Ascending Aortic Dilation - Ascending Aortic Aneurysm

"Incidentental finding " of a 4.2 CM ascending aorta aneurysm on a CT. I am 66 . My Doctor plans f/u CT in March, started me on a 3rd blood pressure pill and cholesterol med to gain better control, told to continue treadmill and free weights at the gym I joined before the diagnosis and said life as usual. Why am I still panicky?? Can this be right?

@Drew944 I think you need to just take a deep breath and not be so scared. I am sure your cardio has you monitored for the rate the aneurysm is growing and that is the critical issue. If your aneurysm is as slow growing as mine is, it may be 20 + years or more before you need surgical repair. And by then, they may have an entirely different way of repairing it.

I suggest you talk to your cardio about how fast this is growing and knowing it is not growing at a fast rate might give you some peace of mind. I am sure your cardio has suggested limiting how much you lift and that must be tough when you have such little children. But you can sit and they can crawl into your lap and you can have the same cuddling without the lifting. When necessary, I do lift things that perhaps I shouldn't but so far, the aneurysm is hardly growing at all. I have been warned to NEVER shovel snow so I don't and I don't do any work/exercise outside in the cold of winter.

Think positively. Knowing you have this is better than having it and not knowing it is there. I understand your fear and how devastated you must feel but don't let your fear steal your enjoyment of life. I wish you well.

"Incidentental finding " of a 4.2 CM ascending aorta aneurysm on a CT. I am 66 . My Doctor plans f/u CT in March, started me on a 3rd blood pressure pill and cholesterol med to gain better control, told to continue treadmill and free weights at the gym I joined before the diagnosis and said life as usual. Why am I still panicky?? Can this be right?

How do you know that you should not lift over 25lbs? You have not had surgery yet?

@laverne Hi Laverne, It sounds like about the same diagnosis at about the same time of my life. Actually, I I was diagnosed a couple of years earlier than you and I am now almost 74. And I felt panicky and horrified that this has happened to my body. I worry about it only enough to keep me from doing something dumb like lifting heavy items, pushing something or dragging something heavier than 25 lbs. Actually, for pushing and dragging, I assure the weight is much less than 25 lbs as there is always the inertia which adds to the physical stress.

I go to the gym every day, spend 35 minutes on the strider, do another 30 minutes of core exercises but I am careful with weight training. I work slowly with lower weights. So far, so good, aneurysm is stable. I have never had any pain and my diagnosis was also "incidental".

@Drew944 I think you need to just take a deep breath and not be so scared. I am sure your cardio has you monitored for the rate the aneurysm is growing and that is the critical issue. If your aneurysm is as slow growing as mine is, it may be 20 + years or more before you need surgical repair. And by then, they may have an entirely different way of repairing it.

I suggest you talk to your cardio about how fast this is growing and knowing it is not growing at a fast rate might give you some peace of mind. I am sure your cardio has suggested limiting how much you lift and that must be tough when you have such little children. But you can sit and they can crawl into your lap and you can have the same cuddling without the lifting. When necessary, I do lift things that perhaps I shouldn't but so far, the aneurysm is hardly growing at all. I have been warned to NEVER shovel snow so I don't and I don't do any work/exercise outside in the cold of winter.

Think positively. Knowing you have this is better than having it and not knowing it is there. I understand your fear and how devastated you must feel but don't let your fear steal your enjoyment of life. I wish you well.

I am checked once a year and so far so good. Am in 4 exercise classes per week and plan on staying in them for good. Good luck on your scan reports.

"Incidentental finding " of a 4.2 CM ascending aorta aneurysm on a CT. I am 66 . My Doctor plans f/u CT in March, started me on a 3rd blood pressure pill and cholesterol med to gain better control, told to continue treadmill and free weights at the gym I joined before the diagnosis and said life as usual. Why am I still panicky?? Can this be right?

That's wonderful, @maryswims, I'm so pleased for you!

"Incidentental finding " of a 4.2 CM ascending aorta aneurysm on a CT. I am 66 . My Doctor plans f/u CT in March, started me on a 3rd blood pressure pill and cholesterol med to gain better control, told to continue treadmill and free weights at the gym I joined before the diagnosis and said life as usual. Why am I still panicky?? Can this be right?