DVT

After I broke a bone in my foot, I was put in a leg cast up to my knee. I was told to keep it elevated, don’t put any weight on it, and rest. Ten days later, I felt lightheaded and my cast was feeling tighter, so I went to the doctor. They put on…

“You need to go to the ER right away.” Those were the words a doctor said to be over video chat on Easter. “No, that can’t be right,” I thought. Sure, I could work out more and eat cleaner, but overall, I was pretty healthy. The doctor thought I may have a blood clot in…

I am a registered nurse, but that didn’t help me spot my issue. I was working a shift, and I felt very run down and tired. I thought maybe I was catching the flu. My left leg felt kind of tingly like my foot was asleep, and I had some pain in my groin, which…

On December 31, 2014, I went to a dinner party at a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve. I was uncomfortable the whole time. Simply put, my calf ached. I remember thinking, “That’s odd, I haven’t exercised in days, so why does my calf hurt so much?” I struggled to sleep that night and spent the next…

I was sitting outside enjoying the fresh air when my FitBit said my heart rate was up to 100. I just had surgery to put in a plate and screws for a broken tibia (shin bone). My mom was concerned that she saw signs of a blood clot in my leg. When she touched my…

Eight years ago, when I was 23 years old, I suffered a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clot in my leg. My doctors put me on heparin and warfarin for six months, and I was instructed to stop hormonal birth control. I figured since I stopped estrogen-based birth control, I would be fine, even…

At 19 years old, I never knew how much blood clots could affect my life. I worked at a daycare center all summer and, as a result, I was active every day chasing and playing with kids. One day, I woke up with severe back pain. I brushed it off at first, and blamed the…

In August 2014, I was overwhelmed with joy after delivering my baby boy, Jack. He was perfect, the delivery was pretty easy, and I was ready to go home. During a brief moment of quiet during his nap, I perused through the endless literature provided by the hospital. A hand drawing of a leg, with…

I started estrogen-based birth control in December 2018. I had a cramp in my calf, and two days later it was dismissed as nothing by my gynecologist. I stayed on birth control and what were actually clots in my right leg grew. I would later learn that the blood clots extended from my knee to…

On Thursday, December 20, 2018, I was 19 years old, and one day away from finishing my first semester of college. As I opened my eyes that day, I was having excruciating pain on the left side of my lower back. I had been dealing with lower back and hip pain since July 2018, and…