What should you take when you have a cold or the flu if you live with aortic disease? Good morning, Aortic Hope community! My name is Alvaro, and welcome to another Medical Monday! Imagine this: You wake up one morning with a stuffy nose, a sore throat, a headache, and maybe a fever. You head to the pharmacy looking for something to help you feel better. You walk down the cold and flu aisle and see dozens of options: “Cold & Flu.” “Daytime.” “Nighttime.” “Maximum Strength.”

❤️🫀 YOUR EXPERIENCE HAS VALUE — AND YOUR VOICE MATTERS. Aortic Hope is excited to continue our collaboration with Rare Patient Voice, helping connect members of the aortic community with opportunities to share their real-world experiences with researchers. Rare Patient Voice gives patients and caregivers the opportunity to participate in research such as interviews, surveys and other studies — and participants are paid for their time when they qualify. Why does this collabor

♥️Aortic Hope Community Liaison Bonit Sharma recently had the opportunity to speak at the Hackensack University Medical Center Symposium, sharing his powerful survivor story, the important lessons he learned along the way, and how those experiences led him to advocacy and his work with Aortic Hope. ♥️There is something incredibly impactful about bringing the patient voice into a room of medical professionals—putting a real person and a real journey behind the disease they tre

🧠❤️ MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS—ESPECIALLY AFTER AN AORTIC DIAGNOSIS. Aortic disease doesn’t just affect the heart and aorta. It can affect how we think, feel, sleep, cope and live. The fear of another emergency. Anxiety before scans. Trauma after surgery or dissection. Learning to trust your body again. And for caregivers, the emotional weight can be just as real. In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Day, join Aortic Hope’s Amy Wagner, LCSW-C, as we talk openly about mental

❤️🫀𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛. 🫀❤️ As #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth comes to a close, all of us at Aortic Hope want to say one very important thing: 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨. Thank you for reading. Thank you for watching. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for participating. And most importantly, thank you for helping us take aortic disease awareness far beyond our own community. And WOW… you certainly did! 🎉 📈 During September, on Facebook alone: ❤️ 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀�

When the Emergency Is Over, But Your Mind Is Still on Alert Understanding Anxiety, Medical Trauma & PTSD After Aortic Disease When you hear the words aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection, or aortic surgery, life can suddenly feel divided into two parts: before and after. Even when the immediate danger has passed, your mind may not get the message. You may be home from the hospital. Your incision may be healing. Your doctors may tell you that everything looks stable. And yet you

📚❤️ LOVE A GOOD BOOK? We’ve got something for you! For #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth, take a look at Aortic Hope’s Reading Resources—a collection created with our community in mind. https://www.aortichope.org/post/reading-resources-by-the-community-for-the-community And this isn’t just a list of medical books! 📖 Poetry that puts the emotions of this journey into words. ❤️ Memoirs & personal stories from people who have lived it. 🫀 Patient guides that help make aortic diseas

TODAY...IS BIG! Just in time for #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and as we begin the journey into the emotional side of Aortic Disease, we want to premier a "documentary" created by Carin Andersen, Founder and Board Chair of Aortic Hope and President of Think Aorta US. Thank you for your honesty and vulnerability. My Journey Back to Open Heart Surgery ~ Carin Andersen https://youtu.be/Ybe7pNy0vPM ❤️ I knew what open-heart surgery looked like. But knowing what to expect didn't pr

💙It's #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and today is about WHY AORTIC HOPE and HOPE MAIL? Because sometimes, you just need to know someone understands. An aortic diagnosis can leave patients and families feeling overwhelmed, frightened, and alone. Aortic Hope was created by survivors and caregivers who understand that journey—and believe no one should have to walk it alone. 📬 Introducing 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑰𝑳 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑰𝑳 is our way of putting that support directly into the han

❤️🫀 TODAY IS #AORTICDISSECTIONAWARENESSDAY! 🫀❤️ And during #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth, we can think of no better day to share something incredibly special… 🎉 𝑨𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆’𝒔 8𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒍 “𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑰𝑺 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑺 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬” 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐—𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝑶𝑼! 🎉 And yes…a few adorable pets made it in too! 🐾❤️ Aortic dissection is serious. We know that not every story has the ending we desperately wish it did, and today we remember those

