Pectus Excavatum

Disease! It affects everyone in the world. Recently in my class called Disease, we learned about the body systems and their functions. In class we have been studying different diseases. We research how it spreads, who is more likely to get it, and their symptoms. Our assignment was to research a disease and compare it to someone’s real life experience, and research it. I picked a rare disease called Pectus Excavatum. I interviewed someone with this disease and learned all about their personal experience. This is an infographic about the disease. At the bottom of the infographic is the interview explaining what Pectus Excavatum is. 

Pectus Excavatum is a deformity in your chest that you must be born with. There are small and severe cases of pectus excavatum. In some circumstances, it can affect your physical health and mental health. I recently interviewed Laura, who is someone who had been diagnosed with a severe case of Pectus Excavatum. For privacy reasons they will be called Laura. I asked Laura how this affects her life. "It affected my mental health, and I was insecure of how I looked.” -Laura. Laura was very insecure about how she looked growing up. She hated looking at herself to see her body wasn’t in the slightest symmetrical. Before her surgery, she had a lot of different feelings about her disease, Laura expresses her feelings about when it bothers her. “It mostly bothered me when I was a kid. It doesn't bother me as much now, especially since my surgery.” -Laura. Laura was born with Pectus Excavatum and has suffered from it. Laura’s parents and doctor were always aware of her disease. Laura first went to the doctor complaining about symptoms when she began experiencing severe symptoms. Her symptoms included Chest pain, shortness of breath upon exertion, and back pain. The main thing the doctor looks for is a physical examination. The doctors explained that the only treatment is surgery. There was no medication she could take to cure this, nor any exercise, only surgery. “It was a little scary just thinking about having a surgery because I never had one before. I didn't know what it was like. I also didn't know if it would fix my problem, which was the way it looked, not the way it affected my body. My family was more concerned with how the disease affected my body than how my body would look. "Laura got the surgery in 2020 which was very effective.  “The surgery included taking a metal bar in the shape of a U and pushing the cave in back out so my chest could be much flatter.” -Laura. The bar helps her body learn to keep her sternum in place. It took Laura a while to get used to the pain of the bar and how uncomfortable it is in her body. She used to be very frustrated about it. After the surgery she thought she would feel much better, but she feels a lot worse. She hopes that they can remove her bar as soon as possible. “Post-surgery my chest looks much better than it did before, and I am less insecure about it. Unlike other patients in the hospital, I recovered fairly quickly.”- Laura 2022. Laura is doing her best to be optimistic and is excited for her bar to be removed. She is eager to be done with this painful disease. “Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer for me to remove my bar because I do believe that I will fully heal and be completely done with this disease once this bar is removed.” -Laura.

In conclusion This is a really harmful disease. I loved learning about Pectus Excavatum and how it affects someone's life. My personal favorite part was learning about the symptoms because I can get a better understanding of Luara's life.