  |
|
 
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Stent Grafts
Tweet
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Current Postings on This Page (28): • Has another else experienced this or know of someone who has? My 87yo father, a career civil engineer, recently underwent AAA stent procedure and is now paralyzed from the waist down. His operation was done at UCLA Medical Center on Feb 22, 2022. His aortic aneurysm measure 6.9 cm. He is non-smoking, non-drinking every day of his life. Maintained a healthy exercise, sleep, and diet routine all his life. He was looking forward to a trip to Spain but now he cannot even go to the bathroom on his own. Surgeon said loss of blood flow to the spinal cord during the operation caused irreparable damage below the T6 vertebrae. He has not regained any sensation or mobility since the operation.He ahs undergone physical and occupational therapy on a regular basis sonce his operation. He is Stage 2 diabetic. No other history of heart condition or operation or surgery. First time he ever went to the hospital in my recollection.
• I was recently diagnosed with coronary artery disease. I have had four stents placed since 2010. Also have and abdominal artery anuerism. When my doctor gave me the diagnosis of cad, he followed it by saying..'I'm sorry". Does this mean a death sentence for me, I am terrified. Please, just an honest answer. • Hi 77-year old female. You're lucky to be alive at 6.4, though they do get bigger. Mine was 6.9, but I was lucky too. Hope you're doing well now. Do you know about the AAA Awareness Facebook Page, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2283898552/ There are some great people to talk to, who have been to hell and back (well, not literally), and we all help each other with written support and ideas. Did you take the helicopter ride? Wishing you well, Kevin aka FitOldDog • I am a 77 year old female. I have a recently widowed 51 year old daughter who is disabled with psoriatic arthritis. She is the mother of two boys, ages 13 and 24. She depends upon me greatly for companionship and support. For years I have asked God to let me live until my daughter and grandsons are in a stable life situation. On March 29th I injured my back. I phoned my daughter and asked her to take me to the doctor (I don't have a car). She was here in minutes to take me to the local hospital. The doctor x-rayed my back (saw only some degenerative changes). He then told me, "You have an aneurysm". Two weeks later I received a stent endograph for a 6.4 cm aortic aneurysm. I am in a small, remote town. Although we have a hospital, it is not equipped for vascular surgery and there is no trauma center. The closest vascular surgeon/trauma center is a 50 mile helicopter ride. A ruptured aneurysm in this town is a death sentence. I told my daughter that God made his warning terribly painful - but she said, "I know you, Mom. If it didn't hurt really bad, you'd have ignored it".God answered my prayers! I feel like I have experienced a miracle! • Looking for inspiration? Read Masha's story about experiencing aortic dissection in your early 30s. http://goo.gl/7hKlU -k (FitOldDog) • FitOldDog's Aortic Surgery Recovery Guide is now available as a FREE pdf download at http://athletewithstent.com/surgery-recovery-guide/. This 45-page guide contains all the information that I needed in 2010, including many useful links and encouragement to get on with your life. Don't be a prisoner of your stent, my friends. -k (FitOldDog) • Hi folks, if you watch my latest blog post http://goo.gl/YD57k you'll get to see a nice video clip (made by my friend and photographer, Meghan), where I explain why I compete in the Lake Placid Ironman race annually. This year will be the sixth time for me, and the second with my abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft. I want to help older people undertake safe exercise for better health, and to show what can be done after abdominal aortic surgery. Have a life, whatever you do. Kind Regards FitOldDog.
