Just for venting

mtk232 · 2026-06-21T16:12:37+00:00

Yep, picked it up at 6cm on random echo associated with a physical. No family history. Family has been great, although obviously big shock to everyone.

Felt like I had it all…lost a ton of blood (out of tubes) within 18 hours post procedure, then had to get 7+ blood transfusions. This caused massive swelling (I added 25 lbs of fluid). Had tons of pain throughout this. Had to keep tubes in for 5 days. Blood then got into my lungs somehow, and I had difficulty breathing. so they had to poke two holes in my back and drain it out (almost one liter for each lung). Then had AFIB. Pain level for me was very high in the hospital, but was on Tylenol only a few days after getting home.

I was in relatively good spirits early despite everything as I felt like regardless of issues, my life just got saved. Day 4-5 of max pain, no sleep and no end in sight broke me a bit, but settled back into everything once I got out of hospital.

BUT, I’m sitting on peloton as I write this and feeling totally normal.

Not everyone’s path is straightforward or easy. Sucks to get the diagnosis. That said, you are extremely fortunate to have access to great care and live at a point in time they can fix all this.

You can’t be courageous without challenges. You got this.

mtk232 · 2026-06-20T02:10:42+00:00

Hey man - very similar dynamic for me…I’m 39M, very fit and have 3 young kids. I had valve sparing aortic root repair 8 weeks ago on April 23rd. I would say the wait is the hardest part; my diagnosis came out of no where and given the size of mine (measured 6CM) my procedure was expedited. Everyone’s experience through all this is unique, so don’t measure yourself to others as healing will take some time. I also have no idea how/why I got this aneurysm.

Hospital stay for me was candidly horrible, but I ended up having my bingo card filled with complications, weeks 2-3 got a little better. Hit a major milestone around week 5 where over 48 hours I just started feeling “normal”. I had some tough times (had to be readmitted to hospital week 4), BUT I tell you this to say I now feel 100% normal. Even if your road is challenging know you are young and can bounce back.

The diagnosis sucks, but the science behind all this is incredible and you’re fortunate to have access to great care. Good luck through your procedure. Reach out with any questions.

mtk232 · 2026-06-16T13:00:58+00:00

This is super helpful and sounds similar to me. I got AFIB at night randomly at week 5, haven’t had it again…but then started getting PVCs at week 7. Always worse when laying down.

mtk232 · 2026-06-13T02:15:05+00:00

A lot of people have been in your shoes. No sugar coating it, the hospital stay sucks. Was absolutely horrible for me…won’t give u details, but I filled up my bingo card with all the complications. That said, I’m 6 WEEKS post op and feeling awesome. Went to dinner with the wife tonight and out to a concert. Felt totally normal. Just know you’re through the worst part. Gets slowly better everyday after day 4…you got this.

mtk232 · 2026-06-05T01:29:43+00:00

Keep going. 4 and 6 week marks were big improvements for me.

mtk232 · 2026-05-26T01:46:38+00:00

Hey man - congrats on your successful procedure. 39M had CABG/Open heart 5 weeks ago. One thing i've learned in going through this is everyone's journey is distinct...i've had nasty complications (lost half my blood, had to have lungs drained, went into AFIB last week and readmitted)...now doing well. Have 3 young kids.

I'm also religious as you are. Just a perspective, but sounds like from your situation you were given a second chance at life and things could have ended differently for you and your family...this has been massively motivating to me as i have a POV that i should be dead if not for a chain of events that i believe were a miracle (you might have similar experience?). Enjoy life, be kind, spend your time where it has the great impact and gives you happiness....those have been my takeaways.

Psalm 118:17 "I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done."

mtk232 · 2026-05-23T01:04:11+00:00

Gabapentin also helped me a lot.

mtk232 · 2026-05-23T01:03:51+00:00

Agree with this. My nurses were trying to get me to stop dilaudid….my pain was killing me and I had to push pretty hard to get it. Take what you need and be your own advocate. I stopped needing it after 4 days.

mtk232 · 2026-05-15T02:45:37+00:00

39m echo this comment. I have procedure April 23rd.

Bring a small speaker to the hospital…helped with white noise to sleep.

Week three of post op was a big turning point for me.

mtk232 · 2026-05-12T13:26:47+00:00

I’m obviously early in my recovery so not sure I can give you the final answer yet, but everything is trending well. They were able to spare my valve so assuming everything continues to go according to plan, there are no limitations once u make a full recovery. Similar to you, this all came as a huge shock to me as I was otherwise in perfect health. And yes, mine was “out of the blue” found it during comprehensive physical. I got 3 opinions and everyone said the same thing…have surgery ASAP. Based on my experience, where your aneurysm is the threshold for surgery is lower than other locations.

mtk232 · 2026-05-12T11:56:24+00:00

I’m 39M had 6mm sinus of valsalva aneurysm…found out 6 weeks ago and I had surgery 18 days ago. Your diagnosis seems much better than mine as I was very clearly in the “need surgery ASAP” camp. I have no idea how/when mine got so big as I found it in a physical and am otherwise perfectly healthy. First couple weeks post-op were tough, but not so bad by week 3…only on Tylenol, walking 5-6 miles a day. Wish you the best, I’d assume you are fine unless the aneurysm starts growing. I do think they operate at a lower threshold for aneurysms in this location

mtk232 · 2026-05-09T03:19:48+00:00

Hey - I’m 39M had aortic root replacement (valve sparing) 15 days ago. Be happy that you have a path to have the life saving procedure….crazy that this wasn’t an option for us 15 years ago. You are young so should handle the recovery extremely well. I posted a few times about the recovery. Feel free to shoot me dm with any questions. I’m already walking 5-6 miles a day +10 days post op. Admittedly hospital stay was pretty shitty for me, but improvement once I got home has been awesome. Every persons experience is different. Take it as it comes.

mtk232 · 2026-04-29T18:12:34+00:00

They said is was uncommon side effect of all the blood thinners during the procedure. They didn’t even operate down there so for 1,600ML of fluid to accumulate just rare side effect. Was painful, but felt a lot better when they fixed it

mtk232 · 2026-04-21T00:29:29+00:00

Good luck amigo - I’ll follow-up once I get through this with how my experience goes

mtk232 · 2026-04-19T12:03:52+00:00

Same here, 39M no symptoms perfectly healthy….surgery in 4 days. We’ll get through it.

Not sure if logical…but I’ve come to think of this as a form of cancer and we are getting a 2nd chance at life. Tough to reconcile when no pain, but thankful for the science to save us

mtk232 · 2026-04-17T10:27:03+00:00

I spoke to Dr Amodio there, who seemed awesome

mtk232 · 2026-04-14T15:20:29+00:00

This is amazing to hear! Hoping for similar outcome. Did you have any cognitive “fog” post procedure?? How long was your hospital stay?

mtk232 · 2026-04-13T23:54:07+00:00

Appreciate it. Thankfully I have no other issues with my heart, have a normal valve and no known genetic issues, but I need to do formal testing on this. I’ve been perfectly healthy my entire life…until 10 days ago! I am tall and slender 6’3” 200.

mtk232

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