Aortic Aneurysm: How Do I Keep Him Happy?

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How Do I Keep Him Happy?

5 August 2003

I am 59, overweight but otherwise active. After three days' of pain in the chest just breathing in and out, I was forced to go to the doctor for advice. He sent me for an ultra-scan which I got on the NHS a month later. He was worried about my organs, but liver, kidneys and gall bladder seemed fine - however, they did turn up an aortic aneurysm. He said it was small enough just to keep an eye on and remind him to have another look at in a year.

It was located somewhere about my belly button. I was unsure where the pains had come from in the first place, but stopped carrying such heavy loads: lap top, printer, pilot's bag and briefcase all at once, and the pains seem to have gone and not come back. However, the difference to my life is that I now feel there is me, and my little pal, my aneurysm. We are stuck with each other for the duration. And it's worrying. How do I keep him happy? Stop him getting worse? If you get one, are you likely to get others?

The two differences it has made in my lifestyle are first, I intend to lose weight; and second, try to keep 'tenseness' out of my body - trying to be on what I call a permanent 'body holiday,' steering clear as much as possible from anger, resentment and tenseness. Anyone got any other words of comfort? Should I be more worried, and demanding to know how this thing appeared in the first place?

Update: 14 October 2006

I have just had my third annual ultra scan check up on my aortic aneurysm that was found by chance three years ago. I was delighted to find it hasn't moved a millimetre from the 3.8 cm it was when it was discovered. I was told that was good news, but it was unlikely to ever go down.

While I am still overweight, I do take regular aerobic exercise in the gym and go for a swim, and have lost about 30 pounds in weight. My wife and I have also certainly embraced a healthy eating regime, and while I have been on medication for the last twenty years for high blood pressure, was pleased enough last week to find it is still around 133/84, and my choleserol level was 4.

I have waited a while to update my first posting, but would just like to say how grateful I was to get so much reassuring feedback then from members of 'the family.' It means that now, having had the good news from the check up, I can get on with my life and forget about it until next year.

When I first got the news, I just didn't think that would ever be possible. Although I am now sixty three, it was nice to hear from individuals twenty years older who had been living with these 'little friends' for years and years. I hope this may give a little bit of comfort to those just starting out on this journey.

God bless.

Discussion, comments, or questions: Charles Gardiner

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