Last Christmas I slipped and fell on the ice and landed really hard on my shoulder. The pain did not get much better and an MRI in early April showed a tear in one of the tendons and I opted for surgery as opposed to a year of PT with no promise it would heal. Surgery was June 1, it went well and I am on the road to recovery.
Leading up to the surgery I met with the PA at my doctor's office and he did an EKG. It was a little abnormal, the spike just past the big spike (sorry, don't know what they are called) was a little flat. My EKG's have always been like this for as long as I have had them. The PA told me I needed to see a cardiologist to clear surgery so I scheduled an appointment.
I met with the cardiologist in May, right before the surgery. He did a second EKG, which was consistent with prior EKG's and explained what was going on with the slightly flattened spike. He was super nice and we got to talking about skiing and other sports.
He was about to leave and I asked him if I could ask him a question about my mom's side of the family. I explained to him that her brother died in 2008 of an abdominal aneurysm at 77 (he had been a heavy smoker most of his life). In February 2020 my mom turned 84. She lives in a house right next to my sister and her husband in Denver. A week after her birthday she had an aortic dissection at home...long story short, my sister is a former CVICU nurse and knew exactly what was happening. She was put on a helicopter and sent to University Hospital. The aneurysm ruptured when she was on the table in the OR before they started cutting. She survived and is 100 percent at 85. A thousand things had to go right that day for my mom, and they did.
I explained that to my doctor and he said let's do an echocardiogram as soon as your shoulder heals.
I did that two weeks ago and met with him last Thursday.
My aorta is 4.4 cm. I am having a CT scan as soon as my insurance approves, which I am expecting to happen later this week. My doctor said he does not believe I am aneurysmic (?) right now, but wants to see the 3D view from the CT scan.
I am a 60 year old male. 5' 10 ", 175. I hike, ski, cross country ski, walk, swim and jog. My BP is 100/110 over 60 or 70. I have zero of the risk factors I have read about other than hereditary.
The past 5 days have been tough as this was totally unexpected as I have been physically active and very healthy my entire life. Makes me kind of sad to even think about this.
I'm just curious as to any input any of the docs on board might have. I'm not taking medical advice from a message board, believe me I am on board with my doctor here, but I've seen so much good information in The Fort I thought I would reach out.
Thanks in advance.
Leading up to the surgery I met with the PA at my doctor's office and he did an EKG. It was a little abnormal, the spike just past the big spike (sorry, don't know what they are called) was a little flat. My EKG's have always been like this for as long as I have had them. The PA told me I needed to see a cardiologist to clear surgery so I scheduled an appointment.
I met with the cardiologist in May, right before the surgery. He did a second EKG, which was consistent with prior EKG's and explained what was going on with the slightly flattened spike. He was super nice and we got to talking about skiing and other sports.
He was about to leave and I asked him if I could ask him a question about my mom's side of the family. I explained to him that her brother died in 2008 of an abdominal aneurysm at 77 (he had been a heavy smoker most of his life). In February 2020 my mom turned 84. She lives in a house right next to my sister and her husband in Denver. A week after her birthday she had an aortic dissection at home...long story short, my sister is a former CVICU nurse and knew exactly what was happening. She was put on a helicopter and sent to University Hospital. The aneurysm ruptured when she was on the table in the OR before they started cutting. She survived and is 100 percent at 85. A thousand things had to go right that day for my mom, and they did.
I explained that to my doctor and he said let's do an echocardiogram as soon as your shoulder heals.
I did that two weeks ago and met with him last Thursday.
My aorta is 4.4 cm. I am having a CT scan as soon as my insurance approves, which I am expecting to happen later this week. My doctor said he does not believe I am aneurysmic (?) right now, but wants to see the 3D view from the CT scan.
I am a 60 year old male. 5' 10 ", 175. I hike, ski, cross country ski, walk, swim and jog. My BP is 100/110 over 60 or 70. I have zero of the risk factors I have read about other than hereditary.
The past 5 days have been tough as this was totally unexpected as I have been physically active and very healthy my entire life. Makes me kind of sad to even think about this.
I'm just curious as to any input any of the docs on board might have. I'm not taking medical advice from a message board, believe me I am on board with my doctor here, but I've seen so much good information in The Fort I thought I would reach out.
Thanks in advance.
