Certifying after surgery

Last year I had cardiac bypass surgery. My sternum never healed back together. One side of my chest goes in a different direction than the other. I have found that the FMCSA allows certification "3 months after (bypass), to allow the sternal incision to heal........" what I haven't found or gotten an answer to (I've contacted FMCSA 5 different times and even tried calling J.J.Keller), what if the sternal incision didn't heal and I still have movement on both sides? Can anyone help give me an answer or suggest a way I can get an official answer? Thanks.

 

My thoracic surgeon says I can go ahead and go back to work that I'm healed and they won't go back in and fix the sternum so that it's stable. I don't know if they know anything about Federal DOT regulations and the movement is quite disturbing and sometimes causes some momentary disabling pain. There's a 1/2" gap from one side of the sternum to the other. In the right circumstances, I can feel my heart beat through the sternum. (I'm sorry if it sounds a little disgusting. )

Thanks for an answer. What do you think?

 

Thanks. I probably can pass but that's a good suggestion. I'll do that.

One of my concerns is when I sneeze......., if I don't hug my arms in front of me, there's kinda like a ripping down that area between the sternum halves. It's like I'm just waiting for my chest to fly open.

 

Yeah, that's why I'm so concerned and don't want to take the risk. 90 days, huh? They kept me in the hospital for 30 days, didn't give me PT until 45 days after that and made no improvements from 1st PT day to last. Went to a different cardiologist because I wasn't getting better and he was yelling at me that I had to see my endocrinologist before he'd do anything for me. Now, with all this time, my sternum keeps separating a little more and a little more. Last time I saw the thoracic surgeon was 6 months ago and there was no gap between sides like now. (To me, it's scary as hell.) I guess it serves me right for smoking.