Cooper

Cooper is the third child in his family to have surgery with Dr. Abdullah. His older brother has already had his bar placed and removed, and his sister is two years into hers. Cooper went into his own minimally invasive Nuss procedure with cryoablation unworried, and said afterward that he never even noticed falling asleep. Medication started as soon as he woke up, he was resting comfortably within a couple of hours, and he was up and walking on the first day.

He went home after only two nights, with his pain sitting at a one or two from the morning after surgery onward. By two weeks he was down to Motrin alone, having come off the stronger medications along the way. At five weeks he was completely off pain medication and his chest exam was tracking exactly as expected. By four months he was back to cross country with the soreness gone, and as he put it, “It doesn’t hurt when I breathe in. I can get more air now.”