scar healing

[coryp]

Hello All,

I wonder if suggesting a post of various photos of ealing incisions is appropriate? Something like one person @ 2 weeks, 1 @ 4 then @ 2mths and so on to 6 mths.

I am curious as to when the redness goes away and the actual changes appear. I am 5 weeks and beleive I am healing quite nicely but I do not have anything to compare it to. While I know everyone is different and heals differently I still would like to see and analyze various people at different stages (this is not an experiment).

If it is ok with ROss and Hank and has some interest from other valvers I will post my incision first as the 4 week person.

Ladies I am not expecting you to do this either, but please feel free to participate if you like.

thank you,

Cory

 

[hensylee]

we have had several scar pictures - Rain put hers on, taken at one of the reunions. We have not had a progressive bunch of pictures, tho. Might be a good idea but it could take years. I had a different sort of surgery 2 yrs ago and the scar is just below my sternum scar from 5 yrs ago. The sternum scar is white and thin, but the 2 yr old one is still purplish. I doubt you're going to get yours gone for awhile.

 

[perkicar]

Scar healing creams

Scar healing creams

Has anybody used these to help soften/minimize the scar (not that mine is so bad, actually, I'd just like it to fade faster LOL).

 

[Mary]

Cory,
If you want to post yours, then all recent valvers could use it as a visual to explain how ours looks.

My "bump" at the top is no longer a bump. The swelling has almost completely disappeared. How about yours?

Don't forget; we're exactly the same time out.
Mary

 

[coryp]

Cory,
If you want to post yours, then all recent valvers could use it as a visual to explain how ours looks.

My "bump" at the top is no longer a bump. The swelling has almost completely disappeared. How about yours?

Don't forget; we're exactly the same time out.
Mary

OK,

Here is my picture. My bump is no more and I do not think I have or had any swelling at all. Just a little redness for me ...

 

[Mary]

OK,

Here is my picture. My bump is no more and I do not think I have or had any swelling at all. Just a little redness for me ...

No picture is showing up. Can you try it again?
Oh, and Cory, I broke out with my annual case of shingles today.
How's that for another complication!

 

[coryp]

No picture is showing up. Can you try it again?
Oh, and Cory, I broke out with my annual case of shingles today.
How's that for another complication!

Oh BOY, Do you have to change the windows every year??!! I heard if you clean the shingles twice a year you can avoid the issue!!


I am trying but cannot get it to upload, any other suggestions? It is in JPEG form

 

[Mary]

I am trying but cannot get it to upload, any other suggestions? It is in JPEG form

OK,
Hopefully THIS IS CORY'S SCAR PICTURE!
I'D BETTER NOT GET ANY REMARKS ASKING ME IF IT'S MINE!

DO YOU HEAR ME DANNY? AND NOTHING FROM ROSS EITHER!

 

[coryp]

OK,
Hopefully THIS IS CORY'S SCAR PICTURE!
I'D BETTER NOT GET ANY REMARKS ASKING ME IF IT'S MINE!

DO YOU HEAR ME DANNY? AND NOTHING FROM ROSS EITHER!

What do ya think????

 

[Mary]

Ok,
Cory and I had surgery the same day and parts of Cory's scar look much better than mine (check previous post for CORY'S picture).

Your incision scar looks about the same as mine, but I think mine might be better healed.
But your drainage tube scars look much better than mine. Where your two x's are, I have a line about three inches long in between. I had trouble with my bleeding for a long, long time, so maybe that's the reason.

How long is your sternum scar? Yes, measure yours and I'll measure mine.

Mary

 

[coryp]

Ok,
Cory and I had surgery the same day and parts of Cory's scar look much better than mine (check previous post for CORY'S picture).

Your incision scar looks about the same as mine, but I think mine might be better healed.
But your drainage tube scars look much better than mine. Where your two x's are, I have a line about three inches long in between. I had trouble with my bleeding for a long, long time, so maybe that's the reason.

How long is your sternum scar? Yes, measure yours and I'll measure mine.

