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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.

Heart valve patient shows the fading of sternotomy incision scar

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.

Faded sternotomy and chest tube scars after heart valve surgery

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

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.

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