Gifts from mom
Posted , 2 users are following.
I've told this story before but the history of spinal problems in my family flows directly through my mother. She had terrible (but undiagnosed) pain in her lumbar spiine for years and all three of her offspring have shared that gift. My two siblings and I have been dealing with a multitude of spine related problems for the past years although I have been the only one who pursued and got a diagnosis. The problem is that she also imparted other gifts to us. She ended up dying from an aortic aneurysm at the age of 63 and I now know that I have that same problem. I have been diagnosed with an aneurysm at the aortic root (where the aorta exits the heart and briefly ascends before looping and coming back down into the abdomen). We have been watching it for the last 4 years and it is now approaching the size where surgical intervention is usually done. I see a cardiac surgeon next week.
? I'm curious about this since I have read that AS is tied to some specific heart problems often in the aorta or the aortic valves as well as others. So I'd like to know if anyone else has been diagnosed with aorta or similar problems after or before being diagnosed with some AS related disease. You don't necessarily need to have a formal diagnosis of AS but also if you are one of those whose symptoms point strongly toward the seronegative spondyloarthropathies but you are still struggling with getting that diagnosis. I just want to see if you have experienced this correlation with chronic inflammation of the spine with aortic or heart problems. I'd like to hear what doctors have told you about this connection.
? It's a little weird just how closely I and my siblings have followed my mother's pattern of illnesses. In my case it's not only the illnesses but the age of onset have strongly paralleled mom. The 800 pound gorilla in the room that I don't even want to talk about is that mom was also diagnosed with alzheimers disease which is known to being strongly inheritable. She was just mentally succumbing to the effects of Alzheimers when we found out she had the aneurysm. She was adamantly against surgery for it and there was certainly no point in putting her through a brutal surgery at that point since she was slipping away. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers at just about my current age. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it.
0 likes, 2 replies
gloria55119 peter21326
Posted
Hi Peter, Gloria here...don't think about the gorilla....it might never happen. Anyway, yes the heart problems may be genetic, the same with AS. I have both. Now my heart is 50% larger than it should be. When I asked why the doctor said that my high blood pressure would have caused it. But I haven't always had high blood pressure...only for three years since the AS took hold.( or when it was diagnosed that is ) Could it be a case of the "chicken or the egg"....Heart problems such as ours will cause high blood pressure...so I wonder which came first. Your posts are always so interesting but I just wish it wasn't happening to you...to us...!! What can we do ?
peter21326 gloria55119
Posted
Thanks Gloria,
? Yeah, the blood pressure problem is a sticky one. I spent the first 58 years or so of my life with blood pressure that a young man would kill for. Doctors would comment on how good it was. Then I suddenly started having issues and I have been fighting it since. Not terrible (around 152/102 at it's worst) but with a growing aneurysm at the aortic root anything is too much. Cardiologist says that is her primary target as we look forward and prepare for the surgery. I've had three doctors now say that I need to get a sleep study done since they suspect sleep apnea. Blood pressure that is stubborn to control can often come from sleep apnea so I guess that might be a good test to do. We'll see about that one. I know that I definitely do not sleep well but who with AS symptoms really does? Take care of yourself, Gloria. We can only march along. Nothing else to do.