Birth control

During my senior year at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, I started getting sick. For about two months, my heart rate would randomly start going really high for no reason. I would wake up in the middle of the night and it would be at 160 beats per minute. I went to the doctor, and they…

In November 2022, I was experiencing symptoms like joint pain and swelling in my arms and legs. I avoided seeing my doctor at first, but then I noticed I was increasingly short of breath, easily winded when I took the stairs and even when having a conversation. I had a little bit of chest pain,…

I had a bad case of the flu last December. However, I am a primary school teacher and a workaholic, so I did very little about it and carried on going to work. On the last Friday before Christmas, I woke up at 4 a.m. gasping for breath. My chest was extremely tight, and I…

On October 7, 2020, a vein burst in my leg. At the ER, they ran no tests. They told me the vein looked like cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection, and sent me home with an antibiotic. They said if the red area got bigger, I should come back. I went back on the 11th and…

In February 2018, three days after emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder, I had a really bad pain in my right calf and was having difficulty breathing. So, I went to the emergency room, and I was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or a blood clot in the right leg, and bilateral pulmonary embolism…

On Halloween 2021, I noticed that my thigh was sore and I was out of breath. I figured it was just a pulled muscle and allergies or a cold coming on. Walking into work the next morning, I was so out of breath that I fainted. I had fainted in the past, so I just…

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,…

My husband and I are both ultra runners. On June 27 of this year, we were both going for an early morning training run with him starting about five minutes behind me. I had been experiencing shortness of breath for a few weeks before this run. Little things, such as bringing groceries in from the…

In April 2020, I had been feeling sick and brushed it off as allergies. Due to COVID, I had a telehealth visit and was diagnosed with bronchitis. After four months of a lingering cough, I started to have a hard time breathing while doing the most menial things. Standing became so trying. I finally went…

In April 2021, I was diagnosed with a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. I was fortunate enough to have been diagnosed quickly following three days of headache, nausea, and vomiting. My risk factor was estrogen based oral contraceptives. This diagnosis has taken a physical and emotional toll, but I am thankful for where I am. I…