Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

Ed, you're going to be fine. Relax. You've got a plan and that's what really matters. Knowing you have an issue makes you better than 99.99% of us who found out we had a problem only when we dissected. You just need to relax, keep your blood pressure down, take nice walks, and see your thoracic surgeon next month. No planking, deadlifting, or grunting heavy loads. I dissected suddenly and without warning. It was real disaster. I had no idea what an aneurysm was let alone an aorta. I am sitting here send you this message almost 11 years later, post two open heart surgeries, feeling better than I have ever felt. You're going to be fine. I know it's hard not to worry, but you've been given a gift from the universe--knowing you have a problem that can be addressed rationally and systematically with a planned operation. That beats a sudden dissection outside of a Marriott in San Diego, 1,600 miles from home, at 1:34 a.m. on a Sunday night, every day that ends in "y." You're okay and you're going to be fine. Trust me: don't take advice from anyone unless they either survived a dissection or a thoracic surgeon with expertise in aortic repair. Peace.

@moonboy thanks for the reply. As you know just hearing what you said helps.

Luckily an earlier appointment came open and I see the surgeon on Monday.

Good luck Ed may the force be with you! I see my cardiologist every 6 months for monitoring. When you said you felt like a ticking time bomb, I remember feeling the same way. It took me awhile to get to see my cardiologist as well, 6 years ago and COVID. Never would I have guessed I had an Ascending Aortic Aneurysm, showed up in a chest x-ray. As mentioned before blood pressure monitoring is the key, taking meditative walks, reducing stress( how do we do that in today's world?, and eating properly. Oh take your BP machine with you to the doctor's office to make sure yours is accurate. Keep us posted on your journey.

@moonboycan you talk a little about your recovery? I’m three weeks out from open abdominal aneurysm repair and I have severe fatigue. No appetite. Can’t taste anything ..peeing every 2 hours. Don’t get staples out for 3 more weeks . I will say pain has been minimal thank goodness and that was a surprise to me. What was your experience with recovery

Hello, my name is Cynthia and I had a burst AAA 6 years ago repaired by EVAR.
I now have a 1" Aneurysm and a large stent in my abdomen. I see the Vascular Surgeon once a year for a MRI.
My question is can I take Magnesium supplement ? My arms & legs feel heavy & I need something to get me going!

@ymca49 It took me about 3 years before I felt right, honestly. It was a slow walk up a steep hill. That said, I feel great today. The first two months of recovery, everything tasted like metal. I lost about 45 pounds (but sadly regained all of it). I had terrible night terrors for the first two years. It was hard to fall asleep for the first couple of years. I slowly came back. The sadness lifted. I am reborn. Here I am in San Diego working last week. There is life after dissection.

@moonboy
I understand how lucky I am that we found mine and I was able to get it repaired before it burst. you are so lucky to have survived that ! I wonder why the tastebuds are involved? How long was your surgery? Mine was about 8 hours. Did you find you had to pee all the time? They say that is because of all the fluids they have to pump into you but it seems those should be out by now? No matter what complaint I express with my doctor the reply is the same "This was a huge surgery and these things are to be expected." It helps so much to know someone else had similar symptoms...you look great by the way

13 hours surgery and then 7 hours of follow up surgery 3 days later. Two weeks in a coma. I slept more less for the first two months after surgery. I underwent 46 mins of Deep Hypothermic Complete Circulatory Arrest (DHCA). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_hypothermic_circulatory_arrest - "Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) is a surgical technique in which the temperature of the body falls significantly (between 20 °C (68 °F) to 25 °C (77 °F)) and blood circulation is stopped for up to one hour. It is used when blood circulation to the brain must be stopped because of delicate surgery within the brain, or because of surgery on large blood vessels that lead to or from the brain. DHCA is used to provide a better visual field during surgery due to the cessation of blood flow.[1] DHCA is a form of carefully managed clinical death in which heartbeat and all brain activity cease." Read that twice my friend. It explains why things can be a bit wonky at times. Request a complete copy of your medical records post-surgery and see if they used that technique on you. It's worth asking your cardiothoracic at your next appointment. Peace.

@moonboy what a miracle that you are even alive to share this! Thank you for taking the time to share all this information so greatly appreciated. I am indeed lucky that I had the opportunity to repair this before it burst. Also lucky university of Iowa has My Chart and everything is posted…test results, docs notes clinical notes even nurses reports for every shift so I can access all that information ….going to re-read through it all to see if that procedure as used during my surgery. Thanks again.

Hello, I am a 60 year old male, 6' 1" tall, 218lbs. I had a CT scan < 7 months ago, they found a 4.1cm TAA. Now I realize that may not be that bad, however, I have had many CT scans before with and without contrast in the same area as they were looking for more blood clots, (I have clotted up four times, the last being main in rt leg, both lungs and my neck). So with that being said, as an engineer, I view this as a 4.1cm growth in one year excessive as that was my last CT scan showing nothing at all. My hematologist agrees that this is concerning as she reviewed my last 5 CT scans showing nothing. So, my point, I strongly feel I need another scan to see how much it has grown since this last showing scan which was 6 months 3 days ago... Am I right, or over reacting?? I hope I didn't duplicate this as it is my first time posting on a forum.. TY, Keith