Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

Thank you. My aortic aneurysm was diagnosed in 2015 at 3.9 by my primary doctor who is an internist. Since then I have had regular scans (every 2 years). It has not grown, still at 3.9, however now I am concerned that maybe I should have a cardiologist review my condition. What do you think? I am 69, next May 2025 I'll be 70. I am interested in others who have this condition.

Mine was measured at 4.3 and told to have a have a CT Chest with Contrast again in two years. The two year point is in October and my doctor (not a cardiologist) has sent a request to the imaging center schedule this for me in October. At 73 I feel good and walk at 2.2 on the treadmill every other day. I admit I follow the directives given when this was discovered and felt better after speaking with my husband's Nurse Practitioner in his cardiologist surgery office. At first blush I was nervous and a "basket case" as I also had for the first time in my life high blood pressure (mine has always been low). I have taken my prescribed medicine, cut my all day caffeine coffee to 20oz a day (that liked to kill me as an old New Yorker I drank coffee all day and could still sleep peacefully) followed the rules (yes, I am a rule follower) and enjoyed a great two years which included both land and cruise vacations with quite a bit of walking. For me peace of mind is what comes into your choice, if you will feel better mentally to speak to a cardiologist than go see one. Each of us handles the news and either front or back of the mind thinking about it. I feel better about my TAA today than I did two years ago. So good I have two cruises booked one for 2025 and one for 2026. I pray you will remain with no growth and do what will give you have peace of mind.

Thank you for your response and much success as you manage your TAA.

Hi, just diagnosed in August and I completely get the feeling of walking around feeling like a ticking time bomb (I constantly hear the pop goes the weasel song in my head while going about my day-to-day life) 4.2 with BAV. My Dr also put me on Toprol which I was surprised by because I only had slightly high BP 124/76 (historically I have never had high BP, so I'm assuming stress) Do you mind me asking if you have historically had high BP

Hey I'm also female with BAV and ascending aorta 4.2 (plus some valve regurgitation). You're situation sounds really similar to mine. I'm 45 and am just finding out about BAV. I had been complaining to GP for years about some strange symptoms that once I looked them up seem like they might be connective tissue disorders. Pretty sure my Dr just thought I was a hypochondriac. Best wishes in finding answers

I believe once they find the aneurym(s) the main goal becomes keeping your BP from rising even if it is momentaneously, there are activities and moments that may raise your BP without you even knowing (you are not monitoring your BP 24 hrs), so prescribing betablockers is a common practice. My BP was around where yours is and I also got prescribed Metoprolol, now for life. I also have a BAV, and BAVs make us more vulnerable to developing aneurysms.

My aneurysm was repaired 4 1/2 years ago, they left my BAV since it was still highly functional, I will have to have it replaced at some point in the future

I would recommend you find a cardiologist who specializes in BAVs and Aneurysms, not all of them are and certainly will have way more answers than your GP, it makes a huge difference. I was lucky to find one whose research is all around the topic and is also very focused on the genetic component. He sees me every year since having my aneurysm repaired to check my valve and every 3-4 years gets me a complete boody scan to make sure there are no new ones.

Thank you for the advice. I'm planning on looking for a cardiologist that specializes in this after I get my TEE and CTA done. (Just wanted to get all the testing done ASAP). I'm Currently under the care of a cardiologist who seems very competent even though this is not listed as a specialty. My Uncle gave me his cardiologist card and I looked him up and noticed that his cardio specializes in congenital defects

Thank you so much for sharing this. They are doing a TEE on 9/18 and I think that the point of that might be to get more detailed info on the BAV? I think it took me a good 5 days to get over the shock of the word aneurism. And I'm just now starting to think about the other issues from the initial ECHO. Just considering I went from being a fairly healthy 45 yr old to this overnight is so overwhelming. Sorry if you have mentioned this in another thread but did you know about your BAV your whole life or find out as an adult?

No, my blood pressure always ran on the low side my whole life. In first cardiology appointment, doctor ordered full lipid panel which revealed all my numbers were way out of whack. Everything bad was high, in addition to BP. This runs in my family, but not me, till now, in my 60s.