Factor II
The Hematologist Told Me to Buy a Lottery Ticket For How Lucky I’d Been: McKenna’s Story
In the summer of 2021, I started to experience extreme back pain. At times, I was unable to sit down or move at all. Being an active 20-year-old who grew up playing sports, I attributed my pain to a tweak that I just needed to stretch out. But the pain continued getting worse, and my…
The Medical Profession has a Long Way to Go: Joel’s Story
I’ve always been an active person, regularly hiking 40 miles a week. When I had extreme calf pain in 2011 at 54 years old, I went to ER and was diagnosed with an unprovoked deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and was prescribed warfarin for six months. They did not know what caused the DVT and did…
I Had Three Large Blood Clots in my Brain: Jessica’s Story
In November 2016, I was at a wedding when my head started hurting. I took Tylenol, but it wouldn’t go away. In fact, it was getting worse. A couple of days later, my head hurt when I tried to turn, and I started getting pain behind my right eye and down the right side of…
I Started Losing My Vision: Lydia’s Story
June 2021 was the month my life was flipped upside down. I started experiencing intense pressure in my head and a sharp pain in my neck and shoulder that radiated down my arm. I visited my primary care doctor and an urgent care center, where I was prescribed muscle relaxers, a steroid, and was set…
I Had a Blood Clot at 14: McKenna’s Story
When I was 14, I flew to my dad’s house in California to celebrate Christmas with him and my siblings. By the middle of the week, my left thigh was swollen, red, and hot and I couldn’t walk on it. I tried many things to get myself moving, but it hurt too much. When I…
Know the Risks of Estrogen-Based Birth Control: Melissa’s Story
After giving birth to my daughter by emergency c-section due to preeclampsia, I started to feel very ill. My right leg was throbbing and my chest hurt. I followed up with the doctor on this, and a quick scan showed blood clots in my leg (deep vein thrombosis) and my chest (pulmonary embolism). I was…
This Experience Changed My Entire Life: Kim’s Story
In September 2015, I was sitting in the ICU wondering how I had gotten there. Flash back to six months prior, I had severe depression and I weighed close to 300 pounds. I was also training for a 160-mile bike ride from Miami to Key West. During my training for this ride, I started experiencing…
A Combination of Missed Risk Factors: Gina’s Story
In 2017, at 21 years old, I was undergoing my third surgery on my left knee after I had torn my ACL and meniscus playing college basketball. I was back on the court a few short weeks later, but felt that my hamstring was unusually tight. This didn’t seem right to me, so I decided…
I Had the Perfect Storm of Risk Factors: Aimee’s Story
I was the most fit I had ever been when I had my deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary emboli (PE) at 28 years old. I ran marathons, competed in triathlons, and had just recently completed my first 100-mile bike race. After my bike race, I was struggling to recover. My legs felt heavy. My…
Sharing My Story, My Final Step in Healing: Shelley’s Story
At 23 years old, I never thought I would be lying in a hospital bed surrounded by doctors who were baffled by one of the youngest cases of blood clots in the lung that they had ever seen. It was the summer of 2014, and my husband and I had just bought our first home…
