Managing Anxiety with an Aneurysm

@rlhix Which Mayo Clinic and who was your surgeon?

Hi, my name is Debbie. I just found out a couple months ago that I have the same thing you do and it’s 4.6 and the doctor said check it once a year he doesn’t seem that concern but I am very scared. I’ve been ordering books on Amazon and trying to find out what I can do. I’ve changed anytime you’d like to talk that would be great Great.

It is such a scary situation. I went through many phases of dealing with it. After you get established with a doctor, just do what you're told, take your meds and it gets checked every 3 months until it's time for surgery. I really try to focus on staying busy with my life, animals, home and friends. Lindy

Hi, I’m Debbie. Yes, I have this exact same thing -4.6 and I go through the same feelings as you do every day it’s kind of like a time bomb. I live in New Hampshire. I’m not sure where you live. But it helps to get on here and talk to people.

@okie68 I am in Florida now. We come from October until May. I have a Doctor here as well as CT. When I go back to CT I am going to ask my Doctor to refer me to a Thoracic surgeon ChatGPT has answered all of my questions. Not a substitute for a Doctor but will answer every question you ask.. The entire situation is very scared to me because I am in my 80’s. If I was younger I would feel more confident.

Hi, I was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm (5.1cm) last July during a routine CT scan for Right shoulder replacement. I'm a female, 63yrs. old and didn't have any symptoms. What a shocking, obscure discovery by chance! My anxiety was through the roof. Every little twinge, tightness, pain etc. sent me into this panic of imagining this thing inside me "blowing out"! What I've learned since is that I have to compartmentalize my thinking. I'm doing all I can do on my end (i.e. blood pressure medicine, statin, daily 80mg. aspirin, etc.) I've selected and established a surgeon that will ultimately do the surgery at his discretion. I go for a 3 month CT scan and Echocardiogram in May and the decision will be make when I see the surgeon on June 12th. My understanding is that it's not until 5.5cm that surgery is required. That being said, this ticking time bomb in my chest is a constant source of anxiety. Try to live your life and enjoy what makes you happy on a daily basis. Think about your aneurysm only when you have to! (blood pressure, dr. appts., ) I believe our mental health is just as important as taking your blood pressure or anything else! We are not suppose to let ourselves be stressed out or angry! I hope this helps a little. Lindy

Pearl,
This is Lindy. I'd like to correspond with you for support if you'd like. Read my post. We might have thoughts in common?! 🙂

Hi, my name is Debbie. I just found out a couple months ago that I have the same thing you do and it’s 4.6 and the doctor said check it once a year he doesn’t seem that concern but I am very scared. I’ve been ordering books on Amazon and trying to find out what I can do. I’ve changed anytime you’d like to talk that would be great Great.

@larak

In late 2023 and Jan 2024 I was told not to worry about a 4.7 cm mid ascending aortic aneurysm and 4.8 aortic root. I was having fatigue, bradycardia etc but the local general cardiologist wasn't worried about it. He missed a congental problem I had since I was born that had gotten critical. I had a complex coronary fistula cor medusae which had been stealing blood under physical activity and sending it straight to the main pulmonary artery. This in turn reduced blood flow to the LAD and it had a 100% chronic occlusion. In addition there was a large aneurysm on the RCA. By April 2024, me and my primary care concluded I need a second opinion and went to Mayo Clinic on Jul 22, 2024. I had an angiogram with possible intervention on Aug 6 but the complex fistula and RCA aneurysm was more extensive than they thought and thats when the found the chronically occluded LAD. I ended up with another catheter procedure on Sep 4 and open heart surgery on Sep 10. The surgeon and I discussed options on the aortic aneurysm and I told him my preferences when it had to be fixed. We agreed not to do it that day unless he opened up the aorta during the resectioning of the RCA aneurysm and ligation of the complex fistula/cor medusae. After finishing up with those and the double bypass on the LAD they took me off the bypass machine. However, the aortic root ruptured and became an emergent situation. They lost me for 7 minutes while they were getting my back on the bypass machine. I lost 3.5 liters of blood during that. Fortunately he had the material on hand for the Bental procedure because of the possibility of doing it if he had opened up the aorta during surgery. 14.5 hours of surgery and 27 hours of being in a coma, I woke up. I still have a 4.6 distal ascending aortic aneurysm because it was a bit too much that day. I go in on April 17 for a CT scan with contrast. Nov 2025 it was 4.4 and Aug 2025 it was 4.6. Other things can change that size generality. In my case it was the complex coronary fistula with a cor medusae. You have a bicuspid valve and that changes the numbers. I was having symptoms like you describe and it turns out it was from congestive heart failure. However, I sounded good on a stethoscope. Other than a slow heart rate, there weren't any obvious signs. At times there was a heart murmur, but not all the time. A week before surgery, my EKG started getting wonky, but prior to that it wasn't bad. I still have a low heart rate, but the EKG improved immediately after surgery.