Aortic Aneurysms – Introduce yourself & meet others

My name is Mark. I have had a 4.7cm ascending thoracic aortic anuerism since 2016. I am 63 years old and I recently had afib issues which resulted in having an ablation on 5/13/26. Since the surgery I have been having anxiety and it has raised my BP into the 140/80 to 155/89 range. These readings are almost always during my morning readings. I work out 6 days a week and I have been trying to keep my BP in a good range. I take 25mg losartin twice a day. My blood pressure is usually in the good range other than the morning readings. I wake up sometimes very early in the morning because of headaches only to find my BP is high. Does anyone have similar issues?

Mine was 4.9cm. The hospital in California said it wasn't big enough to operate. So I asked Cleveland Clinic if they would do it so I could return to my active lifestyle. They said yes and scheduled me based on paper records only. When the Cali one heard about that, they scheduled me 5 days later. Magically the records were changed! That was much more convenient at the time, although if I had to do it again I would go to Mayo in Rochester or Cleveland Clinic. I am not saying to bypass your doctor's advice. But after presenting a couple of articles from the surgery inventor, Tirone David MD, with 81% having a better complication/survival rate 15 years later if caught at 4.5 to 4.9 (worse the larger it got) I was very persuasive. Good luck with your recovery! Wishing you the best. AI can pull those links up, Mayo won't let me post them here.

@mark5284 I struggled with the right combination of BP pills for awhile. Doctors were conflicted on the right ones to use. Eventually they got the right combination, but the first doctor was not the one that came up with it. Good luck! Don't give up the search.

@mark5284 could be elevated cortisol and anxiety causing elevated BP

Question: is anyone dealing with 1/3 left ventricular heart failure with preserved ejection fracture combined with their ascending aneurysm? Do these affect each other? Are there studies and resources addressing this? I am trying to apply this to my exercise regime, which I am having trouble with. @jeanneap might be having something similar, but I am not sure. My aneurysm is holding steady at 4.4. Any information will be helpful.

My name is Mary. I'm 79, and I have a Complex 5.8 cm abdominal aorta aneurysm. My medical coverage is through Northern CA at Kaiser Permanente. Are there any recommendations on who the best Complex Abdominal Aorta Aneurysm Vascular Surgeons are in Northern CA at Kaiser Permanente?
I am married and have a son and daughter-in-law, but I feel like I don't have the support I need to get through this. After my son and daughter-in-law found out the urgency of surgery, they packed up and moved to Iowa. My husband is a loving man but doesn't know how to show support. My BP is all over the place, and I feel like I am all alone and fear that I will not survive the complex stent graft surgery, and if I do, my kidneys will be damaged. I don't trust that I have the best vascular surgery team. Any recommendations? My surgery is set for August 25, 2026,

I'm a 58 year old man with a 4.2 cm aortic aneurysm thoracic that I discovered during a CT scan in 2021. I have a great Stanford Doctor out here in CA. We monitor the aneurysm mainly through an annual echocardiogram; which shows it has been stable over the last 5 years. I never would have known about it 5 years ago without the CT scan. I've kept my blood pressure in check through medication and have dialed back on my weightlifting to cycling and swimming. We have some great outdoor heated pools here on the Northern Sonoma County on the Pacific Coast. Looking at some of the posts I lean towards less worrying and focusing on more cardio. I view it as keeping my heart strong and the plumbing in check. I look forward to hearing more and chiming in on this chat. Thank you.

@maryrg maybe your best option is an intermidiate care facility for a couple of weeks following your surgery. I am in Canada so things are different, but there is also retirement facilities who offer temporary housing with nursing help for people like you. You will definitely need a couple of weeks of help for sure.

@joanp57 Thank you, Joan...Good advice. I'll look into that.

Hollikal here.
Updating my post.
On the 4th of Mar. I had a repeat CT and it showed 4.8cm. The cardiologist says it is stable and will repeat the CT in 6 months. To me it doesn't seem stable. Increasing in size by .3cm in a 7month span.
I am wondering when a cardiothoracic surgeon would be brought on board and consulted? My PCP mentioned it awhile back about consulting with one but she didn't want to "step on toes" by going over the cardiologist. My cardiologist hasn't mentioned anything about getting in touch with a surgeon. I would like to speak to one, but how do you find one that has experience in ascending aortic aneurysm repair. I suppose cardio's are used to patients getting 2nd opinions and it wouldn't be going over her head.
Would I want one local (Minneapolis-St. Paul area),or a top-rated clinic?
Lately I have been having issues with 'orthostatic hypotension', dizziness, fatigue, feeling exhausted after walking for 5-10 minutes. Dr's want me to walk but it is too exhausting.
At the end of March, I started on Zepbound for wt. loss. I have lost close to 20#. My PCP thinks my issues could be related to the wt. loss and being dehydrated so she adjusted my Lasix and told me to push fluids. The labs that she did last week showed all normal except for my creatine & eGFr. Creatine was 1.24(should be under 1.01), GFR - 40 (should be over 60). These values are normally reversed from what they should be but not by this much. I don't feel like drinking that much.
Is there a charge for the virtual visit at Cleveland clinic?
i didn't mean to be so lengthy but this is what I'm toying with.
Any suggestions would be helpfu.
Thanks.