Managing Anxiety with an Aneurysm

Hi Pearl! I, too, began searching for a TAA specialist because my doc was advising me not to lift anything over 50 lbs!!!! and that he felt he and I could monitor my aneurysm until it got to 5 cm. Mine is 4.5 and, so far, stable.

Well, that did not make me sleep well at all. I took Houston’s advice and have my first appointment with Dr Estrera 6/30. That is a 4.5 hour drive for me but I can’t swing Cleveland Clinic or Mayo. I will keep you posted and,,, thanks again Houston!

I’m glad you have your appointment soon. Wishing you the best. Mine is also stable but is hard not think about it. Hope everything goes well good with your appointment. Please keep me posted

Hi. I have a question which Dr. would you recommend me to see. The Cardiologist or the Surgeon. I believe TAA is stable and not in need of surgery so I’m kind of confused in to which one to go see

Good question, in my case mine was already at 5.2cm so ready for repair, I saw the surgeon first in that case and he referred me to Dr Prakash the cardiologist. They communicated.

In your case, because yours won’t need repair soon, maybe seeing Dr Prakash can happen first. Dr Prakash is an absolute expert in aneurysms, all his research is in the subject (aortic diseases and aortic valves), and he will guide you. Alternatively, maybe you can get appointments with both that are close to each other so that you can see both in one trip. Their offices are in buildings next to each other.

Make sure you get all the imaging and reports you have had so far, that will make things easier.

Best of luck!!

As a reference here’s a video of Dr Prakash talking about aneurysms and exercising. It will give you a reference for who he is. This video was originally shared by someone in this forum and I have reposted it a couple of times when questions about exercising come out. There is a follow up video with some results of his research that someone posted recently, I haven’t watched that one yet.

Good luck!!

Thank you for the video. It has a lot of good of information and I really like him. Hopefully I can get an appointment with him soon. I already submitted for an appointment date.

Thanks for asking this. I found out this is what I have this past Thursday and I am so scared.

So sorry to hear this. At the beginning was so scary, then for me it slow down that I was leaving a happy normal life and then here I go again start thinking about it every day. But since I joint this group I’m feeling better. I will recommend you to look for a good cardiologist that specializes in aneurysm and get a support group that you can talk about it. I think that was my problem I was not talking about it to anyone and how I was feeling I’m even thinking of getting therapy. I’m blessed that I work for a wonderful company and they offer all the resources I need. Don’t be afraid we are going to get through this together. If you ever need someone to talk to send me a message. I’ll be here for you.

You found the right place, it is hard for everyone when you first find out. But everyone here is going or has gone through the same, so we all understand. The main thing right now is for you to find the right care and follow up. Depending on where you live you need to find the best cardiologist and surgeon, a cardiologist that specializes in aneurysms and aortic diseases (not all of them do) and a surgeon that has done hundreds/thousands of surgeries, they will guide you.