" Hello", out there to those unfortunate people suffering from aneurysms. I am a 42 years old female living in PA with my husband and two wonderful children. I have high blood pressure for which I take Cozaar 50 mg. and Diazide 37.5 mg. Keep in mind my blood pressure is in a range of 178/100 to 158/90. In May,1999 I went to my PCP complaining of chest pain, back pain, heart palpitations,and shortness of breath. I then stated to him,"check my heart there is something wrong with my heart". At that he diagnosed me to having asthma and fibromyalgia giving me Albuterol and pain killers stating "Your too young for Heart Problems".
Then again in Oct.1999 I had two episodes of the same symptoms about a week apart. So then I returned to my PCP the end of Oct. this time taking my husband along to help convince this Dr. to please check my heart something is not right. He then stated" I feel she is too young to have heart problems, but I will order a cauterization which was done on Oct.28. This was to be short stay which ended up being a five day ordeal.
The next day I had an angiogram performed in which they discovered the abdominal aortic dissection aneurysm. For the next three days I was placed in the Cardiac Care Unit of the hospital. As I stated to you prior was the blood pressure didn't go below 158/90 (borderline). The Heart Specialist wanted to get the blood pressure stable at 120/80 or lower.
No operation has been done as of yet. I do receive a CT Scan every three months so they can watch the prognoses of the dissection which is 3.5 cm. The CT.Scan in May 2000 revealed the dissection remains but is healed.
My main reason for writing is to let you know if feel there is something wrong nag at your Dr. till you receive the test you need to find out for sure what he tells you is true or if it be one of their whacked out guesses. Also I would like to hear from anyone who is going through or already went through this same ordeal. There are a few questions I need answered if that be possible.
Thank you for reading and GOOD LUCK to all of you out there who suffer from ANEURYSMS and may GOD be with you.
Update: 19 Sep 2002
In July 2001 I had an operation to mend the Thoracic Aorta (I guess that is what it is called). Don't know much about what they had done. All I know is that if I wouldn't have been operated on when I was I may not be here today. I still have the Aortic Dissection from the top to the bottom. I had asked why they didn't fix that, too. The answer I got was they can't replace the whole Aorta. Does anyone have any insight on this. If so please write and fill me in.
Go the 25th of the September for another CT/scan then to the Dr. on the 30th to see if there is any changes. Will write to keep you updated. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AND MAY GOD BLESS.