I asked about the graft, my cardiologist said it will survive me!! No need to worry about it. But there is a chance a new dilation may appear on parts of my aorta outside of the graft (I would ask that question, I am going to follow up with mine in the subject). Also the level of activity after, I am very intense in my workout, my last echo early this year actually showed my valve hasn’t deteriorated a bit and he told me keep doing what I’m doing, but my heart rate is reaching 160 in some workouts and that sometimes worries me, one of the questions I have for him.
If you’re concerned, I would ask about genetics, can this be a family thing (it can be) and whether you should have other members of you blood related relatives checked.
Be prepared to have an angiogram pre op, they will want to make sure you don’t have anything else to fix while your chest is open, they will check for blockages, etc
Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, I wish I had had this group when I had my surgery!!!!
I love being able to communicate with actual people that have gone through the procedure. Your story hits especially close to me seeing as are stories are pretty similar (accidental finding, roughly the same size aneurysm and both having a bicuspid aortic valve.) The amount of ease and peace that you've been able to bring me by sharing your story has been a life saver for me. I have my triage phone call with Mayo thoracic surgery either today or Monday. I can't wait to get on the other side of all of this and hopefully be able to bring peace to others who are in my shoes in the future.