• Hey Burt, what do you think of my new landing page http://tiny.cc/tzg3gw for my first product, The FitOldDog Aortic Surgery Recovery Guide. I sold one to a guy just diagnosed with an AAA, and that was encouraging. I hope it helps him. -k (FitOldDog) • Why does FitOldDog charge $13.95 for his Aortic Surgery Recovery Quick Start Guide? http://goo.gl/Yne8l • Hi folks, I just put out my first FitOldDog's Quick Start Guide, which is on the subject of Aortic Surgery Recovery, and getting on with your life, based upon my experiences with an AAA stent graft operation. It is available for purchase as a pdf download at http://athletewithstent.com/fitolddogs-emporium/ I wrote the document that I wish had been available to me in August of 2010, when I had to transition from Ironman athlete to aorta patient.-k @FitOldDog • Hi folks, if anyone has some money to burn, I've got a slot in the NYC Marathon to run with people in my own situation, aortic aneurysm survivors, in return for which I'm fundraising for The American Heart Association to increase aneurysm awareness, and to reduce the number of people playing 'aortic roulette.' All donations would be much appreciated, via the link below (OK! Off to Eagleman):http://www.crowdrise.com/teamheartosaurus2012nyc/fundraiser/FitOldDog • Hi folks,what would you advise Larry to do about training with his life-threatening cardiovascular challenges? He still wants to complete an Ironman. For my advice to Larry, see my blog post on the subject: http://goo.gl/04fFg All input to Larry would really be appreciated by myself and Larry (I am sure!).-k aka @FitOldDog • Hi folks,Well life continues, thanks to my Cook Zenith AAA-stent graft, with my aneurysm going from it's original 6.9 cm, to 5.0 cm last year, to 3.8 last week, and NO ENDOLEAKS. I am now busy training for the Lake Placid Ironman, which I completed last year very carefully, but this year I hope for a sub-13 hr, but you get what you get in IM races. Don't be a prisoner of your aorta (or heart, or whatever), Kind Regards, Kevin -- aka @FitOldDog on Twitter • Hey (Burt), (what a lovely fall day in North Carolina, that my stent permits me to enjoy!), I come here to talk to myself, and I love it. I think that Burt looks in to see that I am ok, from time to time, which always feels good when I think about it. Saw his Tweet today, which reminded me to come to this nice calm place. I feel as though I have a small home at Angioplasty.Org. Even though it is not a busy place this site has potential value as it is not Facebook Format, which left-brained people (like myself) find somewhat discombobulating. I recently posted an article on my blog, of interest to Angioplasty.Org as it relates to risk-benefit considerations. Here is the link: http://goo.gl/pboU8-k @FitOldDog • Hi folks,Haven't been back here to talk to myself for a while, but as I am writing my training manual for people with health challenges, including aging, I remember my neglect. Nothing much to add that isn't on my blog, to which I post something every day at 6:00 am. I have a target date for my manual of September 24th. I must add that I did complete the Lake Placid Ironman race in July, and I think that I was the first person in the world to complete an Ironman with and AAA-stent graft http://goo.gl/Htz8s (though I don't think anyone noticed, which is good because it makes me feel normal again). Thanks again to Bert for keeping this going. I'll make a note here when I finally redesign my new website (http://olddogsintraining.com) and the product is available. Have my old coach back, and I hope to do a sub-13 hour IM next year in Lake Placid, and my training is just about to ramp up. Never give up. You can also follow me on Twitter @FitOldDog. Bye, and have a fun life - it's all too brief. Kevin • Hi folks. Firstly, thanks Burt for exposing
my blog some more. Much appreciated. Secondly, I want to tell you about
an interesting new book, by Benjamin Carey, on his experiences with a
thoracic
aortic aneurysm. His journey is told in detail in a most interesting way.
I have written a brief review on my latest blog post (at http://athletewithstent.com/2011/04/12/great-first-book-great-first-marathon-great-first-open-heart-surgery-book-review-barefoot-in-november/)
and his book can be found on his blog (at http://www.heartosaurus.com/p/barefoot-in-november.html).
