Excargodog

You haven't given a specific enough description to be exact. By having your aorta "replaced" do you mean your thoracic (inside the chest) or abdominal (inside the abdomen) aorta, it runs through both spaces.

Generally the reason for replacing either of them is the development of an aneurysm. The concerns with replacement are several but the main ones are:

1. Why did you develop an aneurysm to begin with?
2. Were important arteries that branch off the aorta damaged?
3. How satisfactory was the repair?
4. How frequently do you need to be followed if a special issuance is granted?

1. Is important because there are some genetic conditions, Marfans disease and similar, that predispose to aneurysms. While it is likely you would still be granted a special issuance, this would affect item 4, how closely they would require you to be watched as a condition of the special issuance. Similarly, high blood pressure is a risk factor. They will want to see that your blood pressure is indeed well controlled on your current meds.

2. Arteries coming off the aorta include the coronary arteries that feed the heart, the carotids that feed the brain, and down in the abdomen the renal arteries that feed the kidneys. If you have had a synthetic graft splice near any of these, the FAA would want to guarantee themselves of the adequacy of the repair and subsequent the flow to these vessels.

3. While uncomplicated aortic grafts are generally easily waiverable, the FAA needs to do due diligence that there was a satisfactory repair. They are gonna need to see the records and the post graft imaging and/or flow studies.

Just the fact that you have been put on blood pressure medication technically means you don't meet standards, although even just a local AME (senior AMEs can do class 1s, other AMEs are restricted to 2s and 3s) can issue pending review. I SUPPOSE you could just go back to work until your next physical was due and CLAIM you thought that would be OK, but you ought to know better, and they are going to KNOW you should have known better. They won't REFUSE to waiver you if you do that, but they damn sure won't go out of their way to do you any favors if you pi$$ them off either, and that WILL pi$$ them off. And this may well be a lengthier process if they get irritated at you. Besides, the longer you wait before getting the required stuff, the harder it will become to collect it all.

So MY RECOMMENDATION is get a copy of your hospital discharge summary and call up your regional flight surgeon and fax it to him/her after talking to them personally. Depending on just what was done, the regional flight surgeon can talk to OKC and find out precisely what medical info/imaging studies/proof of adequacy of blood pressure control/etc., that you are going to need to satisfy the Federal Air Surgeon. They might even be able to tell you if they think that your senior flight surgeon is up to the job of doing this expeditiously, or if you ought to go to a specialized aeromedical clinic that has done a few of these and knows the requirements and the personalities of the reviewers.

I think your chances of getting a waiver are actually pretty good, but if it's not done right it can take months and months longer than it needs to.

And, yeah, you didn't do anything wrong to cause yourself to have an aneurysm. You having an aneurysm isn't going to pi$$ them off. If they think you aren't taking your condition seriously - like pretending you didn't know they don't want you flying until this is OK'd by them, that won't be the case.