Sternum healing after surgery/ how long the pain lasts

It has been 4 months since my surgery and I still have occasional sternum pain. Nothing debilitating, just an annoying. If I roll on to my side while I am sleeping I will have some pain in the morning. Also if I do any activity that requires a lot of reaching with my arms I will have some pain. My cardiologist said it could take 6 months or more for the sternum to fully heal.

Maybe I'm an exception. I had bypass surgery last year and never had any pain whatsoever. No meds either. I'm 85 and the slight scar is the only reminder of the surgery. Hardly ever used the 'hug-a-pillow' except for occasional coughs. Running again - life is good. Note: Somehow my repaired sternum resulted in two pieces, with a sharp depression separating the two . .

Thanks, good to know and my situation is similar to what you described

Good to know and happy that to note that you did not experience any pain.

Did anyone have trouble breathing while in the ICU or have an afib episode from excessive coughing?

Not for me. Breathing was normal and coughing was not excessive and was there for few days as it was getting flushed out. Followed the usual routine of hug pillow to caugh.

I was 50 when I had a rupture and dissection and open heart surgery… I would say at 8 weeks hopefully you are nearing the end of the really tough part. Hopefully from here on out you are downhill. Open heart is no joke, that’s for sure…

I forgot to mention that I slept on a recliner for about 5 weeks. From semi reclined to sitting position from which I could 'rock' forward to get on my feet and visit the bathroom several times a night without disturbing my wife in an adjacent bedroom. Also of note that my surgery was triggered after catherization results indicating 90% blockage of two arteries. The only symptoms I experienced was 'heavyness' in my chest while walking and a heartrate of 130 vs usual 100-105. After echo and stress tests the cardio doc says "You can have a heart attack any second". A good incentive to head to the cath lab . . Now eleven month later I'm jogging at a 15 min pace with a heart rate below 140. A good outcome considing my surgery was on Friday the 13th.

Good to know, thank you

So my sternum, which is actively healing from elective AA surgery 2 weeks in, has not felt pain which I define as pain. Would point out that "pain" is a subjective thing that will differ per person and I have been told my threshold might be abnormal but I will share what I have experienced so far.

1) not problems lying on my back after the first few days.
2) The chest feels like heaviness constantly for me that did not exist before. If you ever seen the short "Jack Jack Attacks" from Pixar movie Incredibles, I have 3 stages:

Stage one: Heavy Jack Jack just sitting on my upper chest with feeling my heart beating some times.
Stage two: Heavy Jack Jack then bursts into flames. This is usually a trigger pain management is needed
Stage three: Jack Jack, while on fire, turns into metal on the chest. This is going to take at least 30 mintues to get under control with pain management.

Stage three has mostly stopped before leaving the hospital but a few sneezes has me questioning from time to time.

3) Feel discomfort when I sometimes roll out of bed. I use the elbow technique but there is just this moment reaching the top that feels weird.

I mostly live in Stage 1 these days and only 2 weeks out but also only walking and doing the basics. As my ability grows I will update how it feels.