Question:
Does anyone have a knot or swelling in the sternum area?

It has been there since surgery. It almost feels like the sternum was broken and has alot of cartilage buildup. If I run my fingers across it, it feels like a deformity. I have'nt been able to wear a bra since surgery as it aggrevates and makes the area itch. I'm 5 1/2 mos. post-op. When I said something about it to my Dr's nurse, she said that it was my pouch. Has anyone else experienced this? Or does anyone know what it could be?    — dianaboatman (posted on September 14, 2005)

September 14, 2005
Is it squishy, like tissue? Or hard, rather like a golf ball? If hard, I might venture a guess that it is your xyphoid process. A bone, in other words. Some ppl do have very large ones and have some of it surgically shaved down, but for most of us, it's just a huge surprise one day. I know one girl in our support group was convinced it was a tumor. She had been frantic about it for months before she mentioned it and everyone whipped up their shirts to point to theirs! Of course, you need a medical opinion, but it's just a passing thought.
   — vitalady

September 14, 2005
Not sure, maybe a hernia? Have your doc check it out:)
   — PhyllisM

September 15, 2005
I have the exact same thing. Mine is not so bothersome that I cannot wear a bra, but there definately is a hard lump on my sternum. I did show it to my surgeon, wondering if maybe the sternum got moved around during surgery causing it, but he brushed that part of it off. His answer was that the sternum and tailbone have cartilage which can sometimes grow in odd shapes.
   — saltybichon

September 15, 2005
Hi ,Im brigitte ,jareds wendts wife,and yes he tooo has his sternum sticking iut,i thought it was weird,but another thing happened .jared has developed a stomach hernia from this rn-y surg,has anyone else gotten a hernia in the stomach,im a bit more then concerned,u see im du to have scolictic surg on my back myself/its gonna be very hard and im scared to death,guys i need a little supporrt here,im scared about about my spine surg with all the resicts,and jared needing to have his stomach hernia repaired,u see i have absolutly no one to care for me now,im disabled an been caring/watching jared,but im so miss muss in my head becouse becouse of my up and coming surg,where it was mentioned i may come out paralized,but without the surg my pulmanary systom is at risk an 1 rib cage bigger then other and a huge hump on my hump,an poor jared with his hernia needing attention and we have no one to turn too for help;free it would have to be 'were so broke now with all the bils ect,,,,im not sure if im making any sence ,but venting my fear and concern were both in need of srg an no one to to help us,im so scared ........i just needed to post to get this off my chest 'i have no female freinds at alll,as for jared hes got work an his freinds an other things an freinds of his own,but im alone at home /its hard being a p.o wife disabled an cant do a darn thing ,im worried about his hernia,that sternum stikking out,anyone please words of advice/experience/what to do,i dont mean to be selfish,but my spine surg weighs heavy on me an feel im going to lose my mind,ive been full suppottfor jared,but now i need care and supportt and dont know where to look,im so scared im losing it,also a question to anyone who can answer' the whey priien by gnac[found a better one with 50 grams of protien in 2 scoops,i have a question which was asked by a person ,and i could not reply in all honesty'on label it says not to be used to lose weight,well this women is over wieght by 50lbs and was wondering if she could take the shake of 50 grams of protien and live on that till she looses all the weifght she ants,CAN SHE DO THAT? I cant answer that as IM 5ft 8inches and weigh 115lbs,i take the protien becouse im atrophy and feeding my muscles ,thats ok isnt it?i know i must be jumping ,rambling making spelling errors ect...but im a wreck,what do i tell her ?is it safe for her to live for 3 weeks or 2 weeks on only liq protien as most of you did in beginning of ur bariat....surg did,can a normal person with 50 lbs to lose live only on the protien shake?its total cal is 200/protiein is 50 and filled with itamins/minerals ect.....and remember im concerned about his stmach hernia,and my spinel surg,and to distrac me trying to help this women on her question on only living on prtien?jareds not yet on any carbs at all,no breads no pasts ,is this normal,or are all drs diff.please anyone ,answr al or comment on any part pf my post/im realy depressed,an really no good to jared as im i said consumed by spinel and have no supportt whe it comsto my surg,knowing jared needs his hernia reipared,i need some supporrt to be strong for jared as in scared out of my skin' please i beg anyone to give me words of anything.my private adddy is [email protected] please anyone imin such pain im cryin ani should be supportrting jared but have my own demon and havibg such a hardntime dowes this make me a bad person sincerly in need of any one/empathy/undestamding/advice/wisdom anything please im dspersdta ,i feel im fakking aprt as im filled with fear ... brigitte wendt supporrtng jared weirgtm whos 30lbs from gfoal /start surg was april 18/ now sept 15 after being unweighable at 400 plus he's down to 220 lobs with 20 lbs to go since aoril/may/june/july/aug/ and now in thi short time hes lost allthis wieght,what about 4 momths or so dropped from 400+to now 220lbs.please anyne i have so much on mind .and i want to be cheery but my scolioses pain is driving me insane.
   — brigitte W.

September 15, 2005
To Brigitte.......... IN answer to the protein question. You still would not want to take 50g of protein at one time. Waste of money. These proteins were originally developed for normies, so they are safe for them in general, unless they have some medical condition (unknown to you 'n me). One of my employees lost 42 lbs just by using 120g protein/day (4 drinks of 30g each) and eating 3 sensible meals per day. He elminated milk & sugar (largely) and that's about all the changes he made. On the other subject, just HAVING a hernia doesn't make it an immediate problem. If it is painful or trapped, then it is emergent. Perhaps the surgeon can tell you if you can wait on it and get your surgery done, recover and then do his?
   — vitalady