Every so often I receive an email that really makes me remember my heart valve surgery experience, especially the recovery.

Some of those memories are joyful. And, some of those are…. well… not so joyful.

This blog is in response to an email that reads, “How sore are your chest muscles after heart surgery?”

Hmmmmm. To answer that question, I have to let you know that there are many different types of heart surgery - some procedures require the sternum to be split and some heart surgeries are [1] noninvasive that do not require “chest cracking”.

My aortic and pulmonary valve replacements surgery (the Ross Procedure) required my chest bone to be broken to give the surgeon better access to my heart.

That said, I will respond to the question about chest muscles after surgery from my own personal perspective.

Make sense?

Okay. Here goes.

“Owwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Yep. That about sums it up! I could go on and on but I won’t.

So you know, I have interviewed over 100 patients about their chest muscles after heart surgery and they all basically say the same thing…

“It hurts! But, sore chest muscles after heart surgery is a small pain for a long-term gain!”

I hope this isn’t too honest. I just want to give you the patient’s perspective on the realities of heart valve surgery.

I write alot about the recovery, chest pain and healing in my book. If you’re interested you may want to read it.

Keep on tickin,

Adam

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