I am 60 and I survived an ascending aortic dissection 10 years ago. It was a nightmare and I barely survived. I would not recommend it for anyone. The chance of surviving a sudden dissection are slim if you are not lucky enough to be close to a major surgical center with the right aortic expert thoracic surgeon ready to go. I would not chance it knowing what I know now. I did not know that I had a problem until I had a problem.

You have the benefit of knowing that you have an aneurysm, which is at surgical levels now that it's at 5 cm. If it were me, I would have that surgery tomorrow. A planned surgery has much better outcomes than an emergent surgery like mine. I know that it's a daunting decision to make, but you need to listen to your surgical team and make the decision.

Think of it this way: it's sort of like having a huge bulge in the side of your tire and then deciding you're just going to continue to drive on it until something happens and hope for the best, as opposed to proactively getting the tire repaired while you're in town, near a shop that can handle it, and that has all the parts available to deal with it.

No one can make the decision for you, but I will tell you that I most certainly would have undergone planned surgery long before I would have waited for an emergency surgery when I was 1600 miles from home and in a hotel room on business in the middle of the night in San Diego. Peace.