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"Do You Have Before-And-After Pictures Of Your Chest?" Asks Jake

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: June 10, 2025

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 sometimes offers 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 than a barely visible scar. Thanks to Dr. Vaughn Starnes, my surgeon, I got both.

Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

Ann Legere says on April 16th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Hi Adam:
I am a 65 year old female who has mitral stenosis since a young woman (35 yrs.) and I have had the mitral valve split (opened up) twice, once in 1977 in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) and once in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) in 1990. I have all the tests done after Christmas this year, and my cardiologist in Halifax, Dr. Simon Jackson has told me that I need to have the mitral valve replaced and the tricuspid valve needs repair. as it is leaking. I am still waiting for a date for surgery which I hope will be within the next few months. The first scar under my breast (1st surgery) is hot visible, and 2nd scar is almost invisible, so I want to assure the last person who contacted you that the scars are nothing to be concerned about…..they become almost invisible, and have been the least of my concerns. Now, I am wondering where my third incision will be…..can they open my sternum again in the same place ? My brother who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin was able to get your book for me and I am in the process of reading it.
Your book is wonderful!!….Thanks!
Ann Legere
Truro, Nova Scotia
Canada