Factor V Leiden

About a week after having an arthroscopy on my left knee, I was icing the top of the knee and commented to my wife that I really should be icing the back of my knee. What I did not know at the time was that the back of the knee hurt because I was passing…

About 15 years ago, my dad had a blood clot in his leg (deep vein thrombosis) and testing showed he had factor V Leiden. Since it’s a genetic disorder, my two sisters and I got tested. I tested positive for factor V Leiden as well as one of my sisters and one did not. So,…

I played soccer for 20 years until January 2023, when I had a muscle rupture in my thigh, which kept me away from training and matches. At the end of April, I had a throat infection. Within a few days, I was experiencing shortness of breath and felt tired after taking a few steps, but…

I woke up one morning in 1978 to find that my right leg was swollen to twice its size. I called my doctor, who told me to come in immediately. He pressed his thumb into my ankle and created a ½-inch dent to show me how swollen I was and sent me to the hospital.…

As told by his mother, Jenifer. On Dec. 3, 2020, I took my 18-year-old son, Adam, to the ER. He had severe back and leg pain, and his leg was swollen and purple. I thought that it was a pinched nerve or maybe a kidney infection.    Doctors discovered a massive clot in his left…

I came home from work one summer day and complained to my husband about my legs aching badly. I asked him to rub my feet to help relieve the pain. As he stood in front of me, he asked if I had even looked down at my legs because my left leg was unusually red…

I had been having pain while breathing and shortness of breath for a few weeks. I couldn’t speak full sentences without gasping for air, and I had been ignoring this and the pain because I didn’t feel like I had time to be sick. I tried to rationalize it as a pulled muscle or humid…

I had just gotten over a cold where I was laid up in bed for a few days, so I went for a run to get back on the exercise train. Shortly into my run, I felt an odd pain in my chest and decided to cut it short. The pain worsened over the next…

I woke up one morning with a slight twinge in my left side. I didn’t think much of it, though. I took some Advil and continued on with my day.   Despite my discomfort, I went on a hike with my boyfriend. After we got back, my side was bothering me a bit more. I figured…

I was standing at the car wash waiting for my car when I experienced an extreme charley horse in my left calf. The pain was so intense that it knocked the wind right out of me. For five days, I pushed through the pain, continuing to go to work, massaging my leg, and putting cold…