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Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others
Aortic Aneurysms | Last Active: Dec 11 7:12pm | Replies (581)Comment receiving replies
Hi there,
My name is Gary, and I’m new to this group. I recently received a diagnosis of an enlarged aortic aneurysm measuring 4.3 mm, which was discovered during a routine CT scan. In two months, I’ll be undergoing a CT scan with contrast for further evaluation.
This diagnosis has been a significant adjustment for me. I’ve always been active—running, competing in mountain bike races, and working out regularly. For now, I’ve had to put those activities on hold, and while I’m coping reasonably well mentally, it’s still a scary situation to process after living such an active lifestyle.
I’m hoping to find encouragement, support, and maybe some peace of mind from others here who understand what this experience is like. Thank you for letting me be part of this group.
Best regards,
Gary
Replies to "Hi there, My name is Gary, and I’m new to this group. I recently received a..."
That is essentially my story, too. After being extremely active all my life I have developed CAD (familial high LDL and didn't get on a statin soon enough), a first degree heart block (Lyme disease??), and now an aortic aneurism. After the diagnosis for each one I had an OMG moment... but those passed and I am carrying on with my active life. I don't race MTB or sprint for county line signs or KOMs on the steep hills anymore, but I still ride. If you watch the very informative video above the doc says that steady aerobic exercise is fine and even beneficial. So, get back on that bike.
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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Read through these threads and I think you'll get some peace of mind.
Though the aneurysm is scary, yours is at a size that the risk of dissection is pretty low I think. (I'm not a doctor.) When my aneurysm was that size, the cardio-thoracic surgeon that monitors it, said he didn't have any restrictions on my exercise, though he recommended against becoming a powerlifter. I think that was probably on the side of being a little cavalier, but this guy has been monitoring aneurysms his entire career and he has a solid medical background. So that gives you some feel for the situation. I should say too, that I don't have any known family history that would drive the aneurysm. If you did, the situation would be different.
It's really hard to get your arms around the exercise recommendations for people with an aneurysm. I don't think anyone knows. It's tough to measure. (How would you test whatever theory you had? Your test would potentially kill the test subjects and what killed one person, might not kill another anyway. You also can't recreate the conditions that caused someone to dissect or rupture.) So I think they just measure how your BP is increased with different exercises and make rough recommendations on keeping it "safe", for some seemingly conservative definition of "safe". The video linked above is good. There are others if you dig around on YouTube some. The video above is through a group called "Aortic Hope". They have several videos from experts talking about exercise with an aneurysm or post-dissection. These sessions are recorded from live meetings that supposedly you can post questions to. I tried posting a question once, but it never was answered despite the fact that there appeared to be time for more questions. YMMV.
These groups are a great resource. It's a pretty active group. Usually you'll get helpful responses to your questions or find someone to commiserate. It's also worth searching questions you might have to find past discussions.
Good luck! Try not to worry!!