Have a AAA

Thanks! I have pre-op for kidney stone surgery in a week and will talk to someone then.

Thanks! Docs found it over 6 months ago and never had any problem until now.

Mine was 3.1 cm in 2004 and slowly grew to 3.6. In the past two years it has grown to 4.3 since I stopped taking Losartan for my hypertension. I read a paper that said Losartan helps to inhibit its growth. Hypertension clinic did not agree saying that any BP med would probably help. 

the vascular surgeon still regards4.3cm as small.

I have never noticed any abdominal  or back pain from it. I'm told that the ultra sound scan can be up to 30% out  as it depends on the moment it is taken as it pulsates. When mine was 3.6 I had a CT scan on my spine very soon after and it showed there more accurately as 4.0cm. 

abdominal   I had a ct for kidney stones.

Abdominal is the UK one, ascending the American. I don't understand why we have different meanings. As this is a UK site visited by many Americans confusion reigns. 

I think the confusion will reign Derek as at present NHS direct doesn’t even list TAA (thoracic aortic aneurysm) which includes the ascending.

Only AAA as (abdominal)

 So people like me with ascending join whatever we can! AAA as the ascending aortic aneurysm is far better known and it’s prevalence as a condition widely recognised in the US. 

The cruel fact is the first symptom of it is death. The NHS maintains that TAA ascending is so rare ... 5 in a hundred thousand but that is patently not true. It is only discovered by accident whilst investigating another complaint, otherwise at post mortem.

 Unlike the abdominal it is not scanned for (all men over 65) which is a sexist net btw women are just as likely to die of abdominal ) but money is seen as short and screening is expensive. Even with a familial link, my father died of a ruptured abdominal,  I was not allowed to be screened under the program at the gP’s because I was female. I was screened at the hospital.

At least we get Americans on this site who share their knowledge and experience of treatment for ascending. But like you I wish that it was spelt out and the country of the person was declared.

It seems that this is the best site and it attracts patients from all over the globe. Does it not have a separate section for TAA ? You should ask the moderator to include one.

My GP's parents both died of ruptured aneurysms but he has not been tested.

Evidently a lot of men who live on their own and found dead have had a ruptured aneurysm.  

this forum isn't for AAA it is for aortic aneurysm and dissection. (all types)

And the confusion of the AAA has been raised with the moderators.

Agreed. Mine is thoracic. When abdominal was mentioned I thought I was in the wrong place. 😉

I never understand why so many people from other countries end up on a UK site.

Is there nothing similar in America ? Is this the only one that pops up when you do a search ?

There is one that often crops up when I do a search and it covers most conditions.

My apologies, derek76. I was unaware that this was only for UK. Please post a link to the one you referenced and I'll skidaddle

Marybeth please don’t go. I am so grateful to the patients from the US as they are far better informed especially on the ascending conditions.

I belong to two other forums both on Facebook and they are both international. They are very supportive and very busy.

I will give their names if anyone interested (can’t check as i’m Writing this) 

Both the Facebook ones are based in America and are international. One is called the aortic aneurysm network and has 633 members. It is a closed group that is carefully moderated you ask if you can join. The other one is the ascending aortic  aneurysm group which has nearly 500  members . Again a closed group carefully moderated. 

It is great that they are international as we all need to share knowledge and support

No, No, its not for UK only but we probably get more people  from abroad than British as the world is a big place. It just puzzles me that your search engines take you to it rather than American sites.

It does tend to get confusing with different abreviations and health care services in other countries are so different. Certain phrases usually tell us if you are American. Doctors office intstead of doctors surgery. EKG instead of ECG and ER instead of A&E.

You're very Welcome.

I was a reader of this forum for about a year and didn't even know I had to register, till I tried to write. I feel that UK is ahead of US, medically. Thank you, frances15870. Apparently I misunderstood Derick.

Thanks Derick. I misunderstood your comment. I Google my ailments, read all the info on it, then sometimes I see a personal post from a real person, which is how I landed here.

me too mary beth87713.

Google does not connect geographically unless told to and even if you do then the algorithm would find the important key words and connect. The important issues are the ailment and sharing with others with the same issues. After all it is hard to find fellow sufferers locally wherever you are. With fellow 'sufferers' you can be frank. And share information which might really help. It should be borne in mind the broad title of the forum I suppose so people can offer more specific information on their condition which helps in understanding. Aortic anuerysms share many features - they tend to part with elective operations possible. Open heart surgery for ascending is a much greater operation which involves cutting through the breast bone and being on life support - compared to a stent which can be inserted through a blood vesel from thigh / keyhole surgery for abdominal. Till then the problems and protection and the risks are the same. In time new procedures will be developed. I heard recently that there was a robot controlled ascending op at the Liverpool Chest and heart hospital and it was minimally invasive and patient out of care in a few days. This gives great hope for the future. Lets all stick together.

Thanks!