New diagnosis of ascending aortic aneurysm and I’m terrified

After two years since the initial discovery of my aortic aneurysm of 4.5 cm, a second CT-scan this past July revealed it has grown a few millimeters. The doctor at the CT-scan hospital facility deemed it was at 5.0 cm now. I got second and third opinions from well-known thoracic surgeons here in Arizona and they both stated 4.7 and possibly 4.9. Close enough to 5 cm for me! I am worried too. The last surgeon said (who I have selected) we'll watch it another six months. However, I have a treadmill stress test coming up on Sept. 30th. The surgeon said if there are any other heart issues that are revealed (like coronary artery and valve issues), I might as well elect surgery asap and fix everything. I've been mulling that over for a week now. Not freaking out but my anxiety about it has increased. I would never have known about this if it wasn't for my younger brother dying from a sudden aortic dissection two years ago. Both my sister and I discovered we had thoracic aortic aneurysms after that family disaster. Speaking of family, our father, an uncle, and a cousin -- all on my dad's side -- have had serious heart issues. It has a genetic component and although we don't have any of the the 70+ known genetic markers, they're are more out there waiting to be discovered. My sister's is less severe than mine at 4.4. I am soon to be 72 and she is 70. My brother was only 59.

This truly is a silent killer along with high blood pressure.

After two years since the initial discovery of my aortic aneurysm of 4.5 cm, a second CT-scan this past July revealed it has grown a few millimeters. The doctor at the CT-scan hospital facility deemed it was at 5.0 cm now. I got second and third opinions from well-known thoracic surgeons here in Arizona and they both stated 4.7 and possibly 4.9. Close enough to 5 cm for me! I am worried too. The last surgeon said (who I have selected) we'll watch it another six months. However, I have a treadmill stress test coming up on Sept. 30th. The surgeon said if there are any other heart issues that are revealed (like coronary artery and valve issues), I might as well elect surgery asap and fix everything. I've been mulling that over for a week now. Not freaking out but my anxiety about it has increased. I would never have known about this if it wasn't for my younger brother dying from a sudden aortic dissection two years ago. Both my sister and I discovered we had thoracic aortic aneurysms after that family disaster. Speaking of family, our father, an uncle, and a cousin -- all on my dad's side -- have had serious heart issues. It has a genetic component and although we don't have any of the the 70+ known genetic markers, they're are more out there waiting to be discovered. My sister's is less severe than mine at 4.4. I am soon to be 72 and she is 70. My brother was only 59.

This truly is a silent killer along with high blood pressure.

Oh dear, oh dear. I'm so sorry for you and what your family has been through. I wouldn't want to wait six months either. A treadmill stress test sounds pretty arduous to me. I had one about 15 or so years ago and found it very unpleasant. When I was told recently that I had to have another one, I sort of panicked. I didn't want to go through that again, but this time the stress test involved an echocardiogram and another test where something radio active was put into my veins and a big machine came down on my chest and did something. That wasn't pleasant either, but it was better than that dang treadmil. Just saying. Let your doctor know how anxious you are. That's worked for me. Best of luck to you.

I've never read anything about a possible cause of an aneurysm beyond heredity, about which you can do nothing. I know you shouldn't smoke. Keep your blood pressure down, lose some weight, and avoid salt. But does anyone here know anything more about possible causes?

I believe heavy lifting can be an issue. My husband's cardiologists have warned against this.
My husband has two cousins with ascending aortic aneurysms - and one also has a descending aneurysm and an abdominal aneurysm. Both cousins were very health conscious and went to gyms where they did weight lifting.
My husband did heavy lifting working on projects around the house. He doesn't do that anymore.!

I was working on machines that were essentially weight trining at a gym for a while with my Silver Sneakers. Then I got bored, which is par for the course for me. I also tried to get my heart rate up on the treadmill--"cardio." Now I'm glad I stopped and am worried about carrying heavy bags of groceries. I got a medic-alert bracelet but everytime I go anywhere I can't help imagining what would happen if I had a crisis. I'm at 4.2 so it could be worse but I still have it in the back of my mind most of the time. This seems to run in your family. I'm getting a genetic test to see if mine's hereditary so my kids will know if they're at risk. Good luck to you.

I am seeing the cardiologist NP on Monday. I am going to ask for genetic testing since my grandfather died from an abdominal aneurysm rupture at age 81 1/2. I read on another site the genetic factor can cause a more aggressive growth of the aneurysm. Hope that isn’t true.

I see my cardiologist on Tuesday and the geneticist in November. That was the earliest I could get an appointment with her. I'm not aware of aneurysms in my family but there was lots of heart disease so I always expected something would eventually go awry with my heart. I never expected this. I've had high blood pressure but it's been under control with medication. I haven't had any other symptoms, which I guess is how it works with aneurysms. They can sneak up on you. We're lucky, if you can call it luck, that ours were found.

I was working on machines that were essentially weight trining at a gym for a while with my Silver Sneakers. Then I got bored, which is par for the course for me. I also tried to get my heart rate up on the treadmill--"cardio." Now I'm glad I stopped and am worried about carrying heavy bags of groceries. I got a medic-alert bracelet but everytime I go anywhere I can't help imagining what would happen if I had a crisis. I'm at 4.2 so it could be worse but I still have it in the back of my mind most of the time. This seems to run in your family. I'm getting a genetic test to see if mine's hereditary so my kids will know if they're at risk. Good luck to you.