Factor V Leiden

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…

In June 2017, I noticed a pain in my left calf. I had been walking several days a week, so I thought I may have pulled a muscle. I spent time trying to stretch it out over the next week, but it persistently got worse.    The pain I had been having in my calf then…

Last July, I was told I have factor V Leiden. I was unfamiliar with this, but my doctor said I didn’t need to do or take anything for it, so went about my life.   Less than a year later, I was having a lot of pain in my left leg and thought maybe I had…

When I was 37 weeks pregnant with my first child, I began experiencing a painful, pressurized cramping sensation in my upper thigh that was dismissed by three different OB/GYNs during my weekly appointments. They assured me it was just the baby putting pressure on nerves and ligaments in my pelvis.    However, at 17 days post-delivery…

In September 2007, I had just started my freshman year of college. I had gotten a job at the bookstore, and on my first day, I passed out while folding T-shirts. I had never passed out before so I panicked, called my mom, and went to a local urgent care clinic.    After running a few…