Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

@smoog look, I'm not gonna lie. The surgery is tough and the recovery can be brutal. I had a complete aortic dissection at age 50 back in 2015. It was sudden and without any warning at all. The great news for you is that you know so that it won't be a shock to your system. I would certainly remove anything beyond moderate walks at this point though. I don't really see the benefit to testing your limits before surgery. I understand that exercise is like an opioid for some people, but in our situation, it can be lethal if it's not carefully controlled. Your discussion about heavy weightlifting resonated because well I certainly never competed, I did bench press very very heavyweights in my 20s and 30s. You will find that dead, lifting and bench pressing are two of the exercises. A good cardiothoracic aortic expert surgeon will tell you not to do when you've got an aortic aneurysm or a repaired aortic dissection. My best advice, don't take advice from anyone who's not a thoracic surgeon with aortic expertise or who hasn't survived an aortic dissection. I would certainly endeavor to lower your blood pressure. Something I learned that I never knew is that sugar spike's blood pressure. If I eliminate as much refined sugar as I can for my diet, I can control my blood pressure. Coffee has absolutely no effect on my blood pressure so that's good. You're in a good place and you're gonna be OK. I want you to promise all of us that after your surgery you'll come back and tell us how you're doing so that we can continue the dialogue. It's a very small club to be in so don't be surprised if it's hard to find other aortic dissection survivors. I looked for 10 years before I found this group. Peace.

March 2025 while at work i had a severe pain left flank of my lower back, with this i had a swollen Knee joint, that appeared overnight i felt it was my Gout flaring up again but in the knee this time, my left Knee... the pain was unbearable, ER Doc said for sure a Kidney Stone, something id never had before... The CT found a small 4 mm stone ... also it found a 4.2 CM Cyst on the left Kidney, and a 3.4 CM ABDOMINAL ANEURYSM ... My Mother died of a Cerebral Hemmorage caused by the same thing in 1976, she was 52, I was 13 at the time... I was told that i may indeed inheriet this condition... Im 62 now... high blood pressure, high Tri-glicerides, Ect. Its been a Year now and i just had an MRI done at the Veterans Admin. and im happy to report that the AAA is now just at 3.6 CM im very high strung, hyper-active since Birth and still.... Anxiety off the Charts at times ... I quit working, and got the BP controlled... i stayed active riding my Mountain Bike, walking miles every week... Some heavy lifting when we had to move suddenly at Christmas which worried me.... Doc says its good that im young?

@ktracy515 So I just had another CTA scan after 5 months 25 days, my aneurism grew another .5 cm,. So now how often should I have it checked??

Hi everyone. I am writing to you through the grace of God, cause quite frankly, I should not be here. I am a 68 year old woman who looked and felt like nothing could stop me. I have been retired for 7 years and left quite a stressful position. I quit smoking 15 years ago after having suffered a DVT a few days after a long plane journey. At that time, tests indicated that my aorta showed no abnormality and was consistent with my age. My mom had an AAA and had surgery at 87 years old but unfortunately, the operation was too much for her frail system and she passed away. I have been taking statines for my cholesterol for some years.

In June 2025 I was reading when I felt an acute back ache on my left side. I got up hoping to ease the pain when after a few minutes the pain radiated to my abdomen.
The pain finally got so intense I slumped to the floor. After refusing an ambulance as I thought the pain would subside, my husband called them anyway. I got up from the floor and made my way to the bed waiting for the ambulance to arrive. EMT's diagnosis was kidney stones but after an abrupt drop in blood pressure and visible pulsation in my left quadrant it was determined I had an AAA and was rushed to the hospital where after a scan they determined I had a 9,2 cm (yes, not a typo) aneurism in the midst of rupture, together with 2 smaller ones, 3.8 cm and 3.2 cm, and to top it off, horseshoe kidneys that were obstructing the field. The hospital I was brought to did not have a vascular surgeon, so I was put in another ambulance and rushed to another hospital 30 km away. My family was advised at that time that I would probably not survive the trip.

