My name is Michelle, my son Mikey had Pectus Excavatum surgery in September. We are from upstate New York, which is about 3 hours from Dr. LoSasso’s office.

I looked for months for a surgeon in our home state, but then I stumbled upon Pediatric Surgical online. The more I researched Dr. LoSasso, the more confident I became in knowing he was the right choice. Not only because of his impressive credentials, 20+ years experience, the fact that he was trained by Dr. Nuss himself…but the patient testimonials spoke volumes to us.

I highly recommend watching all the videos, especially the Patient Round Table. I would also recommend that you get all the testing in NJ, that way you won’t need to repeat testing as they know exactly what Dr. LoSasso is looking for.

Finally, we would have traveled across the county for Dr. LoSasso!

At 12 years old Will’s pediatrician recommended we see a surgeon about his Pectus. I didn’t even know what it was so we went to the doctor at CCMC in Connecticut. Surgery was necessary but we were told we had a few years before we needed to have it done. We had a follow up at 13 and our pediatrician recommended we get a second opinion at Shriners in Springfield because I wasn’t feeling we were in the right spot at CCMC. The Shriners doctor was trying to tell us it was an optional surgery when I knew it was more severe then that. During this time I was researching online and Facebook and Dr. LoSasso’s name was mentioned. I went to his site and was impressed with his background and his website was very informative. I made a virtual appointment with Allison. She went through the entire process including what tests we needed to do prior to surgery and answered all my questions. I messaged someone named Joseph Anthony who I had see as an active member of the Pectus community on FB and asked his opinion of surgeons and he was clear with me where my son would have the best results. I made an appointment shortly after for his first appointment in NJ with Dr. LoSasso. As soon as we left that appointment I knew who need to do the surgery. He was very easy to talk to and answered every question we had. I wanted someone with experience. It was a bar going over my sons heart I needed the best. Dr. LoSasso is a perfectionist and he was the surgeon for us. Our trip is 2 hours away, but I would have traveled farther to have him. It has been very smooth through the whole process. They guided us every step of the way.

– Lisa F.

The journey to pectus surgery for our son was long and challenging. We had never even heard of pectus excavatum. As our son got older, his condition became more pronounced and it started to impact his ability to exercise. His pediatrician and other doctors we consulted said it was only a cosmetic problem. We looked into special weight-lifting programs, the vacuum bell and bracing. However, it became clear to us that the only way to significantly correct Pectus was to consider surgery. Dr. Losasso was recommended by another pectus expert that we had visited a few years earlier. We were happy to discover that Dr. Losasso’s new location was only a two hour drive from our home in upstate New York.

As considering surgery is an extremely important decision, we wanted to provide our son with information regarding the pros and cons of surgery, so that he could make the decision as to whether he wanted to consider it. Fortunately, the information and support provided by Dr. Losasso’s office and staff, and the various tests the office required, allowed us to clearly assess his condition, including whether he was a candidate for surgery, and this also made it easier for our son to make an informed decision.

Although we traveled to NJ for the initial consultation and follow-up after all the testing, we were able to have some appointments over the phone. We arranged most of the testing near our home. Dr Losasso’s staff provided excellent guidance on who to see, when to see them and assistance with insurance requirements. They also give us an extensive list of nearby hotels so we could make reservations well in advance of the surgery.

Even with Covid Restrictions Dr Losasso’s staff made sure our son was in the pediatric ward and one of us could stay overnight at the hospital until his release. Everyone was helpful, considerate and caring. Probably the hardest part of the travel situation was the day after the hospital release. We stayed in the nearby hotel so we could have a post op visit with Allison prior to driving back to NY. The first few weeks of recovery were difficult but so worth it. The result of the surgery is amazing. We are thankful for the care our son received from Dr. Losasso, Allison and all the staff.

Sincerely, Robert & Bonnie

My Son had the Nuss Procedure done with Dr. Barry Losasso two days ago. I have been in this group for a long time now, and have read many stories that people were kind enough to share and I wanted to pay you all back by sharing our experience so far.

