Well, the steri-strips came off today. They were holding my incision together since all the staples were removed on day 4 (my release day). They actually came off quite easily.
So now I am left with a distinctive 20 cm (8 in) scar down the centre of my chest with two smaller scars where the tubes were inserted. I am very delighted with how fast healing has been. It is still less than two weeks from the surgery date.
It does look like I am urgently in need of some exercise! I will have to get to that slowly I’m afraid. No push-ups or sit-ups for a while yet. I re-read my discharge instructions and it seems that in the first two weeks of being home I am only supposed to walk for 5 minutes at a time – and then to walk around the house a bit. So pushing myself to walk a half K may not have been such a smart idea. I do seem to be hurting a bit more than I had been. Sigh!