Patient Stories

I experienced deep vein thrombosis during my senior year of college that turned into a pulmonary embolism, which derailed my college baseball career. My symptoms included shortness of breath, leg swelling, calf pain and fatigue. Upon being rushed into the ICU due to the size of my clot and severity of the PE, I was…

As told by her daughter LaKeitha My mother passed away after experiencing difficulty breathing for a week. Despite visiting the doctor, they didn’t consider a blood clot. One night, fearing the worst, my father rushed her to the hospital. Tests on her upper body led to her admission due to ongoing breathing issues. Tragically, she…

In 2004, following two invasive surgeries in four weeks, I had a severe event. I had an immediate pain in my calf and suspected a blood clot. I told the surgeon and he said I didn’t have the symptoms of a blood clot, and aside from my calf pain he was right. There was no…

My story began with a nagging ache in my calf. I had ignored it for a few days thinking it was a pulled muscle. Other than a leg cramp, I did not have any other symptoms. I had done my usual six-mile run and worked in the yard later that day. It was not until…

It all began around the Christmas holiday in 2022 when I started experiencing what I thought was indigestion. Despite trying various over-the-counter medications, nothing seemed to relieve my discomfort. By New Year’s Eve, my condition had worsened, but I pushed through to celebrate the new year. However, while ascending the train steps, …

As told by her daughter, Kelly My mother was 54 when she passed away from a pulmonary embolism. She had fallen and broken her ankle while walking across our street to look for a Mother’s Day card for my grandmother. The break was a bad one, so the orthopedic surgeon suggested surgery. We all were…

In June 2015, I fell and injured a varicose vein (superficial vein thrombosis) with significant bruising. I was told it was not life-threatening because it was an injury to a superficial vein. In late September, I started having problems breathing and tightness in my chest. I thought it was anxiety. A few days later, when…

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving 2018, Blake was experiencing pain in his right leg, which he attributed to a pulled muscle. On Thanksgiving, he seemed to have mild cold symptoms and a slight limp. We discussed that he should go to the doctor if he didn’t feel better soon. That was the last…

I suffer from severe polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and irregular cycles. My doctor prescribed birth control pills to regulate my cycle back in December 2021. I often felt cramps in my left leg, but I attributed them to dehydration or fatigue, given that I was a 20-year-old college student at the time. However, after my…

In 2011, I suffered the first of seven blood clots. This was the start of my new life and a wake-up call heard loud and clear. Little did I know during in the early days about the connection that would surface dating back to the day I lost my only parent, my mother, to a…