"Do You Have Before-And-After Pictures Of Your Chest?" Asks Jake
By Adam Pick on April 15, 2009
I just received an interesting email from Jake.
He writes, “Adam – I’m 57 and going in for mitral valve repair next week due to mitral prolapse. It’s going to be an open heart surgery. I’m curious, do you have any pictures of your chest before-and-after surgery? I’m not really a pretty boy, I just want to know what to expect when I wake up. Thanks, Jake”
In my opinion, Jake is asking the right type of questions as he prepares for surgery. As I learned, expectation management is critical for both patients and caregivers throughout the surgical process – especially the recovery. That said, I just searched my picture albums for Jake.
Ding! Ding! Ding! I found some!!!
Below, you can see the impact of open heart surgery on my chest. The amazing part? You can barely even tell that I had a median sternotomy. But, you can tell that I have gained a few pounds over the years.
I also thought you might like to see, up close, what my scar looks like right now. In the picture below, you can see, in detail, how the incision scar (from my broken sternum) and the chest tube scars have healed.
Lots of patients asks me, “Adam – What the heck did you use to make your scars disappear?”
The answer to that question is one word… MEDERMA. While there are lots of ointments and Vitamin E gels available for scar healing, my research showed that Mederma had some good science and research behind it.
I applied the Mederma gel to my scars every other night for the first six weeks after my surgery. If you are interested to try Mederma, I believe the company still has a $2.00 discount coupon at their website.
All in all, having my incision scar fade was my last concern as I rolled into the operating room. I wanted a fixed heart much, much, much, much more than a barely visible scar. Thanks to Doctor Vaughn Starnes, I got both. 🙂
Keep on tickin!
Adam
Ann Legere says on April 16th, 2009 at 1:35 pm |
Hi Adam: |
Kerrigan says on April 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm |
How long after surgery did you continue to use the MEDERMA on the scar? |
Adam Pick says on April 17th, 2009 at 5:14 pm |
Hi Kerrigan, I used Mederma for the first two months after my surgery. However, please remember you need to wait two after your surgery to begin use of this scar healing product. Keep on tickin! Adam |
NOEL FIGUEROA says on May 26th, 2018 at 1:26 pm |
Hi Adam, |