When/How did you know your sternum had healed?

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

malibu82

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Messages
478
Location
Libertyville Illinois
Hey everyone. I had my surgery 7 weeks ago now. I am eager to get back into the swing of things and have been gauging my capabilities of lifting based on whether or not I feel pain. So I was just curious, when did you know that your sternum had healed? How did you know? I wish they would give an x-ray to see if it was fused back together or not. But of course that would be ridiculous. So please just let me know what you all went through!

My mind is finally clear and free, I am no longer dizzy or lightheaded or tired. The only thing hindering getting my normal life back is this sternum!

Thanks :)

Jackie
 
I'm at 9 weeks and am still going on what my doctor STRESSED over and over right before my surgery. He said, Andy, I know you and you're going to get antsy after about 6 or 8 weeks and start wanting to lift too much. Do NOT do it until 12 weeks. That's when the sternum will be fully healed. I'm trying to listen to him, and think I'm doing good. No clicking, very minimal pain, if any. But I am getting antsy... Started lifting weights couple wks ago, and have been building up slowly with no issues. I feel like it's probably almost fully healed, if not fully healed. But I'm gonna wait the full 12 before I get too crazy - just 'cause my doc said so ;)
 
I was told it takes 3 months for the sternum to heal. I have lifting restrictions of 20-25 pounds max until I am 3 months post surgery. I started doing the arm bicycle yesterday with mild soreness. I am 7 weeks post-op now.

Debbie
 
Dang.....here i am clicking and popping when i am in bed and trying to roll over or lift my head to adjust my pillow...Although they say all looks good on xray. I still have a lot of pain in my chest,even doing things like pulling open a heavy door.I even feel discomfort in my chest when riding in a car and feeling the bumps in the road. I don't do anything that involves lifting or raising my arms up over shoulder height. Regarding the pacemaker, they tell me it takes 3 months for the leads to scar into place so that they cant pull out when using arms. I am glad Jackie asked the question tho because I was curious about the same thing. Andy, when did you first notice a significant drop in chest area pain levels? I am 4 weeks post op now and feel better than the first week but its a very slow improvement from this level it seems. Yesterday I had a 3 hour Cardiologist visit. I saw the doc who answered a lot of questions for me. Then i met the nurse who will take over my coumadin management. Next I had my pacemaker interrogated and adjusted by a very thorough and knowledgeable tech. Finally i went on a treadmill to establish some baselines to use in beginning Cardiac rehab which I will start in 2 weeks. Was quite an afternoon for my $25 co pay LOL....I, and i am sure Jackie would love to hear more of other people experiences in regards to when their chest pain subsided......thanks all you great people..........Warm heart hugs.....Michael
 
I am almost 13 weeks and still swollen at top of Sternum and clicking like mad when I reach.
I can lift heavier objects (25 lbs or so) without pain though and have been cleared for the Elliptical and swimming for Rehab.
I get sore when I do things that use chest muscles but figure that is from lack of use for 13 weeks.
 
Mike, these last couple of weeks (weeks 8 and 9) have made a huge difference for me. I know everyone's different, so no guarantees, or you may do even better, but if I remember right, the significant improvement probably started about week 6 (?) for me, and has accelerated here in the last couple of weeks. I really feel like my sternum has almost (if not fully) healed now. I'm even benchpressing with 25 lb dumbbells which is probably the most stress I've put on my sternum to date (cardio rehab cleared me to do that after proving I could do it with lighter weights). I never dreamed that would be possible at this point, but it causes zero pain in my sternum (amazingly!). I'm still going to wait 'till at least week 12 before getting much more crazy, just to be safe, but it feels great to me right now (week 9). PS - make sure to mention the clicking to them if you haven't already. Oh, and wasn't it you who had staples and kryptonite glue like Gil? It'd be interesting to see how Gil's doing in this regard - might be a more direct comparison for ya, and I think he's a week or two ahead of you so might be able to tell you what to expect?
 
thanks Andy.....hopefully Gil will see this and comment........i did mention the clicking but after examining me and palpating my chest ...the doctor said all looked and felt ok...and it had looked ok on the Xrays. Hope all is well with you and glad you are doing so well......those women in Minnesota better beware......Andy is armed ...dangerous and on the prowl ;-) ....take care buddy....mike
 
Believe it or not about 8 months to one year, for me. I always knew I was a slow healer, but not THAT slow.
 
