Patient Stories

In October 2008, I  found out that I have the thrombophilia known as Antithrombin (AT)  Deficiency, and I learned it the hard way.  I noticed that I felt slightly short of breath for two days, so I made an appointment with a cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute.  I was unable to keep that appointment,…

I was logging more than 100 miles on my bicycle in any given week. So, at 46 years of age, it was not surprising that from time to time my legs ached. Why wouldn’t they? And that was exactly what I told my family physician when she warned me that my leg pain could be…

As U.S. Army Master Fitness Trainer, I was used to physically challenging my body. So, it was not unusual, when in August of 2002, I shrugged off a sharp pain in the calf of my leg – a pain that had jolted me from a restful morning sleep. “What is it,” I thought, and quickly…

Kimberly Hennings of Colorado shares her and her sister’s story of pulmonary embolism.  Kim developed multiple PE’s post-surgery in November 2007.  She later found out she carries prothrombin G20210A genetic thrombophilia, as do all of her family members except her mother.  Tragically, her sister Angela died of a PE at age 40 in July 2008. …

Like many of you who are reading this, I am a Warfarin “lifer.” Also, like many of you, I have experienced the frequent delays and inconvenience of waiting at busy lab sites for the brief procedure resulting in my PT-INR ratios. As a busy professional, I felt a growing need to challenge this “traditional” approach.…

My name is Jassmin Robinson and I am a 14 year old young lady from Ohio.  I was correctly diagnosed with May Thurner syndrome on January 1, 2008.   Another name for this syndrome is iliac vein compression syndrome, because the left iliac vein in the groin is compressed by the right iliac artery. This increases…

In July of 2004, I was diagnosed with a DVT in my left leg. I had experienced swelling and pain in my left calf, ankle and foot, in addition to fatigue. Until I was diagnosed however, I didn’t have the faintest idea what was wrong with me! My mother had experienced two PE’s years ago. I…

It’s around 4:00 AM, and I’m still awake.  Why?  Because I am 20 years old and want to feel normal again and I can’t make what I am dealing with go any faster. My story started awhile ago.  Unknowingly, I began using a well known brand of birth control patch that was so prominent that…

Katie was a junior in high school in 2007. Her periods were irregular and her doctor suggested that she begin taking birth control pill to regulate them.  We told her physician that her father had been diagnosed with factor V Leiden after a tiny stroke at age 39. We were told that this constituted a…

By: David Bock September  2009 I was seriously injured when I slipped and fell in Upland, California on March 8, 2008, while visiting there from my home in Arizona.  I was rushed to the emergency room of the nearest hospital where the ER doctor diagnosed fractures of my left tibia and fibula in my lower…