Life After Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm LARA

Life After Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm LARA This is an Essex based group for families whose loved one has experienced a ruptured aortic aneurysm

23/12/2025

What is an endoleak and how is it managed?

07/12/2025

This video gives some information for families on who to reach out to if you have lost someone from ruptured aortic aneurysm

04/12/2025

They say open repair lasts forever.

Today we had an elderly patient who had open aneurysm repair 29 years ago. His graft had come loose at a suture line resulting in failure of the old graft. A small puddle of clotted blood had accumulated next to this, demonstrating the old repair was failing.

We put an EVAR stent graft inside it so he can get on with his life.

Merry Xmas from all of us at Mid and South Essex Vascular Unit and enjoy your new aorta!

27/11/2025

Today we had one of our most challenging cases to date. A lady with 4 separate aneurysms in her aorta, both branches and inside branch.

Her case was complex and we split it into 2 separate sittings-in the first we plugged off one of the side branch vessels.

Then today we put in 7 stents to reinforce her aorta and main branches. It wasn’t plain sailing but with a fantastic team we managed to get the result she needed and to train the next generation of vascular specialists who are learning complex aortic repair.

23/11/2025

This video tells you the basics of aortic aneurysm

This week we had a lovely 89 year old man who had an enormous 10cm abdominal aortic aneurysm. Five years ago we didn’t ...
22/11/2025

This week we had a lovely 89 year old man who had an enormous 10cm abdominal aortic aneurysm. Five years ago we didn’t have the technology to fix it. Now we do….and happy to report our oldest patient with an acute aneurysm went home today!

The profile picture shows our new CT fusion system called Endonaut.This allows specialists to make a model of a patients...
11/11/2025

The profile picture shows our new CT fusion system called Endonaut.

This allows specialists to make a model of a patients anatomy and to work off it on a screen during aneurysm stenting (EVAR).

Last week we pretty much did a whole procedure without using iodine based contrast (which can affect the kidneys). This is one of the strategies we now have to make aneurysm repair safer than ever for those with poor kidney function.

28/10/2025

TEAMWORK
is what saved the life of last week's patient.

The consultant on-call was busy operating when a ruptured aneurysm came in to Emergency. They called a colleague who was free to assess the patient and get them down to theatre.

They were joined by 2 highly skilled anaesthetists, a host of nurses, including ones who were ready to recycle the patient's own blood and give it back.

A difficult procedure was undertaken including replacing the entire abdominal aorta and both iliac arteries in the pelvis by 2 surgeons working together. They were joined by a 3rd surgeon who offered to help so they could take a break during the 7 hour procedure.

Following a week on intensive care the patient is ready to leave hospital and achieve all those life goals that were put on hold, most importantly looking after his grandchildren.

This is how a high quality unit works - as a TEAM

People who have aortic aneurysms can fairly commonly have aneurysms behind their knees. This is called popliteal aneurys...
10/10/2025

People who have aortic aneurysms can fairly commonly have aneurysms behind their knees. This is called popliteal aneurysm. You can usually feel a pulsating lump behind the knee joint. Here is one from a patient that we treated recently to prevent it showering clots down into the foot.

For a few lucky few people who live close to the hospital and who have a partner who can drive and who can have a keyhol...
08/10/2025

For a few lucky few people who live close to the hospital and who have a partner who can drive and who can have a keyhole stent for their aortic aneurysm there is now daycase aortic aneurysm surgery

Experiences of a recent person who had a large aneurysm found incidentally…I would like to start by thanking all the sta...
08/10/2025

Experiences of a recent person who had a large aneurysm found incidentally…

I would like to start by thanking all the staff (Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses etc) at Basildon, Broomfield and Orsett hospitals for all there amazing work, dedication and care.
My story starts with a referral to Broomfield hospital for a MRI scan, not related to the Aortic Aneurysm, this was picked up during this scan and quickly jumped on by Broomfield hospital, because of the size of the Aneurysm (6.😎. They immediately arranged other scans and ultrasounds all within hours.
I was then referred to Basildon hospital for a stress test and meetings with the Anaesthetist and Surgeon, these people do amazing life saving work with new pioneering procedures, it was pointed out that due to our family history (my mother and Uncle passed away with burst Aneurysms) all family members should have regular health checks.
It was once said that if the abdominal aortic aneurysm bursts or other aneurysm’s there would be nothing the surgeons could do to save your life, however the surgeons at Basildon hospital with new pioneering procedures can now save countless lives.
I’m now on the road to recovery it’s been 2 months since my major surgery and feeling much better, having seen the surgeon twice for post operative checks and he’s very pleased with my progress.
A big thank you to all the NHS Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses from me and my family.

20/08/2025

What a ruptured aneurysm was like for a family in 1985

Background
This occurred when my husband was 52 and my daughter 5. This did not occur at Basildon, but was somewhere else in the UK, in 1985. My husband was a smoker but was otherwise well. He worked as a teacher in a local college.

Saturday
My husband had a sore tummy and didn’t feel well. I called the GP out. He was not concerned as my husband was generally well (apart from being a smoker) and prescribed antibiotics.

I called the GP back later because he wasn’t improving. The GP came round, examined him and said i should take him to A and E immediately. In A and E they were still trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

My husband asked me to not to stay there because I needed to look after my young daughter.

Sunday
I rang A and E in the morning, who said he was stable and moving to the ward. I said to give him my love and that I would come in later during visiting hours.

His friend came to visit but he wasn’t allowed in to the ward, as he was early. Another colleague from his college came to visit and insisted on seeing him as she had to take his class the next day. She rang me to say he was still in pain and that she would could give us a lift to the hospital if we wanted.

My daughter drew a picture and a made a get well soon card to give to her father.

My car unfortunately decided that it was not going to start. In the meantime, the hospital rang and said to come as quickly as possible and not to bring my daughter. I took a cab to the hospital and met his friend outside the ward.

One of the doctors said “are you Mrs R?
Please come into this room.” When I went in the doctor said “I’m sorry your husband has had a cardiac arrest”.

I went to him and he was still warm. I wanted him to open his eyes but he couldn’t. The staff were not sure what the cause of death was. Then I held him and cried. My daughter was with our neighbours and never got to see her father.

He had a post-mortem which revealed a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

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Basildon

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