Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

[NDFan4Life]

Abdominal aortic aneurysm Definition - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

A couple of weeks ago, my doctor set me up for an ultrasound of my abdomen due to pain and discomfort. Before the ultrasound, he diagnosed me with gallstones. Upon completion of the ultrasound, I was also diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The aneurysm is currently 4.5cm. We're not sure when the aneurysm developed or how quickly it's growing. I'm due to have a cat-scan done in September to determine the rate of growth. In the mean-time, there's nothing much anyone can do.

Due to the fact of not knowing how fast it is growing, I'm kind of nervous. I have wandering thoughts pertaining to my mortality and wondering if today's the day the aneurysm will burst. Once it bursts, there's little anyone can do.

I just wanted to pass this information along for anyone who is experiencing the same symptoms that I had. If you are suffering from abdominal pain, please get yourself checked out. Apparently, AAA is familial. I informed my brothers, and they're going to get an ultrasound to see if they also have it.

Please be proactive in your healthcare and take care of yourselves.

 

[NDdomer2]

I don't know much about anything. But, I do know that if I had something significant going on with my health, I wouldn't wait 6 months to determine the growth rate.

Hope everything gets taken care of for you man!

 

[DillonHall]

This isn't my area of specialty, so it'd be best to listen to your surgeon. But I can give you some info based on what I've read and personally seen.

1. 4.5 cm is relatively large, but AAA isn't something that pops up overnight, so it's probably been slowly enlarging for a long time. I think the average growth rate is less than 0.5 cm per year. So September is probably an ok time to get the CT. For peace of mind, though, I think it'd be ok to get one in 3 months but I don't know if insurance would cover it.
One other thing to consider- have you had any other recent abdominal imaging? If so, and they didn't see an aneurysm in that image, then this might be expanding at an accelerated rate.

2. When it's 5.0-5.5 cm in diameter, it's time to seriously consider surgery to repair the aneurysm. In your case, this will be relatively soon, so it'll be good to mentally prepare for it and optimize your health for surgery (weight control, no smoking, limit alcohol, etc.). You might also consider looking into university hospitals, where they do many more of these surgeries than a typical community vascular surgeon.

3. I know you're aware of ruptures and how dangerous they are. Sometimes, these can slowly leak instead of rupturing completely; this might also cause symptoms. I've seen patients come in with not just abdominal pain but also back pain. So if you have any suspicious symptoms, don't hesitate to get to the ER and let them know right away that you have a diagnosed AAA.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them or find someone who knows the answer (But I'll reiterate that your surgeon is probably very knowledgeable and will take good care of you).

 

[tadman95]

All I know about is I hope your's is corrected with a long, healthy, and happy life.

There is much Notre Dame football to discuss.

 

[kmoose]

I survived a brain aneurysm (Basilar artery) that leaked, about 17 years ago. I was only 30 years old, and I didn't recognize any of the symptoms. I didn't even know that I had it, until it started leaking and damn near killed me. You know about it, and can monitor it. So you have that going for you. Good luck and God bless.

 

[NDFan4Life]

Thanks for the info, Dillon. Yeah. it's the not knowing the growth rate that is kind of nerve-wracking. The surgeon said that they usually do something when the aneurysm hits 5.5cm. He said that anything before that would be unnecessary surgery.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

NDFan4Life, a chara,

My father, of whom I often lovingly speak was nearly 87 when admitted to a local ER with waves of nausea, lightheartedness, and "mild" abdominal discomfort. They thought in was going to be diverticulitis.

An abdominal ultrasound revealed otherwise. Here is a guy who lived an active life, never had a major health scare, and had no clue he had an AAA. His symptoms were totally atypical!

At 82 he and my mom rode bikes on five-mile round trips regularly. At 84 he climbed about 50 feet up two pine trees in the spring to tie them together as one started to blow over in a blizzard the previous winter. The night before his troubles seemingly began (Halloween) he was on the floor, on his hands and knees playing with the kids, giving piggyback rides and threatening to steal candy! (Yes, mom yelled at him!)

Here is the point. My dad did not benefit from early detection; I hope you are. The younger you are, the better your chances. A friend's dad found his at 61, and you would have thought his was minor surgery!

Also, my dad had rather advanced and severe pollysystic kidney disease. So he had little left in terms of resources. Make sure you are as healthy as you can in every other area, (smoking, drinking, fatty foods), and with the improvement in treatment techniques, you should expect a very favorable outcome.

Good luck, let me know if I can provide any assistance.


Beir bua agus beannacht,

 

[Classic Irish]

AAAs are associated with a history of smoking in older men. As Dillon said, the magic number is 5.5 cm. That's the size when surgical intervention is recommended. Listen to your vascular surgeon. He or she will give you the best advice on how to handle this. If you smoke, you really need to quit ASAP. Best of luck.

 

[Redbar]

Good luck and God Bless.

 

[irishfan]

Scary stuff. I have a slight heart issue, and I had an ultrasound done a couple years ago (my abdominal aorta is weird....you can see my heartbeat in my stomach 24/7), and luckily everything checked out for me. As others have posted here, the best things to do are really to avoid throwing on extra weight, smoking, and drinking in excess. Also, avoiding stress. Easier said than done, but you really just have to trust that your doctors know their stuff and you're in good hands. Best of luck.

