Scar update 6 months later

205 days since my surgery (6.5 months)

Well, I saw the dermatologist today to have him look at my scar.  He said "it's looking great!" Which I was so glad to hear, because I look at it and think that it looks too red and that it is 'widening' over time. When I got a little emotional telling him I had to get all new clothes and can't wear any of my pretty things anymore, he assured me that I will be wearing them again! 

Before he came into the room his assistant told me that anywhere on the body where there is tension a scar can stretch and widen. Certainly the sternum is an area -- for women -- that has tension on it. Men don't typically have breasts that can pull on the skin.  When lying on your back (they make you sleep on your back for 2-3 months after surgery) the weight of your breasts, especially if you have larger breasts like me, pulls the skin on the center of your sternum quite a bit.  This is never a problem until you have a 6-8" scar between the middle of your breasts.

I wore a bra 24 hours a day for the first 3 months, and I was so glad to not have to wear it anymore, but I am now thinking maybe I should have worn it longer because I DO have larger breasts. So you may want to discuss that with your doctor ahead of time if you have large breasts. 

The surgeon's office was pretty non-chalant about it before surgery, and the NP there told me that with "my skin" I would probably barely notice any scar there in a year or two. We shall see if she is right.

My dermatologist happens to be the best derm in the world. Maybe everyone thinks theirs is the best, but mine really is. :-D  He told me that the silicone scar tape is great and I can wear it all the time if I want, and it should help.  He also said I can use the tape or the gel, and that some people find silicone gel easier to use. I might look into that. The tape package said to wear it 12-22 hours, but he said just take it off before bathing and then put it back on. 

I secretly believe that wearing the tape to bed might help the scar widen less, but that is complete fantasy on my part to be sure. 

It is also next to impossible to find photos of a sternotomy scar healing over time. I have Googled everywhere and you can see new scars and old scars. So I am going to keep sharing my scar over time so anyone else out there who needs to know can hopefully see this and get some helpful info. Hopefully my pain can be your gain! :-D 


**WARNING - SCAR PHOTO BELOW. STOP HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE A SCAR.**

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You can see what I mean by it looks like it "widened" and there is a little lumpiness at the top, which the dermatologist said we can "fix" if it is still there in a year. That is where the suture knot was, and he told me sometimes they have to remove those suture knots a year after surgery. He even mentioned having to "dig in to find them" or something, which sounded gross. So I am glad mine came out, even though at the time it freaked me out a bit.

He thought it looked great -- which was surprising to me. I really thought it looked awful. But that is why we have dermatologists.

You can see at the bottom my two drain scars. And the impressions on my skin there are from my bra. The bra band hits right where the drain scars are so you can see why it was such an issue when they were healing. Ugh, what a memory that triggered. LOL!

I wonder if silicone scar tape would make those drain scars go away? Hmm I might try that.

Here is a pic of three stages of scar progression for reference: (Please note the middle photo was taken at a different distance which is why you don't see the drain scars at the bottom.)

At 4 months the top of the incision still had a little hump there, which absolutely went away like they said it would.  But now I do (sometimes) have that little lump of skin at the top.  It seems to go away after wearing the silicone scar tape overnight, but then appears again by the end of the day. I am guessing it is related to laying in bed versus being upright all day. Who knows.

4 months after surgery

122 days since my surgery (4 months)

Four months ago today I went into the hospital and had open heart surgery. It seems like a distant memory and also feels like it never even happened. Unless I look at my incision scar.

My scar is actually getting much better - I have been using sicilone strips to help it heal flatter and smoother.

My niece is a cardiac surgical nurse at a children's hospital, and also has had some hip surgery in her past. She recommended these, and she showed me her scars --which you can barely see - that she used these on.  So I am hopeful they will help my scar get flatter.  Really the only part not flat is the top where the suture knot was.  Sometimes it is a little raised and then if I wear the silicone strips it goes down flatter. 

I am still waiting for my spot in the cardiac rehab program.  My friends on the AHA support group highly recommend I do it, so I want to. But it's been FOUR MONTHS! I can't believe how backed up they are!