Did you tRavel out-of-state?

Posted by tess55 @tess55, Oct 17 10:43am

Hi everyone! I have a question regarding where to have thoracic aortic aneurysm repaired. So far, mine is stable at 4.5 cm. I live in Texas. I do not have a cardiologist yet - just my PCP - I like him but he doesn’t seem overly concerned

How many traveled to The Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic for your repair? Who stayed in the home state?

If one traveled out of state, how did you set home? car or plane?

Hearing from others will help me make this decision.

Thanks

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houston13 | @houston13 | Oct 18 1:00am

In case it helps I live in Houston and had mine repaired by Dr Anthony Estrera in the Houston Medical Center, he is one of the best (if not the best) in Houston and an incredibly personable doctor, I also have a cardiologist who specializes in aneurysms, they both communicated through the process, couldn’t have asked for a better team. My cardiologist is an aneurysm and bicuspid aortic valve nerd, and I see him every year since I also have a BAV, hope it helps I can pass his name along if you’d like

tess55 | @tess55 | Oct 18 7:24am

I would appreciate your sharing your cardiologists name!
Thank you!

houston13 | @houston13 | Oct 19 3:34am

In reply to @tess55 "I would appreciate your sharing your cardiologists name! Thank you!" + (show)

Of course, this is he:
https://med.uth.edu/internalmedicine/2022/11/17/siddharth-k-prakash-md-phd/
Dr Siddharth Prakash, he does most of his research on aortic anomalies , heart valve and the genetics behind them. As there seems to be a propensity in my family for aneurysms, he did genetic testing on me and got my family into his research work, as there were no known markers in me, he thought maybe my family has a yet to identify one. Very personable too in a nerdy way. Hope it helps

jeanern01 | @jeanern01 | Oct 20 6:37am

Hello @tess55
I lived in Pensacola,Fl at the time of my diagnosis. Mine was a descending aortic aneurysm, I also had a left subclavian aneurysm. My surgeon in Pensacola referred me to Mayo, and I did end up flying up to Rochester for surgery. I had to make 2 trips- first for all my initial work up and presurgery appts. Before that I had a couple phone appts. For my surgery we flew up 2 days before for some more prep- labs and one more scan. Then my surgery was actually a 2 days surgery- I had many congenital abnormalities- I stayed on the hospital for 8 days flew home on the 10th day. I did well with the traveling. I was very happy with my experience. My family- I have 2
Kids- and my husband along with my twin sister and mom stayed across the street in a hotel-were able to walk back and forth to see me. It just really worked for us. I encourage you to get several opinions. Look at university affiliated hospitals- they usually see the most cases- have very experienced surgeons. If your condition is related to congenital heart disease the Adult Congenital Heart Association- Acha.org has many resources on the website.

Best wishes-
Jeane

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