First my Surgeon and then the Physiologists who ran my Cardiac Rehab program said that the sternum should heal by 12 weeks but that it may not loose sensitivity for 12-18 months. In Rehab, the nurses discouraged upper body exercise until 12 weeks. Obviously, they are using what they have found to be a well tested formula which is probably a good guideline for most of us.

My friend, Buck, who felt certain he did not need Cardiac Rehab after by-pass surgery, returned to his job as a truck mechanic shortly after surgery and relied on narcotics to mask the pain. That was ten years ago. Today, the two halves of his sternum are completely separate. When he sleeps on his side, the left side of his sternum actually over-rides the right side and he must push it back in place before he gets out of bed. He demonstrated this one day when he had me lay my hand across his sternum as he twisted from side to side; it clicked as one half moved against the other and I could feel the free motion.

Larry
 
I like Andy am at 9 weeks and no pains but a little discomfort when I lean down feels like I'm shifting and then when I straighten up feel like I have to adjust myself. Told the Surgeon at 6 weeks he did an xray and all looked excellant. Cardio last week commented I am still very bumpy and can take months to heal .
Need to take it easy we all heal at differently .
Heal well.
 
heartman77 said:
Dang.....here i am clicking and popping when i am in bed and trying to roll over or lift my head to adjust my pillow...Although they say all looks good on xray. I still have a lot of pain in my chest,even doing things like pulling open a heavy door.I even feel discomfort in my chest when riding in a car and feeling the bumps in the road. I don't do anything that involves lifting or raising my arms up over shoulder height. Regarding the pacemaker, they tell me it takes 3 months for the leads to scar into place so that they cant pull out when using arms. I am glad Jackie asked the question tho because I was curious about the same thing. Andy, when did you first notice a significant drop in chest area pain levels? I am 4 weeks post op now and feel better than the first week but its a very slow improvement from this level it seems. Yesterday I had a 3 hour Cardiologist visit. I saw the doc who answered a lot of questions for me. Then i met the nurse who will take over my coumadin management. Next I had my pacemaker interrogated and adjusted by a very thorough and knowledgeable tech. Finally i went on a treadmill to establish some baselines to use in beginning Cardiac rehab which I will start in 2 weeks. Was quite an afternoon for my $25 co pay LOL....I, and i am sure Jackie would love to hear more of other people experiences in regards to when their chest pain subsided......thanks all you great people..........Warm heart hugs.....Michael
Click to expand...

I don't know if it matters, but I noticed you said you still get pain from pulling open heavy doors. Justin had had alot of surgeries/knew the routine after his last surgery, so one of the things they told him, incase he forgot, was not to pull open heavy doors for at least a few weeks. They probably remeberred to mentioned it often, since his hospital room door was quite heavy, and he wasn't supposed to open it himself. the good part about that was by the time he went home, he was used to having to wait for me or someone else open the door.
 
Last edited:
I am getting used to my wife opening the doors for me also.....was hard tho to not instinctively reach for the door to open for others. Cant wait to see if i am as pain free as others at 9 weeks.....I am sure hoping so...:) Michael
 
I can't stress to each and every one of you not to push it................... minimize everything you do.......while I lost my sternum to numerous infections, I was told that the wires could rip the sternum apart....I would also suggest drinking milk (we often forget its benefits) and supplement you calcium intake.

Having no sternum is no fun take care of it, you constantly live your life in fear of being hit or falling as that would be fatal !! I am trying to live as normal an existance as I can but the fact is life will never be normal again and when my time does come it will probably be so bizzare it will be told like an urban legend.....oh well at least I'll be a legend LOL.

have a great day

Greg

p.s. on the plus side I have a strict "no sternum = no sternal restrictions" clause in my contract
 
Last edited:
Sternum?

Sternum?

At seven weeks, you should be mending nicely. It didn't take mine twelve weeks, but everyone heals at a different rate. You're probably the best judge because it's your sternum... how does it feel? It may sound kinda stupid, but you'll know when it's healed.

-Philip
 
thanks everyone so much for all of your feedback/comments. i really appreciate it :)

greg a. i can't imagine losing my sternum. thanks for sharing your story!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top