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New diagnosis of ascending aortic aneurysm and I’m terrified
I received the diagnosis of a 4.1 CM ascending aortic aneurysm as an incidental finding after an angiogram was ordered to make sure I had no blockages due to an unexpected spike and blood pressure at work. I normally have low blood pressure so I was surprised when it was 189/111 and they took me to the hospital. that seem to come from acute stress at work, but I had a complete cardiac workout after finding a very low amount of troponin in my bloodstream 0.03. Anyway, the aneurysm was a complete shock and now I’m terrified that it’s going to burst at any time despite my cardiologist rather nonchalant approach. I asked if there’s anything I should be doing or not doing and she said don’t lift anything over 40 pounds . But no other instructions other than they’ll keep an eye on things. How do you get past feeling like your life is almost over. I’m 67 years old and in good health otherwise. I eat healthy, not overweight and thought based on my family longevity that I would live into my late 80s early 90s. Now I’m afraid I won’t make it till the end of the year which is probably ridiculous but this aneurysm has me totally freaked out. How do you all cope? And how do you get the fear so you can just enjoy life?
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@booklover71
Thank you! I wish you continued good health and blessings.
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1 Reaction@hercules
To your questions, I was 65 when I had my ascending aortic aneurysm surgery. They found one at about 5.4cm a second aneurysm while fixing the first one. It all turned out fine for me. I had some post-op issues but they mostly disapated a few months post surgery. It has been 1.5 years now and I am back to doing all my pre-op activities... hiking 8-10 miles in the Rockies, biking 50+ miles weekly, walking regularly, etc.
If you have a 4.2cm aneurysm, I'd not worry too much... just keep an eye on it like you are doing to track it's growth rate. They probably won't operate until it has grown to >5cm so don't fret it. When I was your age, my aneurysm was probably at your current levels and I was blissfully ignorant and nothing untoward happend...
I think everyone is different. I was told when I was 53 I had an ascending aortic aneurysm at 4.1 cm. Last year at 70 , it reached 5.3 cms and I had the full ascending aorta replacement and my BAV repaired. It was a big surgery and took a while to bounce back- but definitely worth doing. At 4.1 it’s pretty small and I was getting an echo every 6 months. When ( If) you have the surgery you need to go to a center that does these regularly , as there are a lot of things to consider with a full heart- lung machine surgery and the team that is in place to facilitate this type of surgery. Good luck- and you probably have many years of low growth time to see what happens.
Cuando me diagnosticaron por hallazgo buscaban litiasosen los riñones, como comentan se me vino el mundo encima sali con 4.3 cm en el año de 2021, en julio me hice un TAC con contraste y subio a 4.7 cm, dice mi angiologo que aun continue en vigilancia, soy de mexico y cuando me lo detectaron no ECONTRE NADA DE INFORMACION EN ESPAÑOL, actualmente ya ya existe mas informacion, pero pienso que hay muy pocas recomendacion en relacion a lo que si pudes hacer, inclusive yo he ido con varios medicos y algunos nomas me asustaron exageradamente.
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I think every case is different but being concerned and cautious is normal and getting into a support group is helpful. Know what to do and do it and then try to let go of worry.
@drobledo no se si hay muchos que entiendan/hablen español en este foro. Por lo pronto, yo tuve un aneurisma aórtico ascendente de 5.2 cm, reparado en el 2020. Con 4.7 cm el suyo está llegando al tamaño crítico ~5.0 cm, el cirujano decidirá cuando es momento de repararla depeniendo de varios factores, el tamaño del aneurisma, el tamaño de su cuerpo, los riesgos de la operación, la historia familiar, etc.
Es muy importante que continue la vigilancia periódica con su especialista, un cardiólogo que se especialice en enfermedades de la aorta y empiece a buscar al mejor cirujano cardiotorácico que tenga disponible, alguien que tenga mucha experiencia en este tipo de operaciones. Lo mas crítico cuando se tiene un aneurisma es controlar la tensión, tensión alta es el peor enemigo de un aneurisma, debe asegurar que tiene la combinación de medicamentos que le ayude a controlarla. Mantenga su cuerpo sano, si fuma deje de fumar, manténgase activo pero sin hacer esfuerzo que lo lleve a aguantar la respiración (como levantar pesas muy pesadas, algunos abdominales, etc) , se sabe que durante esos momentos la tensión arterial sube significativamente. El objetivo es estar lo más fuerte y sano posible cuando y si en algún momento necesita la operación, que a la velocidad con la cual la suya ha crecido es probable.
Lo importante es que usted sabe que la tiene y puede monitorearla y planificar tratarla, muchas personas no tienen esa oportunidad.
Espero todo salga bien