"Do You Have Before-And-After Pictures Of Your Chest?" Asks Jake
April 15th, 2009I 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.
Mederma For Heart Surgery Scar Healing
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!
 |
| About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here. |
 |
