Doctors discover deadly aneurism in routine tests.
By Raif Karerat
(Kerri Evensen and Auden)
A Wisconsin woman hoping to save the life of her son by becoming a living donor instead saved her own life because of routine testing for the planned donation.
Kerri Evensen was having an MRI scan to see whether she could donate a portion of her liver to her four-year-old son, Auden, when the doctors discovered an aneurism near her kidney that was potentially life threatening.
An aneurysm occurs when a blood vessel balloons because of a weakness in the vessel. She had no symptoms, her husband, Tom Evensen, told ABC News.
“It was to the point if we did go through and have another child … the aneurysm could have burst and could have been severely life-threatening,” he said.
The aneurysm was treated via surgery, freeing Kerri Evensen to be considered again for the liver donation.
Auden was born with a rare liver disease called alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, where his liver fails to make a key enzyme. As a result, he has difficulty controlling his blood sugar levels, reported the Daily Mail.
He’s been in and out of the hospital for years with different ailments associated with his disease, and got a feeding tube and continuous glucose monitor last year to help stabilize his severe hypoglycemia due to liver failure.
“All of the ailments that Auden is currently dealing with will be removed once the transplant is complete,” Tom Evensen told ABC News.
The family is now counting the days until the expected transplant later this year,
“I know I would never had done any other test to find this aneurysm in time,” Kerri Evensen told ABC affiliate WKOW-TV in Madison. “So he absolutely 100 percent saved my life, by checking … to save his life.”