DVT
How I Overcame the Worst Time in My Life at 17 Years Old: Jenny’s Story
I always love to hear the stories of how people beat cancer and overcame diseases, but I never thought anything bad would happen to me. My name is Jenny, and I am a 17-year-old girl who lives in a small town in Iowa. In my high school, I am involved in many activities, including softball,…
A Blood Clot in the Brain Changed My Life: Jen’s Story
I am a 33-year-old relatively healthy, active woman. I don’t smoke or drink. On August 19, 2016, I woke up with a headache that wouldn’t subside even with pain medication and acupuncture. The next morning, the pain was worse. I vomited and had a drooping eyelid, so I went to urgent care. Thankfully, the doctor…
The Day that Changed My Life: Philip’s Story
My name is Philip Begley, I am 56 years old, and I live in England. My story began on November 22, 1999. My truck was in for MOT annual service, so my boss said to start work late the next day. The next day came, Tuesday, and I was sitting down, putting my boots on…
Back Pain was my First Symptom: Kassidy’s Story
Five years ago, at the age of 23, I developed dozens of blood clots in both of my legs, my pelvis, and my stomach. Two weeks earlier, I was experiencing daily back pain on my lower right side. My OB/GYN chalked the pain up to ovarian cysts, which had never been a problem before. I…
MTS Can Cause Deadly DVTs: Lorilyn’s Story
I worried a lot about being diagnosed with illnesses that ran rampant in my family, such as breast cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The one thing I never worried about was blood clots. In 2003, I turned 40 years old, and I had surgery to remove the right lobe of my thyroid, due to a…
A Life-Threatening Diagnosis Changed My Life: Ashley Cassidy’s Story
I was 23 years old in 2013, and I was a healthy individual who was very physically active, running, and going to the gym preparing for boot camp. It was July and two months before I was scheduled to leave for basic training to fulfill my Navy Corpsman contract that I had signed seven months…
Trust Your Gut: Kaitlyn’s Story
In April 2013, I traveled to Japan to visit my brother, and then to California to visit my grandfather. When I got home from my two-week vacation, I woke up one morning with a shooting pain in my leg. I thought perhaps I slept wrong or I wore the wrong shoes at work the previous…
Surviving a Silent Killer: Lisa’s Story
I always thought of myself as person who wears many cape: a mom, a wife, and a friend. I was always on the go, shuffling my oldest child to high school and a job, taking both younger kids everywhere with me, while doing errands for myself, the house, the school, our brewery and at the…
Lower Back Pain was a Sign of Blood Clots: Kevin’s Story
“It’s nothing,” I thought when I had lower back pain at the age of 19 followed by odd cramps in my quadriceps while working out. See a doctor? “No way,” I thought. “I will fight through this, I can tolerate pain and I will be fine.” I even wrote off feeling exhausted, thinking that I…
The Day that Haunts Me Still: Dawn Leslie’s Blood Clot Story
On Sunday, August 9, 2015, after two weeks of pain in my right leg that felt like a strained muscle, I finally went to an urgent care facility. The doctor looked at my calf and stated that it should not have been swollen for two weeks from a muscle strain. She was very clear that…