What Happened to My Scar?

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J

Jkm7

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
4,384
Location
Massachusetts
Over 7 years ago, I had my first OHS. My scar healed well with no keloid but the 8 or 9" of it was certainly visible. It wasn't a 'horror' but one knew I'd had my chest cracked when I wore low v neck top or swimsuit etc

Barely four years later, I had second OHS and that scar was reopened. I was sure it would look truly awful after being opened again but even from the start, I was pleasantly surprised it didn't look any worse than the first and there were times the first weeks, I thought I was dillusional that I thought it actually looked better even when in the first weeks of healing than it ever looked after my first surgery.

After my shower this morning, I happened to check it out in the mirror and my jaw just about dropped. I can only find a hint of a scar for a mere few inches between my breasts and very light, hardly noticeable in a few small sections. It is possible I'd have to point it out to a doctor if this continues like this. I really had to look for it.

What is remarkable, to me is how I feel about it.
My first feeling at this discovery was sadness. I went through so much, two OHS and I barely have a visible sign to show for it. Isn't that just the oddest thing?

One would think most women would be delighted and on one level maybe I am but mostly I'm not. I didn't want a large, ropey ugly scar but maybe a thin, small line.

Is anyone else's full sternal opening scar faded away to almost invisible?
 
It is really amazing what a tatoo artist can duplicate and look realistic if you truly miss it
tahdah.gif
 
sometimes weight loss / weight gain, or general skin condition can alter the look of such a major scar.
Being thin makes my wires very prominent which is cool around Halloween, but kind of gross otherwise. LOL
 
I think the newer closure techniques may be "neater" than the old. I was concerned about how much scarring I would have, but I'll have to say that they did a marvellous job on incision closure. They were glued shut, and now at 13 weeks, they are just subtle lines in the skin. I am more self-conscious about the big lump of my pacemaker. . . I guess that I'm just such a skinny old rat that it can't help but be obvious.
 
Good point about the closure technique, Steve.
Both times (same surgeon), my incision was glued closed I am a good healer but this is really remarkable.

I have old abdominal scars from two surgeries many years ago and those scars are near invisible, also.
 
You must be a good healer. I'm jealous. I"m 5 months post op and still have a 3 inch red dash down the center of my chest. The scar was getting really "ropey" and tight, so I've had two injections of cortizone to the scar 4 weeks apart which supposedly helps with keloiding. RIght now it doesn't really look better.

I was so worried about the scar before surgery, but now I sort of like it and would miss it if it were gone.
 
I'm 9 weeks post op today. My scar was glued, as well...but it's purple and ropey. Very ugly in my opinion.

Carol
 
My scar is a mere 3 months old, and it is still quite visible. I started using mederma scar gel about 6 weeks ago, and since then it has started to turn a more natural skin tone, from the center out. It catches my eye when I glance at it quickly in the mirror, as the edges are red yet the inside is turning normal skin tone. It looks almost outlined, now. I am hopeful that it fades some, but I don't mind the reminder that I have survived through an open heart surgery!
 
I have a little pet theory that this might be a good thread to test in. How many of you with "good scars" had surgery to replace a bicuspid aortic valve? Of those, how many of you had an aortic aneurysm, or at least an aorta dilated above 4 cm?

See, my idea is that those of us with aorta issues along with bicuspid aortic valve have systemic connective tissue disorders that results in our wider scars that don't heal into really pretty floss thin lines. Mine is about a cm wide and I'm still 15 lbs lighter than when I had surgery, so weight gain is not the issue. It was my second surgery. My first was years ago. I was a skinny teenager and my scar healed very wide. Ended up with the aortic aneurysm 18 years later.
 
Superman, my scar has stayed thin and has faded a lot more than I expected at 6-ish months, and is starting to vanish completely in some spots, between two "outline" lines, as Jason describes with his. (Chest hair helps, too.) I was BAV, and my AR was somewhat enlarged -- enough to need a "tuck", but not (to my surprise) enough to need replacement with Dacron. I don't think I fit your theory.
 
Superman...you could be right. I had 5.3 cm ascending aorta aneurysm and a another small one at the root developing. All my scars throughout my life are ugly and do not go away. I used vitamin E, Mederma and a whole host of other oils and creams, nothing helps.

Carol
 
Though mine is fading slowly, yet I would be very pleased if I woke up one morning and there was no scar, as I am still contious about its look and I gave away all my V-neck shirts!!

:)
 
My scar is almost invisible at 2 1/2 years out...I had mitral repair and used Aquaphor on it every day after my shower.. It was glued and the steri strips came off at 2 weeks out...
 
Hi,

My 2nd surgical scar barely exists! I think they followed the exact path of my 1st surgery. They are now almost invisiblele.
That being said, the drainage tube scars are so much more viable. As one doctor told me. It looks like you were in a knife fight.

I also used cocoa butter and vit E on my scars. Palmers was the brand for my 2nd surgery. I used pure cocoa butter on my 1st surgery.

Rob
 
After having all my nurses and my surgeon tell me to put nothing on the scar, I 'obeyed'
My second scar exactly followed the path of the first and I am just lucky it has faded nearly completely. I never expected that would happen nor did anything to make it do so.

I had three chest tubes my first surgery and four the second. Those scars are faintly visible.
 
Rob - My scar is probably a lot like yours. Even at 15 weeks, it is not obvious at all. The drain tubes, on the other hand, look like I was hit with small arms fire.

For me the big "cosmetic issue" is the lump my pacemaker makes on my chest. This is one case where being very slim doesn't help with concealment at all.
 
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