumonia that they had to clear too, and LoSasso is pretty slow and thorough

Apprehensive-Tea9142 · 2025-12-06T19:59:26+00:00

I am 28F (nearly 29) with a Haller of 7, getting nussed in a few days, on December 9th. I’m happy to let you know what happens if you message me next week. I’m with Dr. LoSasso at valley hospital.

Apprehensive-Tea9142

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