On May 22, 1995, John was awakened at 4 a.m. by a strange feeling in his body. His breathing was labored, and he had pain between his shoulder blades. John's friend Brenda became so concerned that she drove him directly to the hospital emergency room.

There, an ultrasound of his chest showed a thoraco-abdominal aortic dissection, a tear in a layer of the body's largest blood vessel-a condition that could have killed him.

John remained in the hospital for 2 weeks. "I remember during the first few days of my hospitalization, all of the medical staff appeared to walk on eggshells around me," he said. "They all had that grim, serious look on their faces."

John's elevated blood pressure was slowly gotten under control with medication. Upon being discharged home he was told to follow up with his doctors, and he did just that. Over the next 12 years, the size of John's aneurysm was monitored by regular computed tomographic angiogram (CTA) scans.

Living a Full Life
John, a retired physics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, went on to live his life and did not let health concerns slow him down. "I didn't worry about the aneurysm," he said. "My family and friends took my condition more seriously than I did." A colleague told him, "John, you shook hands with your maker."

In spite of others' worries, John went to the beach and body surfed, visited Indonesia, and walked the islands of the Pacific. He continued to volunteer with his local fire department and even started a new job as a shopping mall Santa, making good use of his authentic white beard and love of children. Despite his regular scans, John recalls thinking about the aneurysm in only a "fleeting way."

Playing Santa First
By October 2007, the size of the aneurysm in John's chest had grown to a diameter of 7.5 cm, requiring treatment. He met with a vascular surgeon and was given the option to undergo a procedure called thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair, or TEVAR. This alternative to open surgery uses a small incision in the groin to place a flexible tube called an endograft inside the damaged section of the aorta. The endograft takes pressure off of the aneurysm and essentially becomes a new pathway for blood to flow through. John agreed but chose to postpone treatment until after the Christmas season. When asked why he wanted to wait, he said, "I wasn't that worried. I knew I was being taken care of. I had good diagnostic care and great medical follow-up. My vascular surgeon explained it all in complete detail. He drew out the procedure on a piece of paper that I still have. I just needed to be Santa first."

In January 2008, John finally underwent the TEVAR procedure, which was a success. In September 2008, John required another procedure, an endovascular aortoiliac aneurysm repair, which also went very well.

The Need to Screen
John has many of the risk factors that contribute to vascular disease including diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and he is overweight. Unfortunately, he had never been screened for an aneurysm before he wound up in the emergency room.

He now takes medication that has lowered his blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels, and he has lost some weight. His only brother is healthy, but knows that he should be checked for aneurysm since he is over age 50. John's two children are nearing their 50th birthdays and are also aware that they should be screened for aneurysms. Currently, John says he "feels great" and continues to look forward to each November and December, "Santa's busy time."

Keeping His Faith
John has a strong religious faith and has read about the Catholic saint from Italy, Padre Pio. When the saint visited the sick, people would say that they smelled roses. John vividly recalls waking up from surgery and smelling roses. The scent was also in the recovery room. He asked the nurses if they detected roses. They did not.

A few weeks ago, he again caught a whiff of rose. He thought to himself, "What does that mean?" Nothing has come of it yet.