I had my son via C-section in April 2023. During my pregnancy, doctors said my leg pain was sciatica. After having my son, I was having severe headaches, and the pain medicine I was given didn’t help.
A week later, I had three seizures. After the first seizure, we went to a local hospital. They did an MRI and kept me for about an hour and said I was sleep deprived, experiencing postpartum stress and had a UTI, but that wasn’t the case.
Right after I was discharged, I had a second seizure in the car. An ambulance transported me to another hospital where I had a third seizure.
I stayed in hospital a week, and the whole time I was complaining about right side numbness and tingling. They did see a spot on my brain and thought it was a small tumor, a small brain bleed or a small blood clot. But they didn’t treat it. They just put me on seizure medication and never followed up on testing or treating my leg numbness.
After I was discharged, I went home and was getting worse. I couldn’t walk, move or put any pressure on my right side. Also, my right leg was red/light purple you could tell the circulation in that leg was off.
So we went to a third hospital, where they immediately started running tests. It turns out that I had massive blood clots starting under my right breast going all the way down to my ankle, and multiple clots in both lungs. I was filled with clots!
After a day or two, they decided to proceed with surgery. I now know that I have hereditary blood clotting disorders antithrombin III deficiency, protein s deficiency, homozygous MTHFR gene mutation as well as other risk factors including pregnancy and the C-section.
My grandfather had antithrombin III deficiency, too. After my event, my mom and aunt were also diagnosed.
By the grace of God, I’m able to walk again and do things with my son. I take a more proactive approach to staying hydrated, active and in touch with what goes on with my body.
NBCA and the Stop the Clot Facebook group have been a great resource for information, guidance and fellowship. The PEP Talks are so informative. I encourage everyone to always grow in their knowledge and help bring awareness.
Resources
Women and Blood Clots
MTHFR Mutation
Antithrombin III Deficiency
