On September 22, 2013, I realized just how fragile life can be.
Following a sprint to catch my evening train, I found a seat, sat down, caught my breath, and experienced a sudden shooting pain in my head. As I neared my destination, the headache dissipated, but when I stood to leave the train, I felt terrible pain across my chest and back along with a tremendous feeling of dread.
Thankfully, my sister was at the train station waiting for me. I told her what I had experienced and asked that she take me to an emergency room. She wanted to call 9-1-1 but I insisted otherwise. Ironically, as we approached the hospital, my pain had dissipated.
After a thorough exam by a nurse practitioner and a blood test, I was sent for a CT scan. I remained in good spirits and was hopeful that the positive blood test result was related to the DVT I had experienced five years prior.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’ll never forget the look on the nurse’s face when she delivered the news – “I’m so sorry, you have multiple bilateral, sub-acute, pulmonary emboli.”
I was immediately rolled out of the ER holding area and to a bed directly across from the nurse’s station. By midnight I was in the ICU. Two days later I received a catheter-directed thrombolysis and was administered the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick by a priest. In total, I spent 15 days in the hospital.
Upon my return home, I wanted to jump back into life and quickly realized I couldn’t. I returned to work within two weeks of leaving the hospital, contracted a severe virus, and was hospitalized again for several days.
In the days, weeks, and months that followed, I experienced aphasia, chest pain, panic attacks, depression, and extreme anxiety. I found few resources to help me navigate my recovery. Even when I advocated with my healthcare providers, they offered little insight about what I was experiencing other than telling me, “You’re lucky to be alive.” I later tested positive for protein C deficiency, as did my two children and sister.
I only just started to become familiar with NBCA and recently volunteered to support its advocacy efforts. I’m looking forward to doing all I can to support the organization.
Resources
Signs and Symptoms
Protein C deficiency
Blood Clot Resource Center
