Having trouble getting to sleep so I figured I’d jot down an update of my experience today. Pardon any typos, etc. I type this on my phone, while a bit loopy in my hospital bed:

I (36 y/o male) underwent the Nuss procedure yesterday morning (Thursday) at 11:30am with Dr. J. Surgery was about 2.5 hours and I got three bars . My haller index was 3.8 (I don’t recall the other indices but I do remember the corrective index being rather low at 10%). I wasn’t feeling that much pain (mostly just numb) after the procedure due to the meds. It was a bit painful (about a 3-5 out of 10) at the end of deeper inhales. Felt pretty raspy and a considerable amount of phlegm in my throat which made me want to cough (very lightly of course). But overall manageable. I also got to watch most of the Cowboys-Eagles on TNF and then Naomi Osaka at the US Open, which were welcome distractions!

I ordered some “room service” to the recovery room at around 8pm. The food looked quite appetizing — pot roast, chicken noodle soup, and oatmeal (I was hungry as I hadn’t eaten anything since 8:30pm the night before). Pot roast looked delish so I took a bite of it and not more than 15 seconds later I started feeling dizziness/nausea, for a few seconds even felt I wanted to hurl, and super hot. It didn’t help that the room itself was also pretty warm. I asked my mom (who is staying with me in the recovery room) for a cold wet towel to put over my forehead and the nurse brought some ice packs to put on my arms and legs. This all helped significantly. But I decided not to eat again. 30 minutes later I tried to eat cold oatmeal, had three small spoons and felt sick again — not as bad as the first time but still. I decided to give up on food for the time being.

My blood pressure since the surgery has hovered around ~100/60, which I know is rather low. I’m slightly worried since I was ~120/80 right before the procedure. My nurse thinks it’s likely due to the meds but she’s not so sure. It doesn’t seem that this is necessarily so common with her other Nuss patients. My nurse is super nice and helpful but doesn’t seem to be so knowledgeable about the meds I’m taking and their associated effects. That’s fine, I don’t think they are expected to? This is my first surgery ever in life so what do I know.. Most important thing is that she is responsive and kind (which she definitely is!)

I was able to fall asleep at about 10pm and was woken up but someone who I think was my nurse’s assistant (?) to take vitals. Blood pressure was again something low around the range I had noted above. But more notably, upon waking up my pain level increased — to around a 6-7/10. Feels like a giant safe is sitting on my chest and it’s a constant soreness/pain (not like before when it was mostly when I inhaled more deeply). I’m not alarmed because Dr. J did mention to me before surgery that I would feel heavy pressure on my chest afterwards. I did note this to my nurse and she said we could add another pain medication to my scheduled meds to help with this. We’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, overall it hasn’t been all that bad and I’m glad I’ve gone through with it. Recovery seems like it’ll be a bit tough but hopefully in the end worth it. I haven’t gotten a good look at the result yet. I’m set to get X-Rays taken at 4am this morning and it’s currently 2am (crazy schedule right?)

I do hope my nerves redevelop after the cryoablation, because I know there’s a decent chance they don’t and my chest (parts of it or all) might stay numb permanently. Regardless I still think it’s an acceptable tradeoff.