Patient Stories
The Perfect Storm: Jessica’s Story
My name is Jessica and I’m so excited to share my experience with Team Stop the Clot. Less than a year ago I was sitting in a hospital bed thinking my life as an athlete was over. My pity party came to an end when I found this blog. Reading all of the Clot Buster…
Repeatedly Misdiagnosed: Kathy’s Story
My name is Kathy and I survived pulmonary emboli in 2003. I remember as young as 12 years old feeling pain in my chest. When I asked in 1979 it was dismissed as growing pains. When I asked a doctor in 1989 I was told it was panic attacks. I spent years thinking that I…
Grateful For My Knowledge of Factor V Leiden: Lori Preston’s Story
Lori Preston, founding member of NBCA, learned of her inherited clotting disorder during pregnancy: “I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. My mother shared with me the painful recollection of the loss of her stillborn son she delivered 14 months before she gave birth to me. We never talked about this sad experience again, not until…
In Memory of Justin as Told by his Mother Tina
Justin Sexton’s Blood Clot Story as Told by his Mother Tina Sexton A little about Justin. He was a loving, kind, helpful, amazing boy. He always loved and wanted to help everyone. He had a heart of gold. He had a great sense of humor, and he loved his family and friends so much. He…
The Clot Trot: Mike’s Story
It all started Friday January 13, 2013. It was an unusually nice day for January in Pennsylvania so I spent an hour or two picking up the back yard. That evening I felt a small twinge in my right calf, and figured I must have slightly pulled a muscle. Over the next 3 days, the…
I’m the Most Positive Person in the World: Colleen’s Story
My name is Colleen Meredith and my first experience with blood clots occurred my second year of college after having a lobectomy (a surgical procedure that removes a lobe of one of the lungs). I was on my university’s soccer team for my university, and I felt like I was always ill to the point…
10 Years After My Factor V Leiden Diagnosis: Deirdre’s Story
Why NBCA is Meaningful to Me – By Deirdre Callahan On Mother’s Day 1997, I developed a DVT (blood clot) in my femoral vein. I had been a mother for almost 2 weeks. When I called the hospital, they told me to make an appt. with my doctor in the morning — they didn’t think…
Blood Clots Changed Everything: Asher’s Story
Among those presenting at the March 14 awareness month briefing were Jennifer and James DeBouver, recent Army veterans who shared the heart wrenching story of their infant son. Both parents now work for the Department of Labor. When Jennifer was 26 weeks pregnant with Asher James, doctors discovered that he had a heart condition called …
You Are Not Alone: Mike’s Story
I was feeling quite a bit of pain and some swelling in my right leg 4 days after an accident at work. Since my work hours were ridiculous and I couldn’t get out in time to go to a workers’ compensation provider (heath care providers that treat people with workplace injuries, also called a “workers’…
No One Should Have to Wait Five Months for a Diagnosis: Carly’s Story
Up until my senior year of high school, I hardly had a worry in the world. Just like many other seventeen year olds, I was looking forward to my spring break, summer vacation, and beginning college. In April of 2012, my life took a turn for the worst. I began missing school because of unknown…
