am I exercising too much with a 4.3 ascending aortic aneurysm?

Actually I am female…lol. 5’5” and 147 lbs. I certainly am not a hard core athlete but did enjoy the option to participate in activities. I feel like I am losing part of who I am…if that makes any sense.

That make’s perfect sense!! Exactly how I felt. Being a strong woman is part of who I am!

I have a torn aortic aneurysm in my abdomen. It only measures 3 cm but it is torn. I went to a hospital emergency department for an unrelated issue and the doctor walks into my exam room and said “we are going to transfer you to a trauma hospital for emergency surgery”

I asked why and he said that a CT scan showed that I had a torn aortic aneurysm. I said ok then was transferred to a trauma hospital. While in the trauma hospital a cardiovascular surgeon said that I would have to come back into the hospital but right now it isn’t bleeding so we feel that you are stable enough to be discharged. I felt uncomfortable with that but I accepted it.

The cardiovascular doctor said for me to see my cardiovascular surgeon ASAP. I made the appointment with him for the next day and he laughed and said “I don’t see anything through a sonogram.”

He was obviously Annoyed that I dare visit him and he was quick to attend to the patients that had appointments that day.
He poo pood the whole appointment and he walked out saying “all hospitals say ASAP and we have ways to take care of these things!”

What if I’m briskly taking a walk and I collapse? Most people would think I had a heart attack and push on my chest. That would do nothing and I could die as burst aneurysms are usually fatal. As he was walking out of the exam room I asked him if could burst and he said “it could!” Then said “see you next year!” I made an appointment for a year from now.

I happen to have a replacement aortic mechanical heart valve and am on blood thinners which could cause me to bleed out. Should I seek a second opinion.
I messaged my PCP last week and he has failed to respond. I feel like a walk-in time bomb!

Oh my goodness! I would be getting a second and third opinion as soon as possible. Number one that cardiac surgeon would have been fired! At least from my patient care. Mine had to go into an emergency surgery while I was there, which was totally understandable, I was not as high risk as you. And the PA had spent 45 minutes with me. I felt very confident that this was an emergency situation and I would be considering getting a new primary care physician as well. This is a serious condition. They should be calling you back they should be giving you guidance not walking out of the room!

Yeah you’re right. When you explain to your PCP what happened and he doesn’t respond then I should dump him. My laughing cardiovascular surgeon should go next. Especially when I asked him if it could burst and he nonchalantly said that it could. Then practically running out of the exam room. He wasn’t taking me seriously. I had questions I couldn’t ask because he blew me off.

The first hospital I went to said that they found a torn aneurysm and was being transferred to a specialized hospital for emergency surgery.
The second hospital, the cardiovascular surgeon agreed but said that since it wasn’t bleeding at that time I should call my jerky cardiovascular surgeon ASAP and he blew me off. That’s a ratio of 2 vs 1 dingbat.
I googled “Cardiovascular surgeons near me “and at least a dozen showed up with most having doctors hospital privileges at some of the best hospitals including a heart hospital. My cardiovascular surgeon never told me the size of it. Even if it was small I still want to know what size it is so I don’t get a surprise.

I poured over the trauma hospital’s portal which I downloaded years ago and there I found it tucked away in a doctor’s notes “History of aortic aneurysm, and it said 3cm.
You know how long I’ve been dying to find out and I finally found it? A year ago I began to wonder and I just forgot to ask him. That shouldn’t have to be my responsibility in order to find out He should have told me instead of “see you next year!”

I know what you mean. Being strong and weight-lifting a lot of weight has been such a big part of my identity. I'd say this has been the most difficult part of the lifestyle change since my diagnosis last year. I've learned about the hundreds weight training method and recently asked about it at my last checkup. Here's some info: https://scarysymptoms.com/2014/09/aortic-aneurysm-safely-build-muscle/

