Working and aneurysm

I’ve been in your shoes, and I take this question very seriously. In 2015, I had a Type A ascending aortic dissection that came out of nowhere and required emergency open-heart surgery and a Dacron graft to save my life. Knowing what I know now, I look back differently at stress, exertion, and the warning signs I didn’t have time to process. I am still a federal litigator today.

A 4.5 cm ascending aortic aneurysm is not trivial, especially in someone working in law enforcement. Even if you feel fine day to day, the issue is not how you feel most of the time, but what happens during sudden spikes in blood pressure. Law enforcement work can involve unpredictable stress, adrenaline surges, physical confrontation, breath-holding, heavy exertion, and split-second reactions. Those are exactly the conditions that increase wall stress on the ascending aorta and raise the risk of dissection or rupture. Doctors are usually conservative for a reason when they recommend a job change in this setting. It is not because you are incapable or weak. It is because the consequences of a bad moment are catastrophic, not incremental. I had no warning. One minute I was fine, and the next minute I knew I was dying.

That said, many people with ascending aneurysms can continue working if their job allows strict blood pressure control, avoidance of heavy lifting and straining, no breath-holding or Valsalva maneuvers, and minimal acute stress. Law enforcement often fails all of those criteria, even if most shifts are calm. You cannot control when the job suddenly demands everything from your body at once.

If your doctors are advising a different role, that advice is grounded in risk management, not fear. A transition to a less strenuous, less adrenaline-driven position, whether within law enforcement or outside it, can dramatically reduce your risk and give you years or decades of stability while your aneurysm is monitored. From someone who didn’t get a second warning before his aorta tore, I would urge you to take this seriously and think long-term. Preserving your life and future matters more than any single job title. Knowing about the aneurysm now gives you the chance to make proactive choices that I never had. Peace.

I would definitely look for another line of work.
I was school teacher and I was unaware that I had an aneurysm. It dissected when I was in the gymnasium with all the students shouting and dancing. I was fine one min
and on my way to emergency surgery the next.
Had I known about the condition I definitely would have not been exerting myself.
I am greatful to God that I made it through surgery.

@moonboy Excellent advice.

I have a 5.6 and waiting on surgery. You are in my prayers

@seim glad ur okkou

@sherrylynn64 I'm glad ur ok..I have one Mines 5.6 waiting for surgery..

I had surgery to deal with several congenital problems Sep 10, 2024. At the time I had an ascending aortic aneurysm of 4.7 at the mid-ascending aorta and 4.8 at the root. Given the amount of things being done we decided to wait on fixing the aneurysm that day unless he opened up the aorta when he was repairing an aneurysm on the right coronary artery and ligating a complex coronary fistula. However, the root ruptured and the aorta tore after all the work was done and he ended up doing an emergent Bentall procedure that day. Everything came to about 14.5 hours of surgery and loss of 3.5 liters of blood. There was still a section of aneurysm on the ascending aorta, but since they had lost be for about 7 minutes at one point, the surgeon thought it was a bridge too far that day. So after recovering from surgery, I have been back at the waiting and watching game. A CT with contrast indicated it was 4.4 on Nov 15, 2024 and 4.6 on Aug 28, 2025. I have another CT coming up on Apr 17, 2026. Since I am an aquatic biologist with a lot of field work requiring dragging canoes around and running mud boats powered by specialized weed motors, I have had to dial that way back since summer of 2024. I am going to go ahead and retire in December of this year since I turned 62 last month.