Upon arrival at the next hospital, I was quickly rushed to the OR but not before the surgeon woke me up to tell me he would do his best but could make no promises and asked if I understood. My only thought at the time was no matter what happens just make the pain stop. And to say that I felt fine 2 hours before, now, no one knows if I will live or die.

After surgery, my family was told the next 24 to 72 hours would be critical and due to the fact that I had lost more than 3.5 litres of blood, I could suffer impairements.

Well I did make it cause here I am. The kidneys were surgically seperated without consequence, the aorta was replaced and I was left with a scar from my sternum to my pelvis.

The surgery was quite hard to recover from. No appetite, sever fatigue, anxiety attacks and the constant feeling that the grim reaper would return for me. 10 months in, if not for the scar, I feel fine but wake up sometimes at night and relive the scenario again in my head. I am on mild medication for high blood pressure, statines and mild blood thinners. My 2 smaller aneurisms will be monitored yearly and I have decided that the experience will not keep me down. If this is the way I will go, then so be it. Life is too short!

Our Lord was with you! It's a lot to go through, and it does help to talk with others who have been through it.

@joanp57 i am one of the one percenters. But sometimes amongst us we talk about those more urgent and critical than us. Someone like you it seems.
Well done to you for making it through, and more to you for telling us your story.
My aneurysm was 6.5 but I dissected. The ambulance never showed but fortunately my wife got me to a major hospital. In so doing she saved my life.
Joan, you have a purpose. There is a reason you are still with us and given another chance. You don't need to understand it but you do have it.
For a year I wandered through my days searching for mine. Full of anxiety, doubt and often fear I realised my purpose was to advocate for myself and help others to understand what had happened to me. I meet every month with others like me to talk as friends who share a common story. And this is so helpful to overcome my fear of the future.
I encourage you to find others like yourself and take the journey together. You will always remember, but over time you will not look back.
There are brighter days ahead. You just need to get out into the sun and enjoy them.

@martinkennot
Thank you for that!

I have had an adominable aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic aneurysm operations . 6 months I returned home from my thoracic operation. I would like to build up my stamina and strenght again. Are their recommended exercise programs available?

I just got off the phone with the Internal medicine specialist who diagnosed me wih biscuspid aortic valve and aortic dilation 4.1. The internist said to carry on with my activity level and she will redo the echocardiogram in 3 years. She told me also told me the dilation progression is usually 0.2-0.6 per year... If I understand this correctly you should consider surgery when the dilation is around 5.. By her own calculations.. 0.2 go 0.6 increase per year puts me at 5.3 in two years.. Yet the eccho is not done until 3 years... She said she would order me a 24 hr BP monitor and CT scan for calcium score. She forgot to order the 24 hour bp monitor....

Next BP.. I was advised to monitor my own BP with an OMRON bp machine... which I did. I took the BP multiple times a day. after a couple of weeks.. All readings were "high" ... ... Then she told me the family doctor is usually the one who puts patients on medication. She said I was "too anxious" and that if she hadn't told me I had this diagnosis, I wouldn't have known about it. ... "Just carry on as I was before".... she will reassess in 3 years.
I told her on line resources recommend lowering BP, no heavy lifting, easy to moderate exercise. I asked how to get Travel Medical Insurance if I have a heart condition that is not stable.. she said this is "Mild".
Anyhow.. she asked if I wanted a referral to a cardiologist and I said yes, please... again referring to my anxiety..
Oh well. I guess that's a positive move forward.. I'm not anxious when I know the facts and know somebody has got my back. I like to get my ducks in a row...and let go of the things I can't control.

Any other advise would be welcome. Do you I a medical alert bracelet?? How do I describe this to get travel medical insurance??

I'm having allot of issues with my stomach and esophagus. The pain is almost unbearable and the shortness of breath and chest pain is scary. Its been 8 days now that it keeps going and now my BP is super high. I can't eat drink or sleep and no one will help. Any advice