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Originally Posted by winged_dreams
My brother's chestbone extends out further then it should (sort of looks like guy in the second set of pictures). Apparently they have to break the bone (nasty...) to fix it. I think everyone wanted to wait til he was older before having it done. And the first picture looks like it would be so scary to have. I'd be worried about my internal organs.
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Internal organs can be affected. The heart and lungs often don't have enough room. Before my surgery, I would get short of breath easily. I also had sharp pains in my chest once in a while. All that went away after surgery.
They do have to break or saw the bone in many cases - depends on the type of repair and the age of the patient, I think. In my case, they sawed my sternum, did bone grafts, and removed pieces of my ribs. I woke up in the recovery room with a sign attached to my gown: DO NOT PRESS ON CHEST. I could look down at my chest and see my heart beating... that was freaky.
The worst part was having to sleep on my back for many months. Finally everything grew back and healed, and I was able to roll over on my side.
I knew it would hurt like hell if I sneezed, so I learned that you can indeed stifle sneezes. It was a year before I let myself sneeze.