Athlete

On October 24, 2023, my 13-year-old daughter Elise’s arm began to swell and change color during swim practice. Elise has been a competitive swimmer since she was five years old and being at practice was a routine part of her day for many, many years. Her coaches did not know what was wrong with her…

In October 2020 I began to experience difficulties breathing, sharp stabbing pains, and dizziness that continued for for five days. During this time, I was avid long distance runner and weight lifter. My life revolved around fitness. I assumed since I was in such good physical condition that something like this would ever happen to…

I experienced deep vein thrombosis during my senior year of college that turned into a pulmonary embolism, which derailed my college baseball career. My symptoms included shortness of breath, leg swelling, calf pain and fatigue. Upon being rushed into the ICU due to the size of my clot and severity of the PE, I was…

As told by his brother, Brandon. My brother Joel was sick with the flu for a couple of days at Marietta College where he was a freshman linebacker on the football team and a petroleum engineering major. He woke up one morning and told my mother by phone he was having difficulty breathing. No one…

As a former professional baseball pitcher, I have always been active. I continued my workouts over the years and tried to stay healthy. But my pride as an athlete in pushing through pain goes way back to my playing days. I even pitched seven innings with a fractured leg before I knew it was injured.…

I had my first deep vein thrombosis when I was 18. I was training for the military and was very active, doing lots of weightlifting and running. One day, I had extreme pain and swelling in my groin and right leg. Even with those symptoms, I was stubborn and waited four days before getting it…

I am a trail runner, CrossFitter, MMA/jiu jitsu player, and mountaineer. I trained hard, ate clean, and slept enough so that I could maximize both my performance and longevity.  I was a hybrid athlete balancing strength and endurance. Then I twisted my knee at jiu jitsu camp. I needed a meniscus repair, which caused massive…

About nine months ago, I was diagnosed with a DVT from my upper thigh down to my calf. The diagnosis was lupus anticoagulant, an auto immune disorder that requires me to be on blood thinners for life. I am an avid cyclist, doing up to 100 miles per week. At first my hematologist told me…

In February 2023, I went to the ER with abdominal pain I couldn’t explain. After four days in step-down ICU, 30+ labs, two CT scans, three ultrasounds, a chest X-ray, and an echocardiogram, doctors told me I had blood clots, which compromised my blood flow and caused splenic infarcts. After a consult with my hematologist,…

At 20 years old, I was healthy, fit, active, and recovering from an ACL tear from a year and a half prior. When I finally went in for reconstructive surgery on June 19, 2020, it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, already a very stressful time. I was aware that I had a…