Aortic Aneurysm Repair Success Stories

That's awesome to hear, do they have any worries or concerns of these grafts failing or the sutures pulling away from them? Sorry for all of the questions but as I was reading one of your comments a little earlier, Mayo surgical unit called me to start getting the process rolling and now my mind is flying all over the place. Also, what questions did you have for the team that you think I should be asking? I don't want to miss out on anything that I should know.

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.

I'm glad we have been able to bring you comfort. Stay postive, as tough as these surgeries are, they are incredibly common and for experienced surgeons they are routine, the success rate is very high, especially if your body is in good shape. Think about any accomodations/help you will need afterwards, (little things like someone recommended I installed a bidet toilet seat which I actually did and helped, moving your arms back the first week or two will be painful), have a comfy chair to rest and remember you won't be allowed to drive for 2-3 weeks. Also, take care of all your affairs, hard to talk about those things but I did make sure everything was taken care of, Will, finances, etc.

I've heard people that lament "why did this happen to me, I am so unlucky" I chose to look at it differently, 1st I feel lucky they found it before it was too late, not everyone has that chance, 2nd I feel lucky I live in a period when this is "easily" treatable, years ago it wasn't the case.

I wish you all the best, it will be over before you know it and this will be come an anecdote with a scar to remind you. Keep your annual appointments, if they don't replace your BAV, it will need to be monitored and treat your body well!!!

What was sleeping like when you got back home? Were you able to lay flat or were you in a recliner? What were the 5 days in the hospital like? Were you able to walk around or will I be that tired that all I'll want to do is sleep?

They want you walking pretty quickly after surgery, I had just had leg fracture surgery and that made it a little more difficult for me but i used a walker. No issues laying flat, sometimes laying on the side was a little uncomfortable as it puts pressure on your sternum, but I found the right combination of pillows to make it more comfortable.

The hospital is what you would expect, a couple of days in the ICU while they monitor you, hoses and wires coming out of you, nurses will help you walk with them. (my nurses were awesome, they normally are). They gave me a pump with a pain killer that I could press if I had a lot of pain, I am scared of opiods so I think I pumped it once only (they were all surprised about that), after my leg fracture my threshold for pain is very high. After a couple of days they took all the hoses and wires out and moved me into a non critical care unit room, just like any hospital they check on you all the time, vitals, weight, etc wake you up when you are finally resting, etc. It is uncomfortable, they manhandle organs that are not supposed to be touched, so it takes some time for the body to recover.

The main source of pain is your sternum, it is broken and it takes a while to start healing, coughing, laughing, sneezing will hurt some. They will give you a small pillow that you embrace when you sneeze or cough to hold your sternum as together as possible, that pillow will be your best friend for a couple of weeks. I walked as much as I could when I got home, tried to sit more than lay down. As I said I went back to work 3 weeks later, still with minor pain but tried to go back to my life as much as I could.

After surgery is tough, won't lie, but it is berable and over before you know it

Sleeping in the hospital was tough... just too much noise and traffic in and out. As it turned out for me, the only position I was somewhat comfortable with was lying on my back and that continued for the first few weeks at home. You will want to walk every day... move around as much as possible, even if you are tired. It will make a big difference in your recovery. You will start feeling a LOT better a few weeks post surgery but don't push it with overly strenuous exercises of the upper body... that will come with time.

Even in the hospital ICU they got me up in a recliner for part of the day even with all the wires hoses etc. I had a similar routine the 1st 3 weeks at home. Tuesday will be the 3 month mark for me and I am still using the heart pillow Mayo gave me primarily because the occasional sneeze hurts like hades. The early morning hours from 3 to 4 there was a lab tech coming in every morning to take blood and an x-ray tech to do chest X-Rays.

Can I ask which surgeon did you operation?

Dr. Jack Haney who is the chair of the dept. I initially saw Dr. Sabrina Phillips and still do who is a congenital cardiovascular specialist. The thing about Mayo is you get a top notch team and not just an individual.

When it was apparent I needed a second opinion over the local group, I had a shortlist and the 3 at the top were Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Oh and as a backup, Shands-UF in Gainesville.