Aortic Aneurysm Repair Success Stories

There's lots of boats all doing their own thing under supervision of experienced pilots. And we are all in this wonderful sea of life together. We'll get there!
I went to the ER at 1AM. Investigation. Diagnoses. 5.8cm aneurysm of the ascending aorta, ascending dissection, descending dissection, aortic valve damage, etc. Immediate surgery was warranted.
By 6AM the aneurysm was at 6.5cm. It was go time.
Open heart surgery, systemic shutdown, ICU 5 days. Two week recovery.
Yes, I am a survivor.
I have a dacron aortic graft replacing the asc aorta and a mechanical valve (AVR) replacing my original valve.
I am 13 months on from the scariest moment of my life.
I am glad your little boat sent up a flare. Maintain course.
I got your signal and I'm heading over to you.

How are you doing there, @rphiller ?

I'm doing well, thank you for asking. Still working on my anxiety every day. Some days the anxiety is non-existent and other days I'll wake up filled with it. Extremely strange situation for me as I've never had to deal with anxiety before.

Yesterday marked the 12 week point from open heart on surgery. I return to work today. On Sep 10th, I underwent open heart surgery from 7:30 a.m. to 10pm that night. First a right coronary artery was resected. The second procedure involved ligation of a complex coronary fistula from the right coronary artery to the pulmonary artery and left anterior descending artery to the pulmonary artery with a nest of large collaterals surrounding the pulmonary artery. That one took the most time of the 1st three procedures. The 3rd procedure as a double bypass (CABG) of the left anterior descending artery. I was taken off the heart-lung bypass around 2:30 pm and the heart restarted. During checking homeostasis, the aortic root started bleeding and then ruptured and tore the ascending aorta. The surgeon had his finger in the hole for 5 minutes while I was put back on the heart and lung bypass. I lost about 3.5 liters of blood and had to have 17 units of blood. Dr. Jack Haney at Mayo Clinic wrapped things up around 10:00 pm and talked to my family at 10:30 pm. They had been waiting since 5:30am.

Fortunately, Dr. Haney and I had a discussion about the aortic root and ascending aorta which were at 4.8cm each and the various scenarios and I told him if it came to the root surgery I would like to try and save my aortic valve. We decided not to do that that day unless he had to go into the aorta to deal with the complex coronary fistula. However, he ended up doing a Bentall procedure. I don't have to have blood thinners other than asprin and IF the valve ever needs repair, it can be done via TEVAR. I spent 4 nights and 3 days in ICU followed by 5 in the cardiac step down unit at Mayo.

I was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time with the right surgeon. I had a catheter procedure done the week before open heart surgery to block off an artery that was part of the fistula using platinum coils. it was an aberrant bronchial artery that went from the descending aorta near the arch to the pulmonary artery. It would be difficult to access during open heart surgery. An angiogram on August 6th found the fistula system too extensive for intervention by catheter and discovered a 100% blockage in the mid-LAD. I met the Dr. Haney on Aug 12th, the aforementioned catheter procedure on Sep 4th, open heart surgery on Sep 10th. This odyssey began on July 22 with a CT scan with IV contrast and cardiac MRI with cardiologist Dr. Sabrina Phillips. I was there for a 2nd opinion on the aortic aneurysm. Ironically, had I not gone there, the fistula system and LAD may have taken me out by now if the RCA aneurysm didn't get me first.

I am very high on Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and am very thankful for the Cardiologists Drs. Sabrina Phillips and Michael Gharacholuo, interventional radiologist Dr. Charles Ritchie and of course the cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Jack Haney and all their staffs.

Wow, this is an incredible description of what you went through. I'm amazed by all the surgeons were able to do. They must have been exhausted. I can't imagine the strain associated with performing an operation like that. It's like sending a rocket to the moon. And here you are to tell the tale. Good for you!!!

That's an incredible story and it's unbelievable what these surgeons are able to do. Compared to your operation, an aneurysm repair without complications sounds like a walk in the park. Quick question - Since you were dilated to 4.8cm were you going to have the aneurysm repaired during this surgery regardless of the root/ascending rupture?

We had initially discussed it and went into surgery with that planned. However, the morning of, due to the extensive surgery planned, it was thought to be too much by other consulting surgeons. He decided he would repair the aorta that day only if he had to open the aorta to ligate the fistula. We did discuss various scenarios of what and when to do something depending on circumstances. The root made the decision for the surgeon and we had a plan in place. In reality, that was a fortunate break for me because it could have ruptured anytime in the near future. It turns out the tissue was fragile which doesn't show up on scans or catheter angiograms. I am meeting later this month with the genetics clinic at Mayo to try and figure out what the origins of these things are i.e. the complex fistula, aorta etc.

Can I ask how old you are and how the recovery was once you got home? Also, I don't really hear what people are doing in the hospital to pass the time?

I am 60 y.o. I was in good shape leading up to this and it was kind of astonishing to find out everything I had going on between July 22 and August 12th. I had been dealing with the discovery of the aneurysm since Oct 31, 2023. The ICU staff were excellent. When I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a freight train. Of course I didn't know about the OR drama until sometime later. I came out of surgery at 10pm Tuesday and sometime Wed the ICU staff had me up walking for 200 steps with 4 wires, 3 tubes, swan etc. still attached. I was able to stand by myself using my leg strength even though a bit unsteady. I exceeded the daily recommended number of steps each day I was in ICU and the sept down unit. One of my family was there most of the time. I had no interest in TV and never turned it on. It took me about 3 days to even try and read texts. I think after 2 days I did talk briefly on the phone to 2 people for about 5 minutes each and talking that little was exhausting. Recovery went well in the hospital even with the extensive surgery. It was a challenge. The heparin shots in the abdomen every 6 hours was one of the minor inconveniences. Pulling out the 4 wires and later the tubes was an experience. The look on my wife's face when they pulled the swan out of my neck was priceless. However, laughing hurt. I know how Apollo Creed felt in the 15th round against Rocky anytime I sneezed, laughed or coughed. Don't even mention hiccups. There were people on the cardiac stepdown unit that had been there for weeks and even months in some cases waiting for a transplant which motivated me somewhat because I realized things can always be worse. Eating was difficult. I mostly ate fruit. Everything else had weird texture and taste due to the 27 hours of being under anesthesia. It took 2 months for things to start tasting o.k. Then I got the metallic taste for a while. When I got home, I spent a lot of time in the recliner between bouts of walking. I was able to avoid using a stroller. After 2 weeks at a friends, I was able to go home with my 3 Siberian huskies! I used a hiking staff to walk around my property for the first 3 weeks. At about 7 weeks had my legs under me really well and can walk the average person into the sidewalk. I am still working on the upper body strength and that will likely take me until June to be where I want to be. The sternum is the slowest thing to hell and it requires discipline to not do anything stupid. Sneezing still hurts but not as bad as a month ago.

Hi,
Anxiety was never a thing for me.
Now it’s trying to rule my life. I was always strong, fearless and not much anxiety to speak of. I had a panic attack in my drs office. What a horrible feeling.
I read something I will try to do daily.
What you tell your body, your body responds to so i am going to tell my body that I am the boss, I am happy and I am in charge and everything is fine. I am happy and strong and i will move on! I hope my body believes me… ❤️We got this !!!
Let’s take charge.