My name is Amy, and I experienced a massive deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at 17. I was at school when I experienced excruciating pain in my lower back and legs. At the hospital, I was told I had a urinary tract infection that had spread to my kidneys, and was prescribed medication.
I had trouble walking out of the hospital and into my house. I thought it was normal for a UTI, so I took a bath because I thought it would take away my pain. After I got out of the bath, my left leg went stiff, turned red, and was extremely painful. I tried to walk upstairs to tell someone, but I fell and could not move. By then, my leg was purple.
I was taken back to the hospital by ambulance less than an hour after I was discharged. You should have seen the looks on their faces.
I was admitted to the hospital, where I was placed on a heparin drip for four days and had multiple samples of blood taken every few hours. I also missed my graduation ceremony.
The heparin drip didn’t do anything to help the blood clot. I was in a small town, and it was rare to see something like this, so I was airlifted to a children’s hospital and stayed for a week.
I had to get a catheter placed in my left leg for the clot-busting medication and also had three stents placed. It was a scary situation to experience at 17. I was prescribed blood thinning injections for three months until I could take it in pill form, which I’m still taking.
It’s believed that my May-Thurner syndrome and hormonal birth control caused my clots. I would advise women to be extremely careful about the birth control they take.
Resources
May-Thurner Syndrome
Women and Blood Clots
Deep Vein Thrombosis Treatment
