put back together

[Ashley]

Hmmm..just occured to me. They must split your breast bone for the OHS, so how do they put that back together? Do they wire you up? If yes, how do they get the wires back out? Totally just curious :D

[Lynlw]

yes they wire you shut and they don't take them out, you can see them in the xrays, Lyn

[Ross]

Some say they can hang magnets on their chests. I haven't been able to myself, but the wires are certainly there.

[Ashley]

Thanks for the replies! I figured they would have to do something, can't very well put you in a cast or anything. The wires will stay there for life -- that is amazing!

[ultimategirl63]

Wow I never gave that a thought I guess you learn something new everyday...LOL:D

[Cris N]

And it's pretty heavy duty stuff too!
Hmmm, will have to do some experiments with magnets - like maybe the ones from old hard drives - they really strong!

Cris

[aussigal]

I hope they file those pointy ends off or bury 'em somehow...

[Mike301]

They wire the sternum back together with stainless steel wire, probably very high grade, which is not magnetic, so forget about sticking magnets to your chest at the next party!

[Kathy Canistro]

Hi Ashley,

They use wire to put our ribs back together, X-rays are neat and my doctor told me that some people even have them removed, not something I would ever think about because I can't even tell it is there.

Kathy

[Mary]

Some say they can hang magnets on their chests. I haven't been able to myself, but the wires are certainly there.

I'm going to try hanging magnets off my chest. If it works, I'll post a picture.
Just call me "Myth buster"!;) ;)

[joanne6]

I can't try the magnet trick because I don't have any wire. Didn't have my sternum broken. I know that they use wire and that it stays in forever and does not usually cause a problem.

[mmarshall]

i've heard about the magnet trick but i have not tried it yet. but i do not set the metal detectors off at the airport so i assume they are too thin and small. i should have taken a picture of my x-rays after surgery, but i did not think about it. it was pretty cool to see 8 little wire rings going down my chest but that's just me...i'm a little off i guess...lol but yea ash, they do not take them out unless you rush back into things post-op and you pop one of them out of place...or in some rare cases...your body has a bad reaction to them. that's one reason why they recommend that you take in slow in recovery...don't go above the weight lifting limit...if the wires pop out of place and need to be adjusted or taken out...there is only one way to do that...and being split back open may not be too fun. :D

[Jkm7]

I specifically asked my cardio if I would be able to have an MRI in the future if it was called for. I thought because of the wires, it would not be possible but he told me yes...though our sternums are wired back together, we can have MRI so that would say that magnets won't stick to our chests.


(MRI is magnetic resonance imaging, isn't it? If magnets would stick, we would be be able to put into one of those machines.)

[kingpeta]

As someone else above said, any wires they use should be stainless steel, aluminum or other non-magnetic alloy. If a magnet sticks to it, it must contain iron. Iron oxidizes (RUSTS!) and there's plenty of water and oxygen inside your body to do it. I don't think you or the surgeons would want to worry about your chest rusting out from the inside! :p

[Cris N]

So sorry to hear about the wire composition... guess it makes sense about the rust issue - but isn't that just if it's exposed to air? Oh, well, I'll have to think of some other 'parlor trick' to amuse the folks! :D

Cris

[tobagotwo]

Well, stainless steel certainly contains iron, along with nickel and carbon, but it's not magnetic.

It can corrode, but I supposed the body covers the wire with a protective layer of fat or similar, as it does with most foreign bodies.

Best wishes,

[hensylee]

one of our members (either Perry or Ben?) could get the magnet trick done.

My dr's nurse told me the wires are like those bread twist ties.

Occasionally we have had a member who had one that broke and it had to come out. Another member or two (very thin folks) had them removed by choice. (ILoveNY did, I think). It isn't a big deal to have one removed, from what they said. The rest of us are just walking around with odd things in our chests. The chest cracking is what takes so LONG to heal and is why we can't drive, lift more than 5 lbs, etc. at first.

[Mary]

Well, I tried it last night.
I put a magnetic letter A (courtesy of Haley) on my chest, but it didn't stick.:(

[Jkm7]

Mary.....:) I tried it also. Didn't stick to me, either.

[PJmomrunner]

I thought the people who had used the magnets on their chests had stuck them to the pacer wires...?

[BDMc]

when I first touched the top of my sternum after surgery, I got the willys feeling the wires in there. After all these years there is only one tiny bump I can feel. I'm guessing the bones and cartilage grow right over them... Brian

[WesternNYer]

My chest set off the metal detectors at one of the government offices in Buffalo,NY...talk about sensitive equiptment.The guard wanded me...and settled on my chest. I told him I was recently wired shut and showed him my scar....he laughed and waved me through...