Pectus Excavatum

My Mother asked me some questions about Jeffrey's surgery. So although I don't think he'd be happy if I shared pictures of his chest on the web I can share a link that will explain a bit about what we went through last week.
Jeffrey's case was not as severe as pictured on Wikipedia, his chest was caved in 1 1/4" . It looked like he'd been punched in the chest and it stayed punched in. He had the Nuss procedure done. He was told that the bar can come out in 2 years. The Dr. said that the repair is about the most painful procedure done surgically to kids. He was on a morphine pump for 6 days. He is still in substantial pain, especially if he coughs or laughs. He is on oral pain meds now. He cannot get up from a laying down position without his Dad's help. He can, however, get out of the recliner by himself. He will be sleeping in the recliner for awhile since we have to give him his meds every 4 hours. In a couple of days we can start going longer than 4 hours between each pill.
The nurses were impressed with Jeffrey. He was willing to do more for himself than most Pectus patients. He could do deep knee bends to get things off the floor and plug in his tower. He went on his walks without complaints. He figured out a way to get in and out of bed using the mechanics of the bed to help him. He was a great patient. The nurses were very patient and willing to let him have some choices in his care and willing to answer his many questions when they could. (The nurses do not know how all the equipment works...only an special engineer would know that.) The food was awful and he hardly ate anything.
We are both happy to be home. I did manage to finish a project of long standing (will blog about it after it is blocked-which will happen after Jeffrey quits using the family as his bedroom.) it is better to be home. Christmas did not put itself away while I was gone and I have quite a bit to still do...like all but the tree is still there.