Lucky Me

Yesterday my mom underwent surgery to remove an aortic abdominal anuerysm, which she came out of successfully. An anuerysm is potentially fatal; the fatality occurs when the anuerysm ruptures. If you don't remember your biology, the aorta is the largest artery in your body, and it carries oxygen-rich blood pumped out of, or away from, your heart. Your aorta runs through your chest, where it is called the thoracic aorta. When it reaches your abdomen, it is called the abdominal aorta. An anuerysm under 2 inches is monitored to see if it grows. When it gets larger, it must be removed. My mom's was 4 inches.

So I am lucky today because my mom was not taken from me because of the AAA and also because seven years ago, God also gave my dad a second chance when doctors accidentally found his AAA and removed it. He was only the 29th person in the country to undergo a new procedure to remove the anuerysm.

Others are not that lucky. Some 200,000 people in the US have an AAA and 15,000 people have a life-threatening AAA. Now I have to be monitored for one, because my chances increased with one immediate relative and now I have two.

How do you know if you have an AAA?

--A pulsing feeling in your abdomen, similar to a heartbeat
--Severe, sudden pain in your abdomen or lower back. If this is the case, your aneurysm may be about to burst. Get to a hospital immediately.


Factors that increase risk of having an AAA

--Being a man older than 60 years
--Having an immediate relative, such as a mother or brother, who has had AAA
--Having high blood pressure
--Smoking

Both of my parents smoked. My dad smoked for 21 years and my mom smoked for 55. Both quit cold turkey for health reasons- my mom quit on the day she found out about her AAA. Is it any wonder I am so rabidly anti-smoker, especially towards those I care about? No, you may not get cancer, which although it ravages the body and is painful to endure and watch someone endure, it at least allows you time to say goodbye to your loved ones. But from smoking you could get an AAA which most people have no symptoms of until it bursts, and then die immediately. That leaves your children, your family and friends no time to say goodbye to you nor you to them.

The surgery involves a stent which replaces the damaged part of the aorta. Both of my parents had an endovascular stent graft which goes through two small incisions in the groin instead of the more invasive surgery through the abdomen. Recovery is 2 to 3 days.



So with Thanksgiving a few weeks away, I have a lot to be thankful for- two parents who had good doctors who saved their lives and friends who prayed for my mom this week and who called and emailed me to check on her. I wish everyone with an AAA could recognize early symptoms or catch it by accident like my parents did (they both had other complaints when the AAA was found) and survive.