💙Join us for Therapeutic Thursday, hosted by community member, survivor, and therapist John Quick. This week's guest is Farzin Mojtabai. Available NOW on AHTV, Aortic Hope's YouTube channel HERE. ❤️If you’re ready to share your experience and help others on this journey, we would be honored to feature you. SIGN UP HERE. 💕Because healing happens when we talk about it. "In 2006, I suffered an aortic dissection (Type A). Lifesaving OHS replaced my aortic valve and my aorta w

Good morning, Aortic Hope community, my name is Jared and today we will be talking about the Fall Vaccine Game Plan! As fall begins, many of us start thinking about cooler weather, changing leaves, family gatherings, and the start of cold and flu season. For people living with aortic disease, survivors of aortic surgery or dissection, caregivers, and family members, fall is also a great time to talk with your healthcare team about a seasonal vaccine game plan. Vaccines may no

❤️ DON’T LET FEAR STOP YOUR RECOVERY After heart or aortic surgery, it’s easy to develop what we sometimes call “cardiac paralysis” — being so afraid of hurting yourself that you become afraid to move. But once your medical team gives you the green light… MOVE! 🚶‍♀️💪 Start small. Walk the hallway. Get out of the chair. Take another lap tomorrow. Consider cardiac rehab. Gradually rebuild confidence in your body. You don’t have to run a marathon. Heck, some days making it to

❤️🫀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�

💙 Did you like what you saw from Aortic Hope this September? Throughout #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth, we’ve worked hard to educate, connect, support, and bring HOPE to the aortic disease community. If our posts taught you something, helped you feel less alone, or gave you information worth sharing, please consider making a donation to help us continue this work 365 days a year. https://bit.ly/AorticHopeDonation ❤️ 100% of your donations go directly toward our initiatives, in

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 #AorticDiseaeAwarenessMonth and today we are talking about "𝗣𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱": 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘆?~ Emmanuel Mbaka You survived the operation. Your incision is healing. You are walking a little farther. Maybe you are finally sleeping in your own bed again. But something still doesn't feel quite right. You walk into a room and forget why you went there. You start a sentence and struggle to find

💙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

It's #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and #AorticDissectionAwarenessWeek. Today Emmanuel Mbaka, The African Perfusionist teaches us 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘆? There is one organ we think about constantly during complex aortic surgery. The brain. Your brain depends on a continuous supply of oxygenated blood. But there is something important about the anatomy: the arteries carrying blood toward the brain arise from th

It's #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and #AorticDissectionAwarenessWeek. Today, Emmanuel Mbaka, The African Perfusionist will explain: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘆? Imagine being told before your operation: “During your surgery, we will cool your body.” That statement alone can sound frightening. You might immediately ask: “How cold are you going to make me?” In complex aortic surgery, particularly when we are operating

🧬🫀 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

🏡❤️ THE WORDS YOU’VE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR: “YOU’RE GOING HOME!” After aortic surgery, there are milestones that feel HUGE—the first time sitting up, the first walk down the hallway, getting tubes and lines removed…and then comes one of the best: GOING HOME! 🎉 Walking out of the hospital is absolutely something to celebrate. You’ve been through major surgery, long days, interrupted nights, countless vital checks and probably more hospital food than you ever wanted. 😉 But di

❤️ WHAT HAPPENS AFTER AORTIC SURGERY? You’ve made it through surgery—but what happens next? In his latest The African Perfusionist post, Emmanuel Mbaka walks patients and families through one of the biggest questions surrounding recovery: “What Should I Expect During My First Week in the Hospital? The First Days After Aortic Surgery” From waking up in the ICU and understanding all those tubes and monitors, to getting out of bed, walking the halls, managing pain, breathing exe

AORTIC VALVE DISEASE: WHAT IS IT AND HOW IS IT TREATED? Your aortic valve may be small, but it has a HUGE responsibility! Located between the heart’s left ventricle and the aorta, the aortic valve opens with each heartbeat to allow blood to leave the heart and enter the aorta—and then closes to prevent blood from flowing backward. A typical native aortic valve has three leaflets, called a tricuspid aortic valve. Some people, however, are born with a congenital difference such

🎥🫀𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗛𝗧𝗩? Because sometimes the BEST way to understand aortic disease is to hear directly from the experts who treat it every day! In recognition of #AorticValveDiseaseAwarenessDay, check out 𝗔𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲’𝘀 𝗔𝗛𝗧𝗩 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗿. 𝗠𝗲𝗵𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗱 𝗚𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻,, dedicated to AORTIC VALVE DISEASE! ❤️ https://youtu.be/dlrgs4ib7yA?si=HYIijg1X7b1GrjFH Whether y

A typical native aortic valve has three leaflets, called a tricuspid aortic valve. But some people are born with a congenital heart difference affecting the aortic valve. 🫀❤️ LET’S TALK ABOUT THE AORTIC VALVE! For #AorticValveDiseaseAwarenessDay, during #AorticDiseaseAwarenessMonth and #AorticDissectionAwarenessMonth, let’s shine a light on the valve that serves as the gateway between your heart and your aorta! A typical native aortic valve has three leaflets, called a tricu