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Crosslin\u2019s parents, Marty and Angie, didn\u2019t feel at peace about their son undergoing the surgery at 13. What if surgeons removed the bar when he was 16, and it was too soon? After all, he had grown five inches in just one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angie said, \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to do. We felt very conflicted. We prayed about it. Turns out, there was a boy at my mother-in-law\u2019s church who had just had the second surgery. Even though they were strangers to us, they came over that Sunday night after church. My instincts were telling me Zach was too young for the surgery. They encouraged us to seek a second opinion with their son\u2019s orthopedic surgeon at the Children\u2019s Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter an hour-long consultation, Dr. Lisa Smith agreed that we needed to wait. She used to have the mentality that between the ages of 10 and 13 was the best time for surgery, until she reconnected with a former patient whose chest wall caved in again because he kept growing after his bar was removed. I was relieved when she said, \u2018We will watch his growth and make the decision together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zach said, \u201cDr. Smith expressed that we needed to wait to have the initial surgery until the \u2018sweet spot\u2019 in my growth. I had annual appointments, pulmonary function tests, EKGs, CT scans, and an echocardiogram from the age of 13 to 17.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the surgery on June 14, 2022, his parents ordered him an adjustable bed with a remote-controlled base that allowed him to lift his upper body. During this time, Zach also prepared physically. He said, \u201cSports helped me prepare for surgery. Having my body in shape helped with my recovery. Not only was I active in sports, but I also did prehab with a physical therapist three times a week for six weeks to get my upper body ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The surgery lasted several hours. Zach said, \u201cI couldn\u2019t bend at the waist or raise my arms for six weeks. My parents had to help with my daily needs. I was unable to twist my upper body for six months. I did rehab twice a week until I was cleared to return to sports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though his friends, family, and church family from Fairlane Church of Christ did their best to keep Zach\u2019s spirits up, the first six weeks were a struggle. \u201cHonestly, depression set in because I had to rely on my parents to do everything. It was difficult, especially since I was so active prior to surgery. I already had deep faith in God, and I knew He was with me throughout the whole journey. The main thing I learned about myself during this time is the importance of patience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The very night Dr. Smith removed his post-surgery limitations, Zach joined his teammates on the basketball court. He graduated from Cascade High School in 2024 and, because Chattanooga holds a special place in his heart, enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). He will graduate in December 2027 with a degree in business management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a surgeon, there are patients you don\u2019t forget, and Zach Crosslin is one of them,\u201d said Dr. Lisa Smith. \u201cHe and his family have been a pleasure to know, and it has been my privilege to watch him progress from a young man limited by his chest wall deformity to a confident, healthy young man. I am honored that they entrusted me with his care. From our first meeting, he approached every step of treatment with maturity, determination, and grace. Seeing him now \u2014 healthy, confident, and thriving after correction of his pectus excavatum \u2014 is exactly why we do this work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May 2025, Zach underwent the secondary surgery, and Dr. Smith permanently removed his Nuss bar, which he keeps as a reminder of just how far he\u2019s come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now a junior at UTC, Zach is excited about being a Cru leader (formally Campus Crusade for Christ). He works for Goggin Warehousing and splits his time between their Chattanooga and Shelbyville locations. He said, \u201cPut your faith in God because He is always going to provide for you, and if you put yourself around people who love and care about you, everything will work out in the end.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You take between 12 and 20 breaths every minute. Over the next 24 hours, you will inhale and exhale approximately 17,000 to 28,000 times. Unless we are winded from overexertion, controlling our breathing during calming exercises, or intentionally calculating our breaths for diagnostic testing or to strengthen our pulmonary function, most of us don\u2019t usually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[75,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shelbyville","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Photo-submitted-by-Angie-Crosslin-2-1024x683.jpg\")
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