I was Diagnosed 11/20/23 with Ascending Aorta Aneurysm…. Because my Ekg came back abnormal for Deviated Septum Surgery…. Then followed up with Echocardiogram & Cat Scan with my Cardiologist …. 63 year old Male…..6 4” 230lbs…. 160 Cholesterol…. 130/70 Blood Pressure…. Non Smoker… Social Drinks…. Healthy Diet… Pull ups, Push ups … Dips… Weight Training with 225 lb Bench Press 10/12 Reps & the list Gos on…. Exercise is my Mental Therapy & Stress Release & lifestyle…My Cardiologist told me he will Monitor me every 6/ Months… I need to have a Plan of Action for Elective Surgery & Repair prior to a potential Rapture…..I also realize 5.0 to 5.5 is the Let’s do Surgery #…. I’m very Blessed 🙏my Medical Condition was found…. I realize I have to Modify my Workout Routine drastically…. I’m spending Day & Night researching every Surgeon that Specializes in this field…, I wish you all & your Families Health & Happinesses in this Holiday Season 🎄🙏… Best Regards Ken

I am sorry you have been diagnosed with this aneurysm. And you are right, you are lucky to have had it discovered while it is still relatively small.

I have the same aneurysm at the same size and have been monitoring it for over 10 years; it is very, very slow growing and is considered "small" by the cardiologist.

I am a 78 YO female who was a gym rat when all this started. I still go to the gym but I do limit my activities. My cardio told me that I should not be lifting more than 25 lbs. The recommendation for a male might be different. I do planks and asked her if these were OK and she said anything that used only my own body weight was OK.

I know your feeling about just having this issue surgically repaired but the surgery itself has risks. There are two types of repair that I know of and one of them is a stent type repair that has an efficacy of about 10 years. If my aneurysm grows to the 5.0+ size, that is likely the repair that would be recommended for me because of my age. The other surgery is open chest surgery, very invasive and not something that anyone would want to have done unnecessarily.

Once you have discussed your exercise regimen with your cardio, I suspect you might find alternatives to some of the weight training you are currently doing and can carry on with your life. Hopefully your aneurysm will be static and you will never need surgery. At the slow rate that my aneurysm is growing, I suspect I will never need surgery and will die of something totally unrelated.

If you have both a CT scan and an echocardiogram for measuring the aneurysm, be aware that they are not measured in the same way. One measures straight across and the other measures on the bias so don't panic if you suddenly get a higher number from a new test. Also, it is helpful to remember that the 4.3 measurement is the actual size of the aorta, not how much bigger it is than the rest of the aorta. Your normal aorta might be 3.8 so 4.3 is a small bulge, not a balloon.

I wish you peace and good health. Your aneurysm is likely not as life threatening as you fear and is just something that needs to be managed -- like so much else as we age.

Donna

Donna, I appreciate your Kind words & Positive Encouragement … Have a Happy Holiday Season…. Thank you Ken

Hi Kmailloux, my wife just discovered this blog and encouraged me to join and share. In late 2019 I had an MTB accident and broke my leg, during the surgery prep they discovered I had a 5.2 cm ascending aortic aneurysm also linked to a biscupid aortic valve, I was 54 years old then and exercised often (not as much as you) and in very good physical shape. My aneurysm was already within the size to consider surgery, there’s also a genetic factor in my family that makes us vulnerable somehow to getting aneurysms, and in some cases they have ruptured, none aortic though. I spoke with a surgeon and a cardiologist (awesome both) who specializes on aneurysms and their relationship to bicuspid valves. My surgeon told me that based on my physical fitness and overall health the surgery would be minimum risk, and I could return to my normal life, it could not be done immediately since my leg had to heal enough to allow me to walk after heart surgery. I made my mind immediately, the stress of knowing what I had was unbearable, every time I felt a little pain in my chest I jumped, they were all mainly muscular. I had my repair surgery in early 2020, and as my surgeon said, it went with no issues. Not going to minimize it, it is painful (not as much as the leg fracture though) and as I was recovering there were moments I felt the worst I felt in my life, but I was out of the hospital in less than a week and back to work in 3. I work out with no restrictions except the ones left by the leg fracture (hard to run, but I continue biking). Surgery is a personal choice but thought I’d shared if you ever consider it. I see my cardiologist every year mainly to monitor the bicuspid valve, at some point it will have to be replaced, in some cases that cannot happen endovascularly if the aneurysm is still there. My valve was still in good shape when I had the surgery so they left it knowing they if/when it needed to be replaced it could be done by catheter.