YOU DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN HERE. Living with aortic disease can sometimes feel like speaking a language that very few people understand: -The fear. -The waiting. -The scans. -The surgeries. -The medications. -The “is this normal?” moments. -The recovery that doesn’t always look like recovery. And the life after the crisis that no one really prepared you for. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗹𝗲𝗱. Because no one unders

🧬🫀 NEW BLOG ALERT: AORTIC SCIENCE MADE EASY! Research can be fascinating…but let’s face it, sometimes reading a published medical study can feel like you need a medical degree just to get through the first paragraph! 🤯 That’s exactly why we created Aortic Science Made Easy—and our newest medical blogger, Aditi Darodkar, is kicking things off with a topic MANY survivors ask about: 💪 EXERCISE AFTER AORTIC DISSECTION. Her first article, “Exercise May Not Be a No-Go for Aorti

THIS #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth & #AorticDissectionAwarenessWeek, IT’S TIME TO SHIFT THE DYNAMIC. Not a power struggle. A power balance. For too many people living with aortic disease, healthcare can feel like this: -We explain what’s wrong. -They tell us what to do. -We nod politely. -We hold back the questions we really want to ask. -We leave—and sometimes end up right back where we started. Sound familiar? When you’re living with aortic disease, that cycle can be frustra

💙AORTIC DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH SPECIAL EVENT💙 Moderate Exertion Exercise After Aortic Dissection: A New Study September 10, 2026 at 7pm ET Presented by Jack Crowe of Aortic Athletes & Aortic Hope What if exercise after an aortic dissection could be more than just allowed—what if it could be an important part of living well after dissection? Join us for a very special conversation about a groundbreaking new study examining the safety of moderate-exertion exercise following

💊🫀 It is #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and we are discussing MEDICATIONS, MEDICATIONS, MEDICATIONS! 🫀💊 If you live with aortic disease, chances are your medicine cabinet has become a little more… interesting! 😂 Beta blockers? ACE inhibitors? ARBs? Blood thinners? Statins? Diuretics? And what exactly does each one DO? 🤔 Aortic Hope is here to help you make sense of it! 🎓 Check out our presentation with Dr. Kristin Watson, Doctor of Pharmacy, where she breaks down common

🫀💙 Your Experience Can Help Shape Better Care for Future Aortic Disease Patients 💙🫀 A group of physicians in New York City conducts an annual survey to better understand how the experience of aortic disease can affect patients’ mental and emotional health and everyday lives. Your participation is voluntary, and all information collected is anonymous. https://acsurvey.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d0YkfhJ2NeThQii Whether you’re a long-term survivor or more recently experience

Welcome everyone to Medical monday, my name is Alvaro and today, we’re going to dive into and debunk a common myth in aortic disease: “If you have a dissection in your abdominal aorta, you will never have one in your thoracic aorta.” But is that really true? Let’s take a closer look at the case, the evidence, and what happens to the aorta beyond the segment where the dissection was first diagnosed. For patients living with aortic disease, it can be tempting to think of the ao

Understanding Bicuspid Aortopathy – Why Does the Aorta Become Enlarged? Hello everyone! I’m Alvaro, and welcome back to Medical Monday. Today we’re going to tackle a Bicuspid Aortopathy – Why Does the Aorta Become Enlarged in Patients with Bicuspid aortic valve ? A bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart valve abnormality, affecting about 1–2% of the population. Instead of having three valve leaflets, the aortic valve develops with only two.But the va

✨ New year. Same body. Still worthy of movement. ✨ As we step into a new year, let’s remind ourselves of something powerful: Your body doesn’t need to change to deserve care, respect, or movement. Movement doesn’t have to look a certain way. It doesn’t have to be fast, intense, or impressive. And it definitely doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Maybe it’s 🐢 slow and steady 🕺 joyful and expressive 😴 intentional rest and recovery 🚶‍♀️ gentle, consistent progress Whate

💙 Movement for Movement Monday 💙 The hardest part isn’t the workout. It’s the decision to start. It has power over the brain. That tiny moment between thinking about moving and actually moving — that’s where the battle happens. So here’s your trick: 👉 The Two-Minute Rule. Tell yourself, “I’m already doing it.” Not “I should move,” but “I’m moving now.” Because the moment you decide, you shift your brain from hesitation to action. You stop negotiating with yourself — and ju