Scared!!

Follow your Dr's guidance.  Mine was found the same way two weeks ago today.  It measured 4.3.

After follow up this week I was told I can resume my normal running but not to lift anything that causes me to strain.  For me that's about 100 lbs.

From her we monitor every 6 months with a CT scan.

I was scared at first too!  But I was told none of us are stamped with an expiration date.

Good luck and stay positive!

I was diagnosed in July and mine was 5.2cm and my aortic valve was leaking. . I was told that we would do more measurements in four months. I read that many surgeons will now operate on female patients at 5.0cm, so I got a second opinion. That surgeon felt that my valve would work correctly once the stress was removed from it and qualifying for valve-sparing meant a different surgeon in his group.  He said to return in three months. I have several friends who are nurses and they all urged me not to wait. I decided to meet the guy who would be my surgeon and he agreed to do my surgery ASAP. I had it done on October 9th, six weeks ago. I couldn’t believe that I needed open heart surgery, but finally dug deep into my faith and found peace with it. Every time I began to doubt my decision, I’d experience twinges right where the aneurysm was, and I hadn’t felt those prior. Confirmation! The surgery went perfectly and my surgeon told my husband that it was good timing—-my aorta was very thin. I was off narcotics by day four and left the hospital the fifth day.  I didn’t need anything for pain. The first four weeks of recovery were pretty tough because I had to sleep on my back and that didn’t go well. I finally started taking 2 Tylenol PM and that helped me start sleeping on my sides and sleep all night. I’m now doing cardiac rehab and I feel almost back to normal. I am so glad that I am on the other side of this journey and that I feel good! I’m back to painting my kitchen cabinets and my social life. 

The expected increase in size of an aneurysm is 1mm per year, and you didn’t mention how much time between measurements. If it’s growing faster than that, it would be a factor for having surgery sooner rather than later. Mine also was more than twice the size of the rest of my aorta, which was another criteria I met for surgery. 

I think the best advice I can give you for surgery is to select a surgeon who does the exact procedure you need day in and day out. You want a real expert, and once you find the right surgeon, the rest is their job! And don’t watch any online videos! Be thankful your aneurysm was discovered—-95% of the time, the first symptom is death. You’re going to be fine!

I'm told the CT scan can be up to 10 % out as the ultrasound image is measured from a screen shot and the catches the moment of the pulse.

I was told this after having had a CT scan for something else and the aneurysm was mentioned as being 4cm opposed to 3.6cm on an ultra sound scan a few months earlier.

It is a shock initially but you get used to it and most are slow growing and you are way under the stage where they would want to think of operating. Mine has only gone from 3.1 in 2004 to 4cm in 2017.  

The only problem now will be if you want travel insurance, to them size does not matter.