 

[NDFan4Life]

Update on my AAA.

The aneurysm has grown to 5.7cm. I go in for surgery on the 26th. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I quit smoking about 5 months ago, but the damage has already been done. The doctor says that he expects thing to go very well. He wants me to take a month off from work, but I don't see that happening. I'll probably just take 2 and see how things go.

Thanks for the prayers, guys.

 

[Tejas]

Good luck, man

 

[kmoose]

Update on my AAA.

The aneurysm has grown to 5.7cm. I go in for surgery on the 26th. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I quit smoking about 5 months ago, but the damage has already been done. The doctor says that he expects thing to go very well. He wants me to take a month off from work, but I don't see that happening. I'll probably just take 2 and see how things go.

Thanks for the prayers, guys.

Do yourself a favor: follow the guidelines the doctors give you. I rushed back to work after my brain aneurysm and quickly realized that I didn't have the energy for it. I felt fine when I was just sitting around the house while I recovered, but going back to work took a LOT more energy than that. Good luck and God Bless!

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Update on my AAA.

The aneurysm has grown to 5.7cm. I go in for surgery on the 26th. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I quit smoking about 5 months ago, but the damage has already been done. The doctor says that he expects thing to go very well. He wants me to take a month off from work, but I don't see that happening. I'll probably just take 2 and see how things go.

Thanks for the prayers, guys.

I wish you a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

 

[NDFan4Life]

Do yourself a favor: follow the guidelines the doctors give you. I rushed back to work after my brain aneurysm and quickly realized that I didn't have the energy for it. I felt fine when I was just sitting around the house while I recovered, but going back to work took a LOT more energy than that. Good luck and God Bless!

I go stir crazy after just a few days of not doing anything. The doctor said to move around as much as possible. If I'm not feeling up to going back to work after 2 weeks, I'll just put in for another week. The people I work for are very accommodating.

 

[kmoose]

I go stir crazy after just a few days of not doing anything. The doctor said to move around as much as possible. If I'm not feeling up to going back to work after 2 weeks, I'll just put in for another week. The people I work for are very accommodating.

I know the feeling. With my aneurysm, the problem was mental energy. I was working as an avionics bench technician at the time, and my job required troubleshooting black boxes to the component level and repairing them. So it was a lot of mental energy. I should have been doing puzzles or something at home before I went back....

 

[TDHeysus]

I knew a co-worker who stumbled upon his aortic aneurysm by complete luck. When it was discovered, it was the size of a baseball!!! (almost 4inches) He immediately went to surgery and was in ICU immediately following and was out of work for almost 6months. He made a full recovery, and even returned to work. As a condition of the surgery he no longer wore belts at all, he used suspenders instead.

He eventually retired, I still have some contact with him to this day and he is doing well.

He tells the story of his grandson playing around with him before he had the surgery, and he said his grandson was hitting him in the chest while they were playing around, not knowing the entire time he had this aortic aneurysm that ready to burst at any moment.

From what I learned during his ordeal, the fact that you have discovered it before it burst says that your one of the lucky ones! Take care of yourself!

 

[tadman95]

I'm sure everything will go great and you'll back in no time. Best wishes! Fightin' Irish!!!

 

[Classic Irish]

Update on my AAA.

The aneurysm has grown to 5.7cm. I go in for surgery on the 26th. I'm not particularly looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I quit smoking about 5 months ago, but the damage has already been done. The doctor says that he expects thing to go very well. He wants me to take a month off from work, but I don't see that happening. I'll probably just take 2 and see how things go.

Thanks for the prayers, guys.

Trust your doctor and follow his/her instructions.

Best of luck. You'll be ok.

 

[Cackalacky]

Wish you nothing but the best. Good luck.

 

[IrishLion]

Good luck brother

 

[PapaIrish37]

Best of luck and keeping you in my prayers. Keep the faith!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Good luck, will hold out the best of intentions.

Now I know we can both be stubborn, (just a little, huh?) But I want to tell you. The opposite almost got me last year. A carotid blockage. The surgery was a breeze, much easier than yours, I'll bet. But man it took me forever to build back any stamina!

As far as full recovery, I am just getting the feeling back in part of my face. Everything else is back to pretty much normal. But remember, that is with about 10 months of recovery time. And I am responding much faster than most!

Give yourself plenty of time!

Good luck!

 

[dwshade]

Prayers for your healing my friend.

 

[dad4aa]

Like others have said, follow the doctor's directions so you don't create complications for yourself. Prayers for a smooth surgery and speedy recovery.

 

[Circa]

Good luck brother!

 

[loomis41973]

Good luck on a fast recovery.

 

[Jackalope1977]

Good luck. Take the whole month and do something fun (and easy) the second two weeks.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

Praying

 

[Quinntastic]

As a laboratory scientist, I sure hope that you are getting your blood typed and screened for unusual antibodies before your surgery (depending on the policy of the hospital where you are having the procedure performed it can be done anywhere from 3-14 days before surgery). You will definitely want a few units of blood ready to go for you during the surgery. Usually the blood products aren't needed, but the last thing you want is to need it and not have the appropriate testing done needed to have the blood ready (30 minutes up to several hours if your plasma has a weird, unexpected, antibody in it).

Best of luck for your surgery! Hoping for a fast recovery but I would say a minimum of 4 weeks off work. It's not a minor surgery!!