Patient Stories

I had been having pain while breathing and shortness of breath for a few weeks. I couldn’t speak full sentences without gasping for air, and I had been ignoring this and the pain because I didn’t feel like I had time to be sick. I tried to rationalize it as a pulled muscle or humid…

I had just gotten over a cold where I was laid up in bed for a few days, so I went for a run to get back on the exercise train. Shortly into my run, I felt an odd pain in my chest and decided to cut it short. The pain worsened over the next…

In December 2012, I was at work when a mild discomfort in my rib cage quickly become excruciating.   Upon arriving at the ER, I was given various tests, including an EKG and ultrasound, which revealed blood clots in both of my legs, or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Further testing confirmed that I had blood clots…

I got up on a Saturday in January 2023 and suddenly became nauseated and faint. I laid down on the floor and texted my husband since I was unable to call out to him. He helped me to the living room sofa and called 9-1-1.   All of my vitals were fine, but the medics…

I woke up one morning with a slight twinge in my left side. I didn’t think much of it, though. I took some Advil and continued on with my day.   Despite my discomfort, I went on a hike with my boyfriend. After we got back, my side was bothering me a bit more. I figured…

I’m 47 years old and grateful to be alive. This is because I experienced pulmonary emboli (PE) on three separate occasions.  About six weeks after giving birth to my second son, I began to feel tired and thought I was coming down with a cold. My mother suggested that I go to the emergency room…

I was standing at the car wash waiting for my car when I experienced an extreme charley horse in my left calf. The pain was so intense that it knocked the wind right out of me. For five days, I pushed through the pain, continuing to go to work, massaging my leg, and putting cold…

In June 2017, I noticed a pain in my left calf. I had been walking several days a week, so I thought I may have pulled a muscle. I spent time trying to stretch it out over the next week, but it persistently got worse.    The pain I had been having in my calf then…

I’ve always been an active person, regularly hiking 40 miles a week. When I had extreme calf pain in 2011 at 54 years old, I went to ER and was diagnosed with an unprovoked deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and was prescribed warfarin for six months. They did not know what caused the DVT and did…

It was the day after Thanksgiving last year and I was doing yardwork. I had been having breathing issues and was feeling lightheaded and tired over the past day or so. But I dismissed it as being due to the holidays and a busy work schedule.    Around 3 p.m., as I walked up a set…