Definitely
worth reading, and he seems like quite a guy.Cheers, Kevin • Good for you Kevin and we always look forward
to your posts. I actually just mentioned you in a
blog post about the Medtronic
Global Heroes Marathon. Unfortunately, AAA stent graft patients are not yet
eligible -- but I guess they don;t know about you yet!! • Hi! Folks,Well! I am still blogging, and I finally
found one other endurance athlete with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, Pauline,
a runner in Canada. It has
been great to have someone to talk to about my hopes and fears. Take a look at
Pauline has to say in the comment section of my blog:http://athletewithstent.comTalking
(well e-talking) actually helps a lot.It turns out that there is a Facebook AAA
Forum that Pauline co-runs, at:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2283898552.
I
am finally back in serious Ironman training with a new coach, having traversed
a 'stent-induced' state of severe hypertension. Pauline calls these things 'perturbations!'
I like that! Enjoy each day! Cheers, Kevin • Hi! Folks, Well! Firstly, thank you Burt for
your encouragement. If you have a stent of any kind, encouragement is
what you
need. Following my aortic surgery I had to navigate a sequence of psychological
challenges, none of which were mentioned when I was discharged from the
hospital, even though I had a great team who clearly saved me from an
untimely death. This is not a criticism, but a statement of fact. My recovery
journey
went from (a) euphoria (I'm alive and I have this great stent to help
me live longer and I am high on Versed!), through (b) post-surgical depression
(which felt physiological, and for which I was well prepared having read
'It's Not About The Bike' by Lance Armstrong, but it was still horrible
and I felt as though I might never do an Ironman race again, or live
long
enough to see my great grandchildren grow up [my oldest grandchild is
15 so it won't be long!]), into (c) a fairly extended state of fear (thoughts
of metal fatigue due to high cadence bike work, clots putting me in a
wheel
chair, or renal failure), into (d) my current early acceptance and contentment.
We have two choices, enjoy the journey or waste this wonderful life.
Love, Kevin Angioplasty.Org Staff, Angioplasty.Org, January 6, 2011 • Hi! Folks,It turns out that writing my AAA-stent
blog (http://athletewithstent.com)
has been extremely therapeutic for me over the last few months. What is more,
I have learned a great deal about negotiating cyberspace and the problems of
dealing with spam and hackers. Interesting stuff. I was wondering if anyone was
familiar with the site http://www.cardiacathletes.org/, as it appears to contain
some really interesting articles. I plan to keep blogging, and maybe, one day
I'll find some more people with and AAA-stent who wish to train. Please let me
know if you meet one!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Old Dog • Hi! Folks, my blog is now at http://athletewithstent.com,
because I just could not get the GoDaddy redirect function to work. Sorry
about
any inconvenience. Cheers, Kevin • Hi! Folks,Still haven't found one athlete with
an AAA-stent, other than myself. I bet there is one. Let's see how
my stent handles the Kiawah marathon
in a few weeks? Cheers,Kevin • Hi Kevin -- Congratulations on your blog!! We
thought you might be interested in this video clip that accompanied
a news release from
2008. The news release was about Medtronic gaining FDA approval for
a AAA stent graft. But the video clip is from a documentary we made a
few years earlier, called "Vascular
Pioneers: Evolution of a Specialty" --
the clip tells the story of the first AAA stent graft
-- invented by Argentinian surgeon Juan Parodi who was helped by fellow
Argentinian Julio Palmaz, the man who co-invented the first coronary
stent. Here's the link: http://www.ptca.org/news/2008/0416_MEDTRONIC.html • Hi! Folks. Being a 67-year-old athlete with
a brand new abdominal aortic stent, and wishing to keep up my Ironman
training and, having found
little in the way of useful information on the web on how to train safely
with such a stent, I decided to create a blog for athletes with stents
(being unaware of your site!). My blog is at http://blog.athletewithstent.com.
There are some issues that are "stent location specific", whilst
others are not, and the contrasts are interesting. I was hoping to use
your Forum to find others with AAA stents, and I would also like to suggest
that the AAA stent and coronary stent communities might have useful things
to say to each other. Thus the request to create the AAA stent group within
your coronary forum. Cheers. |
|||||||||||||
