GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Six years ago, Timothy Meyer came home from work, and while changing his clothes, felt a "wild vibration." He then passed out and his wife called 911.
"By the time I reached the hospital, I was in the single digits of a chance to survive," said Meyer.
He had a large iliac aneurysm rupture. He was 57 years old at the time, which his doctor called young to have such an event.
"We looked at it, and went, 'Gosh, what a sizable aneurysm for a young person,'" said Dr. Eanas Yassa, a vascular surgeon at Corewell Heath. "That's got to be associated with some sort of genetic predisposition to aneurysm development."
Yassa repaired Meyer's emergent rupture at Corewell Health.
After a stay in the hospital, Meyer had genetic testing done. It revealed a connected tissue disorder caused by a gene variant. He explained it means he has a predisposition to aneurysms, because his artery tissue is weakened and they can easily expand.
"We see a lot of people with lots of different gene variants," said Yassa. "I have not seen that many people with his specific gene variant."
Since then, Meyer has had four other aneurysms repaired. He and his doctors are keeping a close eye on another location in his leg that could lead to one in the future.
"They told me very rarely does someone survive this. I'm not sure they ever knew of anyone surviving it," said Meyer. "So, I saw it as an opportunity to say, if somebody tells you they have this wild vibration, they need to get in the hospital right away."
Yassa said people who discover a gene variant should have their family tested as well.
"Patients who have family histories of aneurysms are more likely to have aneurysms in multiple locations," said Yassa.
Meyer said his sister had previously had aneurysms, but she does not have the same gene variant.
Meyer is thankful to Dr. Yassa and the Corewell Heath team for his care during his emergent rupture and afterward.
"She just put in all this time for me and saved my life," said Meyer of Dr. Yassa." And I know beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was God's grace working through her so that I could live and I could still be here."
