aortic aneurysm

[mharris]

I wanted to see if anyone has this situation or knows someone in this situation. My grandmother was just diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm that is 6cm. They did more testing to find out that using a stent is not possible, she is 83 years old and the doctor is saying that open surgery she would only have a 10% chance of survival. She is trying to get into a vascular specialist at another hospital about 2hrs away where she had her ohs done and get a second opinion. Has anyone heard of someone having to leave an aneurysm of this size and just live with a ticking time bomb every day. She is going to have to weigh the odds after her second opinion and make a choice that she can cope with. Any info or help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. My dad had a stent put in just 3 wks ago for the same thing, our family was just getting back to normal. Man, stress really screws up your inr levels!!

 

[Granbonny]

Yes, my Daddy had one....Discovered about 10 years before his death last year at age 91..Natural causes (Old age, ect) He was checked on every few years..the last time was 6 years before his passing. my Mama was still living..and she arranged for someone in Montgomery, Ala . to take a look for a possible stent..They told her the same thing....His chances of surviving the operation would be poor.He chose not to have it done. We (family) were all aware ..of what could possible happen.However, Mama passed the next year and he continued the upkeep of their house, doing his own cooking, washing and ironing. he cut the grass with a push-mower up until a month before he passed....We (family) never mentioned it to him..I think he forgot all about it......Only took 1 b/p med a day.......Hope your Grandmother will do well..as Daddy if she chooses not to have the operation. Bonnie

 

[PJmomrunner]

M, your family certainly has drawn the short straw a few times! I can offer you only commiseration for the "ticking time bomb" issue because, until my aneurysm is deemed big enough to operate, I feel like I'm harboring same. It's no fun, but you put it out of mind as much as possible and go on. Your grandmother has probably been told not to lift much (most say no more than 20 to 30 pounds) or otherwise strain and her blood pressure should be under firm control (lower than even the optimal for other folks). I hope the other specialist has a better take on the situation and can perhaps offer a strategy for decreasing her risks. All the best to you.

 

[Granbonny]

I,m confused..I thought mharris's Grandmother has an Abdominal Aortic aneurysm?Rachel/PJ....is that what yall have?...that is what she posted..Abdominal aneurysm.......what my Daddy had......He continued for over 6 years, climbing ladders, cutting down limbs, ect....Saw his PCP for checkup, B/P, ect. nothing was ever mentioned again..after they told him..He would be better off just leaving it (stomach aneurysm)...Like I said, he lived 11 years with it. Bonnie

 

[mharris]

Thanks for the replies, Bonnie you have helped with making me feel somewhat at ease if my grandma decides to do nothing. I am sure I'm not the only one but things really bother me alot more after having such severe heart failure and then 2 ohs. I do daycare so that keeps me pretty busy and that helps. This is also the only grandparent that I have left, and we have always been a really close family. When I went into ICU and found out that I had a heart problem after having my baby, my first question to my mom was how my grandma took the news instead of worrying about myself.

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi,

I thought I would share this link to a site that is a support group site for folks with aneurysms and dissections. It is not interactive with a bulletin posting board such as this, but you can write to the administrator, Bill Maples, and he will forward your letter and questions to the group. You will then correspond directly with the individuals that will write to you. There are a fine group of people there, and you can read up on many narratives.

http://www.westga.edu/~wmaples/aneurysm.html

Hope this helps you.

Rob

 

[Susan BAV]

You said that she can't have a stent; do you know why not? Can that opinion be double-checked on?

I have a maternal cousin who had (I think three) aneurysms in his abdominal aorta area and it looked bad for him but they did the stents and he's relatively fine now. But he was probably mid-60's, not 83. Hope all goes well.

 

[francie12]

Hi--My dad had a dissecting AAA at the age of 82. He had emergency surgery at the local hospital with a general surgeon and came through with flying colors. Because of his age, and because he had always been sensitive to many medications, he had a little trouble with the pain meds afterwards, but he recovered quickly and lived to the ripe old age of 88. Just wanted to share this in case your grandmother ends up with the surgery...it definately went fine for my dad.