DVT

Six years ago, I woke up early to shovel the snow before work. I’m not in the best shape, but I’m never winded after shoveling. That morning, I was having trouble catching my breath, but I just thought I was coming down with something. The next day, I could hardly walk. My best friend took…

In 2021, I was experiencing shortness of breath, blue lips, constant fatigue, and brain fog. I could barely walk up one flight of stairs to my apartment and would collapse at the door many times. My doctor kept saying it was bronchitis and would regularly test for Covid, which always came back negative. I ultimately terminated…

I was on a business trip to Scotland when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest during pre-dinner drinks. I began to feel dizzy and had difficulty breathing. I thought it might be anxiety caused by dehydration and not having eaten that day. A taxi was arranged for me to return to my…

When I was around 23, I started to go to the doctor complaining about persistent, enduring headaches. I was told it was stress. I went to the optician, where I was immediately sent to the emergency eye hospital. I had idiopathic intercranial hypertension, which was causing vision loss due to my optic nerves being forced…

My wife and I have an RV and sometimes we are on the road for 6-10 hours without stopping. One day, after a long trip, I began having pain in my left calf. I went to my doctor and he ordered an ultrasound on my leg and discovered a blood clot. I started taking a…

On December 19, 2024, I noticed that my right thigh hurt and was discolored (purple-ish) but dismissed it, thinking that it was just bad circulation that would go away. Later that night, I felt extremely light-headed, my vision went dark and almost passed out. My mom and I rushed to the hospital because something was…

I went on an oral contraceptive to help with my acne. My doctor went over all of the risks, including blood clots. She specified that most clots from oral contraceptives are in the calf. I understood and went on the birth control. Two months later, I woke up with severe pain in my abdomen and…

In April of 2024, I flew from Tennessee to California for work. The night after arriving, I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad calf cramp. The following day, my calf was extremely sore– like the worst muscle cramp I’d ever had. That same day, I took another flight from California…

Watch a video of Joanna’s story here.  I am a miracle in motion, and my story is one of ongoing survival and transformation of finding beauty that fuels me in life’s most challenging moments. I didn’t know much about blood clots until three of them nearly took my life — an unexpected complication after a…

A week after I delivered my beautiful, Covid baby in August 2020, my identity as a lifelong runner changed forever. I was diagnosed with a DVT and admitted to a New Mexico hospital. I felt like my baby had been ripped from me. Covid visitation prevented my husband Dan or my baby from seeing me.…