An interesting thought. After my husband’s surgery, part of the post op follow-up was a genetic workup (asking that pesky question “why”) His aortopathy was manifestly a congenital situation…something shared by many others in the Big Aorta Club at the University Hospital in Denver…and asking such pertinent questions is obviously important with a patient who has offspring/close relatives alive, in addition to furthering understanding of the condition.
During the chit chat around a possible underlying collagen disorder I happened to mention a couple of ligament/tendon strains husband had experienced recently…and that he’d suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon back in 1984 during an easy game of squash. We/he’d always put it off as one of those things…which, as a “one off” it is. However, when the doctor heard this her eyes lit up and that phrase we use a lot in out house was heard…“Now that’s interesting…”
It seems that husband was the third person in a relatively short time to have mentioned something similar (not Achilles, but other tendon ruptures under atypical circumstances) Of course, it may well still be just one of those things or a funky coincidence rather than a pattern…but you never know, right? And never will know if someone doesn’t ask the “why” or “what if” questions.