We first noticed the dent in his chest on the day he was born. It was ver slight, but obvious. Our Pediatrician told us about Pectus at that point, and advised us to monitor it. It started to worsen toward the end of 2019, when he was half way through his 12th year. We were extremely nervous to put our son through this procedure, but knew that it was inevitable, and also knew that it was best to do this between the ages of 14-16. The first Surgeon we met with seemed competant and was very nice. He sent us for a CT Scan. This revealed that our Son had a Haller Index ox 2.6, which was not a high enough number for Insurance to cover it (they typically look for an HI of 3.2 +), so he told us to let him know if his dent deepened over time. We then met with a second surgeon toward the end of 2020, and she sent him for an xRay in 2/21, which revealed that the Haller Index had drastically increased to a 5.0 and had also become asymmetrical.

It was at this point that we started to plan for surgery. The first surgeon we met with had done a combined 120 Nuss Procedures, with his partner, over the course of thwir careers. The second surgeon had only done less than 100. Neither of these seemed to be a high enough number for me, so we kept looking. We finally found Dr. Barry Lossasso, and we were comforted to hear that he has performed 1,200+ Nuss Procedures, and that he actually trained under Dr. Nuss himself! We scheduled a free consult with his PA (Allison Sy Tan), and we instantly knew we were on the right track. Dr Lossasso was out of network for our insurance company, but the hospiatl and anesthesiologist were in network. This would obviously cost us more money, but based on the seriousness of this surgery, we were happy to take out a loan to cover this cost!

Dr L and his team advised us to set up appointments for/with Cardiologist, Pulmonologist, Stess Test, Metal Allergy test (done by Dermatologist), Opthomologist and an MRI. We were able to book all of these pretty quickly, and Dr L, also provided specific instructions for each of these speciallists, that they were all happy to follow. The MRI revealed that our Son’s HI had increased to a 6.7, in June of ‘21. We met with Sr L and scheduled surgery for 8/10.

Our Insurance company actually denied the surgery pretty last minute, and we had to go through a few levels of appeal. We were ultimately able to get approval, but I had to spend a lot of time fighting with the insurance company. Involving the Senior management of my Company’s HR team was ultimately what helped us to get approval. We had to move Surgery to 8/20.

We were all pretty terrified on the morning of Surgery, but none of us were showing that to each other. We asked the anesthesiologist to give my son a little valium before they took him back to the OR, because he is only 14, and would have to go to OR without us. This was extremely helpful to my Son, and we could actually see all of his fear and anxiety melt away, just before they took him. The Surgery was a huge success. Dr L had to use 2 bars, because of the severity of the defect. Also worth noting that Dr L does not typically use Chryo (sp?). I had read pretty mixed reviews on Chryo, but we ultimately had faith in Dr. L’s recommendation. Now that we are on the other side of this, I am very happy that we did not use Chryo!

Surgery lasted about 7 hours. When we finally got to see him on Fri afternoon we were just so relieved. He was in very little pain (2-3, and sometimes increasing to a 5). He was able to stand up on Sat, and today he went for a long walk. All of which is mostly with minimal pain! He is consistantly at a 2-3 pain level, with occasional spikes, but they seem to get better. They also started weening him off the heavy drugs this morning, and we are anticipating the pain level to worsen a bit, but we will have a better feel for pain as we get through the next few days.

All in all, I feel that we made all of the best decisions that we could for our Son, and although the past few months were very challenging (emotionally, logistically and financially), I belive that he is in the best possible place he could be and he is on a great track for recovery. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, I would encourage anyone that needs to have the Nuss procedure (for the first time, or to correct a surgery that did not go well with another surgeon) to reach out to Dr Lossasso and his team for a free consult. Don’t let the financial side of this scare you off. Have a conversation with him And ask all of the questions you have.Not only is he the best possible Surgeon for this procedure, but he is also very friendly and actually has an incredible bedside manner!

Thank you to Dr Lossasso, Allison Tan and the rest of his team, and thank you to all of you in this group, for sharing your stories, concerns, questions, failures and successes! You have all helped us more than you will ever know!!

(Attached is a before and after photo of our Son’s chest. Top two immages are right before surgery, bottom is after. He still has dressings on, so I will try to update down the road).

Also, my Son has decided to blog about his post surgery experience on Reddit. I’d bet his blog would be very helpful to anyone that is thinking about scheduling this procedure, as he openly shares quite a bit here!