I had open heart by-pass surgery about 4 weeks ago. After surgery I experienced a lot of coughing. After being released I had 2 liters of fluid extracted from the left lung. Still experienced coughing. About 2 nights later during a coughing spell I experienced a popping sound under the scapula followed by extreme pain that Percocet did even touch. The surgeon said that I had pulled the cartilage away from the spine any is not normally experienced after surgery and I would not even want to know the fix since would be worse than the symptoms. Has anyone had any exposure to this issue? What is the healing time without surgery? What is the name of the issue?