Pectus From Open Heart Surgery at 3
Hey PE community. I am 44 a former D1 college athlete.
My Haller Index is 3.52 — But surgery was never a real option for me due to risk from my open heart surgery injuries.
I was born with Holt-Oram Syndrome and had open heart surgery at age 3 — median sternotomy, ASD closure, pulmonary valve repair. I still have sternal wires in my chest from that surgery. Three pacemakers. A cardiac ablation. My pectus developed as a direct result of that 1985 operation, and going back in was deemed too dangerous given everything already in there.
My pulmonary function tests show FVC at 82% predicted — I’m working with roughly 70% of normal lung capacity. The restriction is real and measurable.
So no Nuss. No Ravitch. Just learning to perform in this chest.
What I did instead was find the edges of what this body could actually do. I played Division 1 baseball as a catcher. Ran over 40 6-minute miles, Competed in bodybuilding at 42 years old. I practice Wim Hof breathwork daily and have nearly 1,000 sessions logged.
I made a video about all of it and I’m hoping it gives you all hope as well. It took me over 25 years to take my shirt off but now I’m proud to and hope this message and video gives you hope as well.
Ken