Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

Andy,
My situation is pretty similar to yours. I am 5 years older, a little taller, and about 20 pounds lighter than you and have been a competitive marathoner and rower for a good portion of my adult life. Also found via a precautionary CT scan for a calcium score. I'm at 5.0. Found out less than 6 months ago and am heading back for 6 month follow-up scan in a little over a month. It's been an adjustment in a number of ways and has taken me some time, so you should expect the mental sorting out process to take you some time as well (I've read studies that depression amongst people who were newly-diagnosed is not uncommon). For me, exercise has been a stress reliever and learning to dial back on the intensity of exercise while still exercising has been an adjustment. It's also been challenging because doctors tend not to give you objective guidelines for these things (I use a heart monitor to generally keep in a "zone 2" level of intensity and don't do any heavy lifting). My doc told me at 5.0 I am in a "gray" zone where most insurance will cover surgery, but I have some discretion about whether to wait until it hits 5.5 (which will likely be sometime in the next five years based on an average annual progression of 0.1) or elect to have it done now. Initially, I was leaning toward a wait and see approach, but more recently have been thinking about just having the procedure done later this year since I would be a decent candidate for successful surgery and for peace of mind. Good luck to you. The stories of others who have gone through this does help.

Hello, I had my surgery 4 years ago at 54, I was in great shape physically as I exercised frequently and never smoked, my surgeon gave me over 99% probability of no complications based on that and suggested I had it taken care of sooner than later, mine was larger 5.2, and I’m a smaller frame. I couldn’t wait to have it fixed, I was healing from leg fracture surgery (how they found the aneurysm) so had to wait a bit, but 3 months after leg surgery I had my open heart. Not going to lie, it is not pleasant but I recovered quickly, out of the hospital in 5 days, back to work in 3 weeks. I slowly went back to my workouts, limited by both leg and chest but 4 years later I am at full work outs (can’t run anymore because of the leg, but bike and swim often)

At the size of yours I think surgery is just a matter of time , I would consider taking care of it when your body is at its best and that may be now.

Hope everything goes well and if you have any questions about surgery, etc just let me know

Good luck

Andy,
My situation is pretty similar to yours. I am 5 years older, a little taller, and about 20 pounds lighter than you and have been a competitive marathoner and rower for a good portion of my adult life. Also found via a precautionary CT scan for a calcium score. I'm at 5.0. Found out less than 6 months ago and am heading back for 6 month follow-up scan in a little over a month. It's been an adjustment in a number of ways and has taken me some time, so you should expect the mental sorting out process to take you some time as well (I've read studies that depression amongst people who were newly-diagnosed is not uncommon). For me, exercise has been a stress reliever and learning to dial back on the intensity of exercise while still exercising has been an adjustment. It's also been challenging because doctors tend not to give you objective guidelines for these things (I use a heart monitor to generally keep in a "zone 2" level of intensity and don't do any heavy lifting). My doc told me at 5.0 I am in a "gray" zone where most insurance will cover surgery, but I have some discretion about whether to wait until it hits 5.5 (which will likely be sometime in the next five years based on an average annual progression of 0.1) or elect to have it done now. Initially, I was leaning toward a wait and see approach, but more recently have been thinking about just having the procedure done later this year since I would be a decent candidate for successful surgery and for peace of mind. Good luck to you. The stories of others who have gone through this does help.

Hi my name is Susan and I am 68 years old. I was diagnosed with the condition this spring after not being able to get over a cough, had a chest X-ray and it showed the I had a 4.4 centimeters. CT scans confirmed I had 3 aortic anorisms. I was shocked! I have a question, did anyone ever ask if its ok to fly with this condition?

Hi, I'm 76 with a 4.6 cm AA. During my last checkup with my Cardiologist, I specifically asked if I could fly to Europe. She said yes, but to wear compression socks and walk during long flights

I dissected completely at age 50 in 2015. I survived because I was in the middle of downtown San Diego when it happened, an ambulance arrived within 2 minutes, and I was only 5 miles away from the best cardiac emergency care center in California. I would never consider flying with your condition if my doctor was recommending that I have surgery. But, that's your decision. An aneurysm is like the bulge in the side of your left front tire. Do you want to go on a long trip into the desert on that tire and take the risk that it will blow out? Or would you rather get it fixed and travel safely? There is no one answer for everyone. It's about what level of risk you would be comfortable with.

But, I can tell you from having suffered a sudden and complete aortic dissection, after a long flight from Minneapolis to San Diego, then a day in 113F in the Anza Borrego Desert, followed by two long days teaching a seminar, that I would not risk my life again like that. If I had been in the air at the time I dissected, we wouldn't be having this exchange. That said, I just got back last night from a 3 hour plane ride back from DC and it went great. I also have a 13" long Dacron Aortic Graft inside of me that keeps alive. I am so very thankful for every day I have. Peace.