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Pectus Excavatum: My Story
As if teenagers like myself have enough to worry about these days, I also have a condition Pectus Excavatum.
Pectus Excavatum is a genetic disorder that causes my sternum and ribs to collapse into my lungs and heart. It can also include Marfan Syndrome, Rickets, and Scoliosis. I am lucky enough to not have any of these.
P.E. is normally found in boys and has a likely-hood of every 1 to every 300-400 boys born. It can be found in girls but it is believed it is more common in boys.
Cases of P.E. range from very mild to extremely severe. The way it is medically reffered to requires having a CT scan or an MRI and it is called a Haller index and that ranges on a scale from 1-10.
Symptoms of P.E. can vary considering how bad the case is. The symptoms are:
-Shortness of breath
-Fatigue
-Fast heart rate
-Chest pain
Multiple treatments exsist for P.E.
-Nuss Procedure
-Ravitch Procdure
-Vacume bell treatment
-Brace treament
The Stroy of my Pectus Excavatum:
I grew up like any normal kid would. Nothing out of the ordinary. Though at about 10 years old I started to notice my chest barely caving in. My mother took me to a bone doctor(I can't remember his exact field) and I recall him somewhat blowing it off and saying "Oh well just do some push-ups and by the time you're 20 it won't be there." I'm 15 years 8 months now and My pectus has gotten ten times worse. I believe I'm in the middle of mild and severe which, on a haller index, would be around 5-6. I had an MRI last week and have yet to learn what my Haller index is.
The absolute worst part about having Pectus Excavatum would be what it does to you psychologically. I had a very low self esteem in middle school and am just building it up. I live in a city where literally everyone has a swimming pool. In the summer there is no shortage of pool parties either. Oh and locker rooms in middle school were very fun as well. Even hugging girls recently is terrible because my ribs flare and are highly noticible, also if a girl was to be short her head would no doubt feel the indent (I'm 6ft. 2"). I'll admit I've cried many times from it in the past. Kids are mean. The worst I've been called actually happened 2 weeks ago. Over text this kid called me a Chest Vagina. That was a new one to me. I'm still fuming over it too.
This summer I am having the Nuss procedure by Dr. Jaroszewski in Phoenix, Arizona. I will most likely have 2 bars put in me and that will instantly correct it. The bars will stay in for 3 years so there is no regression and I will get to live my life dent free.
Most of this was very brief, if you would like to know more about the condition please visit the forums or click on some of the links. Thanks for reading!
http://www.pectusinfo.com/board/
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/pectus_excavatum/hic_pectus_excavatum.aspx
Pectus Excavatum is a genetic disorder that causes my sternum and ribs to collapse into my lungs and heart. It can also include Marfan Syndrome, Rickets, and Scoliosis. I am lucky enough to not have any of these.
P.E. is normally found in boys and has a likely-hood of every 1 to every 300-400 boys born. It can be found in girls but it is believed it is more common in boys.
Cases of P.E. range from very mild to extremely severe. The way it is medically reffered to requires having a CT scan or an MRI and it is called a Haller index and that ranges on a scale from 1-10.
Symptoms of P.E. can vary considering how bad the case is. The symptoms are:
-Shortness of breath
-Fatigue
-Fast heart rate
-Chest pain
Multiple treatments exsist for P.E.
-Nuss Procedure
-Ravitch Procdure
-Vacume bell treatment
-Brace treament
The Stroy of my Pectus Excavatum:
I grew up like any normal kid would. Nothing out of the ordinary. Though at about 10 years old I started to notice my chest barely caving in. My mother took me to a bone doctor(I can't remember his exact field) and I recall him somewhat blowing it off and saying "Oh well just do some push-ups and by the time you're 20 it won't be there." I'm 15 years 8 months now and My pectus has gotten ten times worse. I believe I'm in the middle of mild and severe which, on a haller index, would be around 5-6. I had an MRI last week and have yet to learn what my Haller index is.
The absolute worst part about having Pectus Excavatum would be what it does to you psychologically. I had a very low self esteem in middle school and am just building it up. I live in a city where literally everyone has a swimming pool. In the summer there is no shortage of pool parties either. Oh and locker rooms in middle school were very fun as well. Even hugging girls recently is terrible because my ribs flare and are highly noticible, also if a girl was to be short her head would no doubt feel the indent (I'm 6ft. 2"). I'll admit I've cried many times from it in the past. Kids are mean. The worst I've been called actually happened 2 weeks ago. Over text this kid called me a Chest Vagina. That was a new one to me. I'm still fuming over it too.
This summer I am having the Nuss procedure by Dr. Jaroszewski in Phoenix, Arizona. I will most likely have 2 bars put in me and that will instantly correct it. The bars will stay in for 3 years so there is no regression and I will get to live my life dent free.
Most of this was very brief, if you would like to know more about the condition please visit the forums or click on some of the links. Thanks for reading!
http://www.pectusinfo.com/board/
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/pectus_excavatum/hic_pectus_excavatum.aspx
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