Thoracic aortic aneurysm: Anyone had surgery?

Good luck to you. Mayo will take good care of you. They make it less scary as they are so very good at what they do. Let me know if you have any questions.

I just found out I have a AAA. It is 4.0 right now. It is very scary . I will be flowing you to see how you are doing. Good luck at your appointment

Thank you Lynn for your prompt reply. You are so very kind! These are the two docs that I have chosen through my research, but have not had an appointment yet. I have sent records to Dr. Pochettino and will contact Dr. Bonnichen soon. My current echo by the doc here reads 4.6. I am waiting to visit Mayo next spring for my CT unless the next echo shows growth sooner. This is a very difficult diagnosis to live with.

Have a pleasant day.

Deby

Dr. Bonnichen is my cardiologist and Dr Pochettino is my surgeon. Dr Bonnichen gets referrals from Dr Pochettino for people that are on our journey. A kind of "hand holder" for when you start getting worried or have a question. After the diagnosis you are kind of left hanging since the surgeon isn't there until needed. She keeps an eye on my blood pressure and schedules me for my screenings to check for growth. She is awesome to have on my side. She is also a very kind person.

Thank you for your kind words of advice Lynn. May I ask the name of your cardiologist at Mayo?

Thank you so much - its the hardest thing to deal with. I keep looking for answers and wanting to do something more about it and have to keep telling my self I will be ok and it is being monitored and will be fixed if needed. Back in 2 months then 4 months later. Never went to the Dr so much. Never had this before. I have felt symptoms for 40 years on and off - was always told it was nothing, now this.

It gets better with time. The diagnosis is a lot to wrap your head around. Information helps. Reading other peoples stories helps. Validation helps. Yes this is big, but I am strong and can deal with it. Something that helped me a lot was having my cardiologist tell me that I can ask her any question at any time, through the patient portal, no matter if I think it is stupid or not. (extreme roller coasters) Some I am sure have been stupid but they calmed my mind. It made me feel less anxious. Mayo has been awesome about this.

Hello @akovacs944 and welcome to Connect. You may notice that I merged your discussion with an existing discussion on thoracic aortic aneurysms. I did this so your post would be seen by all of the members already discussing TAA. If you are replying by email, I suggest clicking on VIEW & REPLY so you will be brought to the new location of your discussion. You also may notice that some of the posts are from awhile back, but there are also many recent posts as you read through.

Hi , I am 47 5.11 and recently advised I am mild-moderate TAA 4.6 and Aortic Valve insufficiency. I have been told by 2 Cardiologist that they are monitoring initially 6 months and annually and nothing further is needed at this time other than no heavy weights and stay fit and If it ever needs to be repaired, they can repair with a good success rate in the 90 %'s. Its too small to do anything now. I feel mostly fine other than scared. I feel young and have my young family. How do you cope? I am working on it but need support from time to time. Thank you

My cardiologist at Mayo wants mine below 120/80. My aneurysm is 4.1.