Surgical scar after open heart surgery???

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M

meganmitch

Active member
Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Messages
27
Location
fort worth texas
My husband and I are curious what the surgical sight/scar looks like after surgery. He is scheduled to have AVR this coming month sometime and this is one of the few things he does want to know. I thought it might be helpful and interesting to see some pictures of what to expect. Nothing to graphic, i have a VERY weak stomach but i do need to prepare myself for his post come care.
 
3 years out, my scar is barely noticeable, just a thin pink line. My surgeon said that it wouldn't be a big deal and he was right.
 
I had surgery 12 years ago and just had it again. I'll say, they've gotten a lot better about keeping the scar thin in the past decade. My new scar is much thinner than the old one. Also, they used glue to hold mine together. They used to use staples, and you got little scars all along the outside of the scar.

In time, it will become close to skin colored and a lot less visible. Besides, it just shows other people how much you can take and keep on kicking.
 
My scar doesn't show much and it is certainly not, nor ever has been stomach turning for even the weakest anatomy. Think instead what he would have looked like without it in a years time. Be grateful that these things can be mended nowadays and that you are not about to become a widow.
I look upon mine as a badge of honour and a tribute to my surgeon who saved my life. I wouldn't be here without it now.
 
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Check out the Forum on here called The Order of the Tawdry Shirt and you'll see plenty of pic's of people brave enough to share pic's of their scars. The way it looks immediately afterwards is not at all how it will look a year down the road so don't judge it by that. Mine is barely noticeable.
 
I have enough hair on the chest I just do a comb over
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....a technique that I have perfected on my head..........
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I've come to like my scar

I've come to like my scar

If the scar is a concern, you should speak with your surgeon, specifically, about how he plans to close the long incision. The "railroad tracks" or "zipper" effect caused by staples or sutures seems to be a thing of the past. Most surgeons will now use a protein glue to close the skin and a piece of clear protein tape over the top to make it waterproof. Immediately after surgery, this produces a thin red line covered by something that looks like Saran Wrap. You are supposed to avoid getting the covering wet because it will disintegrate on its own in about in three weeks which happens to be just how long it takes the skin to heal over. Mine sloughed off in the shower at something like 23 days and I didn't even notice it happening until I was drying off and found it gone; this left just a clean, thin, bright pink scar.

I'll try to update my photos for you as I need to add one showing how pale it has become at one year. My disease left me feeling wretched and by the time of surgery unable to do anything for more than a few minutes. My scar reminds me of the single best piece of medical care I have ever received. It also reminds me that I can now plan for the future. A year ago this month, I had no scar and no future. Mitch, I must admit, I sort of hate to see it fade.

Keep in mind that there will be 3 or 4 smaller incisions beneath the large one. These will hold the drainage tubes and pacing wires that are put in place during surgery. The little incisions took longer to close because they were left open to heal on their own. For me, the last one closed during week 6 after my AVR.

Here are two views of my scar. At one year, it is even less visible but, as you can see even at 8 months, it is not "unsightly".

View attachment 8782

Larry
 
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I had minimally invasive AVR in May. I have a scar that starts at the top of my cleavage and goes up 3 inches. It was glued and had nothing over it (someone talked about clear plastic wrap over their's after surgery). The scab fell off after a few weeks. It's now medium pink.

From the time I returned from the hospital a week after surgery, people told me they could barely see it. I never could see where they had the drains, pacing wires, etc. The only other scar I have is in my belly (just below my sternum) where they put the bypass machine (I think that's what it was for) THAT was stitched and it looks something like a gunshot wound. No one other than my hubby and doctor ever sees my belly (no bikinis for me!) so it doesn't bother me at all.

In my opinion, the scar isn't anything to worry about.
 
I had a minimally invasive AVR with a port access incision, a 3-inch incision between 2 ribs on the right side of my chest, about 3 inches below my collarbone.

I chose this not for the cosmetic reason but because I thought healing would be quicker, easier and less painful, and though I have nothing to compare it to since I never had a sternotomy, from what I've read here it sounds like my healing was quicker and less painful, and I was able to drive 2 weeks post surgery, and of course my surgeon agreed to it. No pain when coughing or sneezing either post surgery, which according to a lot of folks here was painful.

I posted a picture on the Tawdry Shirts thread, too.
 
In 1998, it was not very good looking. I am guessing that Dr. Cozgrove did not even see it. Wide, red and ozing - 4 inches tall. One 1/2" scar for the chest tube.

This year, wow what a difference. Just a nice thin pink line. about 8 inches tall. Plus a couple short 1/2" scars for the chest tubes.
 
I'm 10 years out, but even shortly after mine was very minimal.. tell him not to worry at all about it.. I had my first surgery at 17 and wore a bikini even about 5 months post-surgery!
 
Scar

Scar

I flashed the top of my scar to a collegue at a meeting in Phoenix today. She didn't believe that I had done the heart surgery thing.

-Philip
 
My cut was barely 4 inches long! Some of you have whoppers! They are very clean, really, and some are glued together, some have staples, some have sutures that dissolve from the inside (I cannot even begin to imagine how that works!!) I'm very squeamish, too, and it really did not bother me.

Had an old neighbor bring some flowers by about 3 weeks post-op and she was curious enough to ask to see my scar (and I was delighted to show her!!) As I showed her she started asking, well, how deep does that go?? I'm like, well, um, you know they went all the way in to my heart and through my sternum which they had to saw in half!! It was wickedly mean of me, but the look on her face was just priceless!! You just don't know til you get there. And this one, well, it isn't as bad as you might think. Today's surgeon's are very neat and tidy!! ;o)

Best wishes for a lovely cut!

Marguerite
 
It is a year now and my scar is nearly invisible. Chest hairs of course helps. I received the old fashioned treatment with staples and sutures and immediately after surgery my scar looked like a badly sewn together garment with the skin all pulled up skew and lobsided.
My wife was rather upset but the surgeon assured her it will all go away, and it did within 6 months.

If you want to have a look go to my profile and photo album.
 
My first scar healed quite neat and in four years had faded considerably with only a few red spots.
When I learned I was having that scar re-opened at my second surgery, I was sure it would be all thick and angry and quite unpleasant to look at. I couldn't imagine how they could open such a large incision and leave it as neat and tidy as the first time.
Well, they did. If anything, it looks even better now than it did the last time. I wear low cut tops, dresses etc and am not self-conscious about it.
(Mine was glued and then streri-strips on top)
 
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