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Growing Aorta Aneurysm

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Muneca
Muneca

Hi. Ive had 2 open surgeries. I an aneurysm over10 years. Im 41and only 4 11 with petite build. Last it was 4.6 mm and now its 5.1 cm. I will be following up with my cardio in a wk enough. Ive been having headaches, stomach back pains. I feel alot of pressure in my chest but I also have asthma. I have a 16 yr old son and a single mom. Im terrified that I will have to have another surgery. Not sure what to expect.

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • albert210
    albert210 Muneca

    Posted

    I pray for you may Jesus bless you and help you in these times. My name Albert 54 I have never had a sergery, but come Monday Aug. 21 2017  I will have sergery for Lower Aorta Aneurysm repair.  Called an EVAR they go in through my growing area and  up the arteries and put a Graph stent inside the Aneurysum.   Jesus Christ I am thinking OMG.  but if I dont have it done I will die if that thing pops.   The death will be scary... I was told I will fall, go into shock, and bleed out and die. Chance for me to servive is very low if this happens. I will keep prying for you Muneca God be with you.
    • Muneca
      Muneca albert210

      Posted

      Thank you Albert. Ill be praying for your surgery. Good luck. Its a scary thing. Having 2 open heart surgeries before is never fun. Ill pray for a speedy recovery.
  • timothy40679
    timothy40679 Muneca

    Posted

    I'm a 59 year old male and had open surgery a year ago for a 5.3cm aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection.

    The surgery was about 5 hours long and everything went OK. I had no pain at all from the surgery. I went home after 9 days in the hospital and everything has been good for a year now.

    Don't worry too much. As Albert mentioned, stents/EVAR is sometimes an option instead of open surgery.

    I am told I was scared before my surgery (anesthesia erased that memory) but my surgery was emergency surgery and I had no choice but to have it. Don't worry too much and talk to your surgeon about stents/EVAR before having it done. It's scary but a hospital in a larger city does, I'm told, something like a thousand open heart surgeries a year.

    • Muneca
      Muneca timothy40679

      Posted

      Im glad to hear everything went well for you. Did you ever feel a pressure in your chest? Ive had this pressure for afew days. Im going for the less evasive surgery. Thank you for the reassurance.
  • DebW
    DebW Muneca

    Posted

    Hello Muneca, I think everyone is terrified when they hear their heart is not as healthy as it should be. When I found out ai had a bicuspid valve and a 5.7cm aortic root aneurysm I was scared to death of a rupture. That was in April. I am still waiting for a surgery date. I honestly didn't think I would make it this long without surgery,but here I am. 😊 Surgeon's here like to wait until the aneurysm is 4.7 to 5.2 cm before doing surgery. So you are in that range. Having gone through surgery already, you could probably answer a lot more questions than I could even think to ask.

    Just remember to try to stay calm, don't do any heavy lifting, and if you get out of breath...stop what you are doing and rest.

    I hope your visit to the cardiologist helps ease your fears. I know just telling the people here in this forum how I feel and how afraid I am, helps keep me grounded. 😊

    • Muneca
      Muneca DebW

      Posted

      Thank you Deb. I have been having alot of trouble breathing the last few weeks but I do have asthma so that could be causing that issue. It does to help hear other stores. That's crazy! That you are waiting that long! I hope you get a surgery date soon. I know we don't want surgery but it's better too get it fixed. Thank you.

    • shannon_46359
      shannon_46359 Muneca

      Posted

      Hi Muneca, I have an Ascending Aortic Aneurysm (4.4 cm). I'm also short (5'wink. I'm curious if any doctor has mentioned to you the research about calculating the relative size as a way to decide if repair is necessary (that the smaller the person, the smaller the size when they operate).  I am also a single mom. I have four kids, two of whom are disabled, so I definitely share your fear. I guess all we can do is hope for the best and try not to let the fear overwhelm us. Good luck to you!

      Shannon 

    • Muneca
      Muneca shannon_46359

      Posted

      Hi Shannon, I haven't asked the dr that question but I will next week. I have read articles where it stated if the person was 6' then they would want to do surgery if that person had AAA 5 cm. In the same article it said if someone was 5'7 and had an AAA of 4.7 cm they would consider surgery set that point. It seems like the height is relavent to the decision of having surgery. I will let you know.

  • Muneca
    Muneca

    Posted

    Hi, just wanted to follow up with all. I went for my cardio appt on Wednesday. My cardio talk to the vascular surgeon and the vascular surgeon now wants to get an echocardiogram to figure out what he wants to do....either surgery or just keep an eye on the ascending aorta aneurysm which is 5.1 centimeters. Now I just found out three weeks ago that the aneurysm has increased significantly within less than a year. Still waiting waiting for them to schedule the Echo and I don't understand what's taking so long. For those of you who are also dealing with this is this a normal time frame? My two open heart surgeries were done when I was younger so I don't remember any timeframes.

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