Mary

Mary,

I want to seeeeee yours!!!

My scar is 9 1/2 inches long. When you say yours is better healed, what do you mean? Less redness? Less thickness

 

[bvdr]

You guys have me laughing! Cory, I think your scar looks just fine. Did they shave your chest and that is all regrowth already?

 

[Mary]

Sorry Cory.
I don't have a digital camera!
I measured mine and it's about 7 inches, so I guess yours is longer.
I don't have any little openings in mine; it looks like you still do.
Mine's still pretty red and about the same thickness as yours.

Ok, now where is Chuck's picture and Mike Marshall's?
We need more people posting to this thread.
Never mind; on all the future presurgeries threads, I'll put a plug in for a post surgery scar picture!

 

[tobagotwo]

Scar pix - Not for the Squeamish

Scar pix - Not for the Squeamish

Warning: this is not pretty. To be fair, it wasn't before the incision, either...

With the silk shirt (my vote for best shirt for healing incision) is three days after surgery in my front yard, and still sports the bandaid where the chest tube was. The other is a couple of days later. The main scar is 13.5" long.

One of the things I noted was a lot of swelling in the whole chest at the time, quite a bit of bruising in the area, and the staples were quite vivid. The bottom part of my scar was a bright purple-pink for almost a year, but blends in pretty well now.

 

[tobagotwo]

Hmmm. Pix came out sort of like jigsaw puzzles. I will try to reload them into the post.

Retried them several times. The one with the shirt just got worse. Did better when loaded in this post. I have no idea why. Neither loaded quite right, though.

 

[McJenny]

Oh, and Cory, I broke out with my annual case of shingles today.

Many years ago I read a helpful hint about grinding up aspirins and mixing them with lotion and using that mixture to ease the pain of shingles. The doctor and my girlfriend pharmacist sort of pooh-poohed the idea but when my husband came down with shingles, he was open to trying anything for some relief - it worked for him. I don't know if the aspirin is aborbed through the skin - wouldn't want to cause any extra problems so you might want to check on that. I know this sounds odd, maybe that's why I remembered it.

 

[Cris N]

Not for the Squeamish
Warning: this is not pretty. To be fair, it wasn't before the incision, either...

I'm 9 weeks post op and not healing as quickly as I would have liked but I'm feeling a lot better after seeing your photo. Jeesh, quite a long incision! I had none of the bruising like you did. Definitely not for the squeamish... ewwww!

Thanks for sharing

Cris

 

[Lynlw]

I think they look great all of them. I haven't figured out how to do pictures here, but Justin's are on the phot page of his caringbridge www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw
His took a little longer since it was the 3rd time he had his chest cracked (the first one was between his ribs) but it actually looks better now than it did before surgery, he had alot of keloid scarring, so they asked if he would like a scar revision so it wouldn't be as wide, (it was about an inch wide in some places)
There is a product called miracell that is supposed to help scars look better, I got it online, but it hasn't been long enough to tell if it is working, Lyn

 

[perkicar]

I'm 9 weeks post op and not healing as quickly as I would have liked but I'm feeling a lot better after seeing your photo. Jeesh, quite a long incision! I had none of the bruising like you did. Definitely not for the squeamish... ewwww!

Thanks for sharing

Cris

Hi Cris,
I'm 9 weeks out too, and my incision is long , I think around 9 inches. It overlaps my splenectomy scar at the bottom by about an inch. It's still pretty pink but soft. I tend to make cheloid scars but this one looks like it will be nice LOL. I seriously doubt I will be sending any pictures!!

 

[savysmommy]

I am at almost 3 weeks post op. I cant find a tape measure so I am not postitive on the length. I would guess about 5-6 inches. The bottom is about 2 inches from my gall bladder scar. Its also a little crooked. My surgeon realized after he had me open that he needed more room. So, the top 1.5 inch is just to the left of the rest of the incision. He told me that my valve was much higher than expected.

I would say mine looks great.. Although I never had anything to compare it to. Still a little red in some areas.

Shannon