Patient Stories

I was being evaluated for chest pain by a pulmonologist who was treating me with opioids. The night before my diagnosis, I was participating in a group yoga class where I won a T-shirt for sweating the most. I had pools of sweat under me like it was a Bikram class, but the A/C was…

In 2015, six weeks after starting a synthetic, estrogen-based birth control pill for perimenopausal symptoms, and one month into an overseas trip, I experienced the first symptoms of what I now know to be deep vein thrombosis and multiple pulmonary emboli. Sadly, my years of experience as a critical care nurse did not help me…

In August 2023, I had my second bunionectomy. The first was in 2015 with no complications. This time would prove differently. Preparing for surgery, I was advised by the surgical team to curtail my activities in the following days. After surgery, I adhered to the instructions. I elevated my leg often and limited going up…

In January 2024, I had an uncomplicated, five-hour labor on my due date. Immediately after handing my baby off, a nurse applied a standard procedure intervention known as controlled cord traction. I instantly felt sick and demanded she stop, but it was too late. My baby’s placenta was shredded and forcibly ripped out of my…

As told by her mother Charita My daughter Sydney’s blood clots began in 2020 after driving six hours to Mississippi and back to visit her cousins for a week. The very next morning after returning home, she told me she was out of breath and her leg was hurting badly and had a cramping feeling.…

Not long after I turned 21, I started to notice the veins on the left side of my chest becoming extremely prominent. My left arm felt like it was falling asleep constantly throughout the day. It was strange, but I just assumed I had pulled a muscle or slept on it wrong. I didn’t feel…

I began having a belly ache on Friday, August 3, 2012. I was unable to use the restroom. The only relief I got was laying in hot water in the bathtub. I did this every half hour or so. It continued to worsen, and by Sunday, August 5, it was almost unbearable. Finally, my wife…

On September 22, 2013, I realized just how fragile life can be. Following a sprint to catch my evening train, I found a seat, sat down, caught my breath, and experienced a sudden shooting pain in my head. As I neared my destination, the headache dissipated, but when I stood to leave the train, I…

I suffered a massive saddle pulmonary embolism as well as multiple smaller PEs, some of which are now chronic, in October 2022. My event was provoked by an unsuccessful vascular ablation that left my great saphenous vein partially open and Covid 19. Two years later, I still experience intermittent chest tightness and fatigue. After an…

On June 16, 2022, I woke up early to get ready for a trip to a large car show when I noticed a sharp pain in my shoulder. Throughout the three-hour drive, I started to experience pain in my back when I breathed which lasted throughout the day. I did not experience symptoms the following…