How long does it take for ones chest to heal from open heart surgery? and how long does it take to fully recover?

Variable: It generally takes a year to fully recover after open heart surgery, though the wounds will be healed after a couple of weeks.

It varies: I have not only performed open heart surgery, I have had it - and i can say with certainty that it is an ongoing process that takes quite a while. I returned to normal activity in about 6 weeks, but it was not until a year after my surgery that my chest began to feel "right" - allowing me to lift weights and participate in almost all the activities i wanted.

6-8 weeks: Usually, the breastbone (sternum) is fused after 6-8 weeks, and you can being working towrds normal activity. Full recover depends on several things, like how sick you were before the surgery, how smooth your recovery was, other illnesses, nutrition, age, and what you mean by full recovery (jog, fish, play golf, nfl football ...).