I’m 71 years old and my abdominal aorta aneurysm is 6.7 I’m scared !

The size is a reference they take into account body size, shape of the aneurysm, location, etc mine was thoracic (ascending) and considered large for my body frame, I’m 5’ 6” and 158 lbs. the surgeon told me that it was actually larger when he removed it.

Hi, @tess55, I have an aneurysm that may need repair. I am somewhat close to retirement and trying to figure out what it might mean to go on Medicare rather than stay on my employer’s insurance wrt the repair. Can you tell me more about the 5.5inch requirement? If a doctor suggested you get it repaired earlier, would Medicare not pay?

Thanks.

Hi bitsy girl. To my understanding, 5.0 cm (not inches) is a general criteria. The decision would be up to the surgeon, who would take other conditions and symptoms into consideration.

My PCP is an internal medicine doctor. As my aneurysm is only 4.5 cm, he has advised we do “watchful waiting” and obtain a CT scan with contrast every 6 months to monitor if it is enlarging. I DO know that Medicare will only approve one CT scan every 6 months.
I am sure your physician is well aware of this criteria and will advise you based accordingly based on his findings.

Instead of waiting on the results of my bi-annual CTs, I find myself wanting to go ahead and schedule an appointment with a cardiothoracic surgeon to at least meet him and let him advise me.

thank you for your kindness and encouragement. I did schedule my surgery in August at Cedar Sinai In LA and hopefully everything is gonna be all right. I will post the outcome of my surgery. God bless.

@tess5 Thanks for your reply. FWIW, my aneurysm is monitored by a vascular surgeon and it does make me feel better for some reason. My PCP is a PA so she is pretty quick to send me to a specialist for anything that is not very routine. Though his office does the monitoring, I only met with the actual surgeon after he saw a potential spurt of growth after a routine monitoring CT. He scheduled a CT for six months when the first had been after a year. If you doctor is scheduling at 6 mos., I’d guess he’s pretty conservative, that is, being pretty cautious. He may connect you with a surgeon if it gets closer to the threshold for surgery.

Good luck!

Are you getting the surgery,, my husband us 81 his is 6 he's worried to old for surgery but the doctor says his health is good he hasn't done much rxcersing and is scared thinks too lod. What do you think

I am in the exact same situation. I will be 72 this month and mine is 5.5/6 and i am waiting to see if he can do an EVAR also. I am having problems getting things approved with my insurance and have changed insurance and hoping I can get the CT scan he needs soon. Prayers that everything goes well for you. I was also denied a 2nd opinion. Wish I knew what is the best insurance to get this done.