I had a big slash in the middle of a trunk of a 4 yr old Redbud where lightening hit. The tree repaired itself but the tree was never the same. It looked terrible.
I think you might think of replacing it because it will never be what you want or what it once was.
I waited a couple of years & replaced mine. The new tree will catch up in time to the older ones because there is a limit on how tall they get. In the mean time at least you will be looking at a smaller but healthy tree.

Thank you for your response. I was feeling that would be the best thing to do. It's just so hard to cut down a tree!