Hi, I am a heart transplant Recipient and yes I had my rib cage wired together. I also had pain and one thing they pushed after surgery was regaining my ability to cough. Not a pleasant activity. Luckly at first there were lots of options for pain. One thing they do will Heart Patients at Mayo is give you this small pillow in the shape of a heart. Mine is below. What a great device to press into your chest when ever you needed to cough or any activity that can bring on pain. They were trying a new strap on device with me I found very handy. It was kind of a vest that you could quickly squeeze 2 handles together to apply pressure to the chest(See me wearing it below) That really helped a lot as it seemed finding my Pillow was more time consumming than have the vest right there.

The really painful time only lasted as memory serves about a week maybe 2. We left the Hospital after 2 weeks and stayed in a hotel nearby. I found if I alternated Tylenol with the pain meds I could tolerate the discomfort and by 1 month I was pretty much on Tylenol only. But honestly now 7 years later for me it didn't seem to bad for the benefit I got after the surgery. Good Luck and before you know it, youre be back fully recovered and it will be a memory also.