1. Mine dissected at 6.5cm. The greatest pain I have ever had to endure.
2. Mine the same - dissection to the L/R Iliac.
I am getting to 1 year since surgery. I would not recommend surgery at a later stage of aneurysm. Mine was immediate and emergent. No planning, no preparation. I didn't know what they were going to do. I was only asked what kind of valve.
3.
A) Personal stress was a factor.
B) I would agree. I called an ambulance that did not arrive. After we waited 30 minutes, my wife drove me to the hospital 11 minutes away - thus saving my life. I was immediately triaged and portably scanned and within 30 minutes they new what they were dealing with, but there was more to follow.
C) Not an issue for me at the time. But I have traveled before and I cannot do it now for fear of something happening on the journey. I have been to a hospital in a foreign country and I would not survive now, let alone if I had that same experience again.
D) I concur. My own country has good medical care, but if I had to go through that layer of difficulty to be treated then that would only add to the time to be treated, And recovery, let's not forget trying to recover away from home.
E) I only survived through a network of support from family. Check B) above.
F) If I had to check insurance to see if a situation is covered and by how much then to me that is a red flag in the first place.
I agree with moonboy's final comments here. I never knew I had anything until the night it happened. I did travel on a four hour road trip the weekend before and another a weekend before that. Our extended family has discussed how we would have dealt with that situation if it had happened when we were away.
We wouldn't have.
Right now I am mentally juggling how I am going to have INR tests if I do travel. And how I would take medication. If I had known of my condition I would not have done any travel.