Lucky Lucy!

Lucy Westerman is a very active woman who gardens, helps care for more elderly family members, and is active in her church. Lucy considers herself lucky because she had an AAA. Lucky? Yes! Her doctor found it when he was examining her stomach during a routine physical examination. He then did an ultrasound which showed the aorta to be bulging about 2 inches (6 cm) wide. After evaluating her heart, he sent her to a vascular specialist who put a stent-graft inside her aorta. Lucy was in the hospital for only a few days and soon resumed her active lifestyle. The procedure required a small incision to insert the catheter and graft. "It was nice not to have a big incision," she admitted.

She knows she's lucky. Lucy's older brother, Larry, had died earlier of a ruptured aortic aneurysm. She knows this procedure prevented her from having a rupture as well.

Back when Larry died, no one mentioned the possibility that aneurysms might run in the family. When examining Lucy, however, her doctor explained that this might be a familial or inherited problem. He asked how many brothers and sisters she had, their ages, and whether any members of her family had been diagnosed with aneurysms. Lucy is one of nine children ranging in age from 65 to 84 and, except for Larry, no one was aware of any aneurysms. All of her brothers smoke, which is another risk factor for aneurysms. Her doctor told Lucy that to be on the safe side, each of her family members should have an ultrasound to see if he or she had an aneurysm.

Although some of Lucy's siblings were leery about getting tested, she reminded them that their brother Larry died from his aneurysm. She said, "I did not want them to die because they didn't do such a simple test." It was lucky that Lucy was so persistent. Two other brothers had aneurysms. One was too small to worry about now, but his doctor will follow up with additional ultrasounds in the future. The other brother had a large bulge, and Lucy said, "They fixed him up with the same kind of graft that I have."

Since her procedure Lucy has been telling other people to check their family history and talk to their doctor. She was happy to share her story with Keeping In Circulation so that more people would know about inherited aneurysms.