Aortic aneurysm surgery

[HunkieDorie]

Hi all, anyone have any experience or know of anyone who has had this done? Dad has had this done in hospital 2 days ago. Doctors say he will be in for about 10 days! Whilst he is coherent and eating/ drinking I am worried about complications. Dad is late 60s. Anyone have any success stories?

Hello! My granddad had it about twenty years ago. He was in his 70s at the time but lived another couple of decades. Hope that's comforting :)

Yes it is, thank you so much @Seroi glad his surgery went well. It's a lot more serious than we thought. Poor Dad wasn't expecting to be in so much pain. Do you remember how long your Grandad was in hospital for?

My mum had this done when she was 69 so 4 years ago. she took quite a while to recover after being released from hospital and regain her strength and it knocked her confidence. She's doing great though, yearly scans to keep a check.

My DF had it done in his mid 70s. Did your DF have it done as elective surgery or emergency? Mine had it as an emergency, his aneurism was bleeding so it was touch and go for a while. Immediately following his surgery, which took 8 hours, the surgeon told us that he would be critically ill for a while - and he was He was in ICU for 10 days, in a coma for 7 days, then HDU for another 2 weeks. In total he spent 3 months in hospital. It was such an awful time.
about 6 months after leaving hospital he had the main arteries in his neck replaced (not at the same time) as elective and was only in hospital for a week each time.
Sadly he died about 2 years after his initial surgery. The surgery had been very extensive and he ended up with adhesions in his abdomen which led to a blocked bowel, which is what caused his death.

I remember being quite shocked at how she looked when she came home from hospital, a bit of a shell tbh. Hers was discovered when it was much larger and she had to travel to a hospital 3 hours away as she needed specialist stuff (she went to Birmingham). It was an ordeal and she had one operation then about a week later another. Home after 2/2.5 weeks. Like I said she took a while to build back up but she's fab now! It's a worrying time, I think I felt like she'd never be better at the time. I'm sure your dad will be back to fab soon too.

My mother in law had the op in her 70s, she lived on until age 93. It is major surgery and it took her several months to fully regain her strength. Good wishes to your father.

My husband has this about 15 years ago when he was in his late 50s (emergency). I can't remember exactly how long he was in hospital but I think 10 days sounds about right.

He was a lot of pain at the time but hasn't had any trouble with it since.

Hope your father is ok.

The thing to remember is that they’re not doing this procedure for fun - it is potentially life saving, as in: until it’s done there is the possibility that if the aneurism burst ( which could happen without warning at any time ):the patient could bleed out into his/her belly in minutes.

Ex FIL had it done about 8-10 years ago when he was in early 60’s. Was in hospital for just under a week. Wound wasn’t that big and even a couple of weeks later superficially appeared to be healing well. FIL reckons it wasn’t too painful but he was tough and old school (might not have said even if it did hurt!). His was preventative as his aorta was deteriorating but a while from rupturing which probably helped.

Thanks all for the responses, cannot explain how helpful it has been to me

Went to visit dad today- he isn't too good but I think that is because of the morphine. He only had the operation Wednesday. They are getting him up and about as much as possible- he is eating small amounts and trying to have water.

We think he will be in for about 2 weeks- I am hoping to get him home sooner so he is in his comforts

Yes that's what was explained to my dad. It's very scary but had no choice to go through this.

My Dad had this, 15 years ago now, in his sixties. He's fine now, still active, plays golf a lot, also still works part time because he gets bored easily!

Seeing him in the hospital afterwards was pretty scary. I'd never seen my Dad like that, pale and weak, and spaced out. He's always been such a vibrant character, so it was a shock. Recovery wasn't speedy, but it wasn't expected to be.

Thank you for the thread OP. We've recently found out that DH has a thoracic aneurysm and he has an angiogram in a couple of weeks to assess it's suitability for surgery. Reading people's experiences has been really helpful.

I hope your DD makes a good recovery.

@MangoBiscuit that's the thing with my dad also- glad your's is ok!

He was spaced out totally and has also lost a lot of weight and is pale. It's awful seeing him like it- he's never been through anything like it.

@h0rsewithn0name you are welcome! Everything will be fine- the actual process has been so straight forward. recovery is difficult but the operation is so worth it.

Dad is recovering and stable. Only yesterday had catheter and needles removed from hand. He has quite a swollen tummy but wondering if that's anything to do with him not passing 'stool' yet ?! He is still pretty much on morphine.

Glad things are progressing OP, albeit slowly. When DH has had heart surgeries in the past, he has described them as being run over by a bus, so slow progress is probably about right. Wishing you well.

Tha j you @h0rsewithn0name I am glad DH is ok. Dad is being let out today, we thought it was too early but doc things he can rest better at home, he has been struggling to get some sleep!