brunoandbear
Well-known member
For the past five years, the doctors have been following an Aneurysm of my ascending Aorta. It stayed at 4.5cm for the last four, jumped up to 4.65 and in the last eight months has grown to 5.6 cm. I have had a lot happen in the last eight months - my dad passed away in August (who had his valve replaced in 98), my company was sold, my business imploded for a while and I'm just wondering if any of that had to do with the sudden increase. My eating habits certainly went downhill during all of this.
Regardless, I got the CT results last Monday, a week ago, and they didn't even have to tell me when reading the numbers what would need to be done. I knew when they said them that I'd have to have surgery soon. I have been going to Emory University's clinic since I was a child - I am 33 now, and learned about my bicuspid valve when I was three years old. I have known all my life I would have to have surgery at some point, although I assumed it would be in my 50's, not my 30's - and it still would have been that if it were not for the Aneurysm that has formed.
For the last eight years I have been in pain off and on, usually for a few months at a time and sometimes bad pain, sometimes very mild. Typically I'll feel burning down my left arm and in the hand, stabbing in my chest, a dull pressure or burning feeling in the middle of my chest, a pulsing stab on my left and right side and occasionally a burning in my neck. This has been going on for years - and recently, I developed some sharp pulses through the sides of my neck of pain, along with squeezing that comes and goes in my neck as well, especially when I am more active than sitting still. I was expecting when I went in for this CT scan for things not to be that good, although I was telling myself that I was going to see it shrink rather than grow due to taking copper supplements for the last 5 months. A friend of ours has aneurysms and he said that taking copper helped shrink them considerably. Well, I don't know how much benefit it gave me but mine has grown.
I'm at the point where I am meeting with the surgeon next tuesday - Doctor Edward Chen, and getting a second opinion from Doctor James Kauten. Chen specializes in Aortic repair and my cardiologist highly recommends him. The surgeon, in our very brief conversation said I need to have surgery in the next two to three months and does not think I need to have it right now. He also wants to keep my bicuspid valve in and put in a dacron tube to remove the aneurysm. It starts at the root and goes up to just before or where my arch starts. I would like to get the surgery done now and the waiting is really hard on my anxiety. He said my valve looks good and is leaking by a small amount, and it should last me 10 - 20 more years.
The thing that I'm curious about is the pain. Is it normal to experience pain like I have with this kind of aneurysm? The doctors have not placed me on blood pressure reduction medicine but I am not sure if they should or not. I am 5' 10, 162 lbs, I haven't exercised much in the last eight months so I am out of shape, but do not drink, do not smoke and have modified my eating
habits (thanks to my great wife) in the last week to small portions, several times a day. I've read about the surgery on many different places on the net and this one seems like a warm, kind hearted place filled with good people. I wanted to share with you what I am now facing and perhaps seek your thoughts and ideas about it.
- Brian
Regardless, I got the CT results last Monday, a week ago, and they didn't even have to tell me when reading the numbers what would need to be done. I knew when they said them that I'd have to have surgery soon. I have been going to Emory University's clinic since I was a child - I am 33 now, and learned about my bicuspid valve when I was three years old. I have known all my life I would have to have surgery at some point, although I assumed it would be in my 50's, not my 30's - and it still would have been that if it were not for the Aneurysm that has formed.
For the last eight years I have been in pain off and on, usually for a few months at a time and sometimes bad pain, sometimes very mild. Typically I'll feel burning down my left arm and in the hand, stabbing in my chest, a dull pressure or burning feeling in the middle of my chest, a pulsing stab on my left and right side and occasionally a burning in my neck. This has been going on for years - and recently, I developed some sharp pulses through the sides of my neck of pain, along with squeezing that comes and goes in my neck as well, especially when I am more active than sitting still. I was expecting when I went in for this CT scan for things not to be that good, although I was telling myself that I was going to see it shrink rather than grow due to taking copper supplements for the last 5 months. A friend of ours has aneurysms and he said that taking copper helped shrink them considerably. Well, I don't know how much benefit it gave me but mine has grown.
I'm at the point where I am meeting with the surgeon next tuesday - Doctor Edward Chen, and getting a second opinion from Doctor James Kauten. Chen specializes in Aortic repair and my cardiologist highly recommends him. The surgeon, in our very brief conversation said I need to have surgery in the next two to three months and does not think I need to have it right now. He also wants to keep my bicuspid valve in and put in a dacron tube to remove the aneurysm. It starts at the root and goes up to just before or where my arch starts. I would like to get the surgery done now and the waiting is really hard on my anxiety. He said my valve looks good and is leaking by a small amount, and it should last me 10 - 20 more years.
The thing that I'm curious about is the pain. Is it normal to experience pain like I have with this kind of aneurysm? The doctors have not placed me on blood pressure reduction medicine but I am not sure if they should or not. I am 5' 10, 162 lbs, I haven't exercised much in the last eight months so I am out of shape, but do not drink, do not smoke and have modified my eating
habits (thanks to my great wife) in the last week to small portions, several times a day. I've read about the surgery on many different places on the net and this one seems like a warm, kind hearted place filled with good people. I wanted to share with you what I am now facing and perhaps seek your thoughts and ideas about it.
- Brian
