Patient Stories

My name is Jim Murphy. I live in North Carolina. I am 62 years old. I am a victim of a bilateral pulmonary embolism (PE). My symptoms were telling. I ignored them. You shouldn’t. Five years ago, morbidly obese, I began a program of diet and exercise. Over a year, I dropped from 280 pounds to…

My Name is Helen Smith. I’m 36 years old and have a genetic blood clotting disorder (thrombophilia) that could have taken my life twice. This is my story. In January 2008, I delivered my third son via cesarean section. Since this would my last planned pregnancy, I also elected to have a tubal ligation performed…

I had just graduated from college and I was moving back home to Helena, MT to start my career as a registered nurse. I woke up one morning and noticed pain in my left shoulder. I thought I had slept wrong or pulled a muscle. The pain continued for the next few days. I noticed…

Ashleigh’s Blood Clot Story, as told by her mother: The day life changed forever. I am a hardworking wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.  I have raised three amazing children and been married for just over 25 years.  My family is very unique as we live close to each other and most of us work…

In October 2012, I started to feel a pain in my left calf. I immediately thought I pulled a muscle, so I tried stretching and even got new tennis shoes.  The pain would not go away and after about three weeks, and shortness of breath joined in. I had to take breaks walking to class…

When I was 23, no one knew of my genetics. My parents adopted me, and I had no medical history. For the most part, I had a healthy childhood. I had my fair share of broken bones, all in my arms and hands, from various sports. But I never had any complications, besides some lingering…

I am a healthy 23 year old who exercises 6 times a week, eats healthy food, and has never smoked. After returning from nearly a year overseas, I decided to change my lifestyle and lost nearly 20 kg (44 pounds) in the past 5 months. During this period I became really in tune with my…

Hello my name is Elizabeth. I have a 15 year-old son named Ryu. This is my son’s story. In October of 2012, I noticed my son’s leg was changing color. His leg looked purple. I wasn’t sure why. I took him into an Urgent Care Center, where I told the doctor that it looked like he had a blood…

My advice to others: If you feel pain in the calf of your leg, have it checked out as soon as you can. Pulmonary Embolism was not in my vocabulary prior to June 10, 2006. That’s the day I got a dull pain in my left calf immediately after a private music show near Washington,…

I was 25 years old in January 2011, and I knew nothing about blood clots.  Several months prior to that January I felt a mild, irritating pain in my right side.  It occurred mainly when I was laying down too long, hiccupping, or when my breathing was heavy. I went to my doctor; she ordered…