Family history

One morning I was feeling lightheaded, so I checked my running watch and saw my heart rate was in the low 40s. I assumed I’d just stood up too quickly. As the day went on, I felt some chest pressure, which I chalked up to anxiety, something I often experience with POTS. But the pressure…

My first DVT was in July 1995, two weeks after the birth of my first (and only) child. I had a shooting pain in my left buttocks and rode an ambulance to the hospital with my newborn and husband. The ER docs did not seem to consider the possibility of a DVT and were looking…

In December 2022, I experienced a miscarriage and developed constant pain in my right calf. Because my mom and an extended family member have a history of blood clots, I called my doctor right away to get it looked at. The doctor ran a D-dimer blood test and it came back high, so an ultrasound…

I was being evaluated for chest pain by a pulmonologist who was treating me with opioids. The night before my diagnosis, I was participating in a group yoga class where I won a T-shirt for sweating the most. I had pools of sweat under me like it was a Bikram class, but the A/C was…

In August 2023, I had my second bunionectomy. The first was in 2015 with no complications. This time would prove differently. Preparing for surgery, I was advised by the surgical team to curtail my activities in the following days. After surgery, I adhered to the instructions. I elevated my leg often and limited going up…

As told by her mother Charita My daughter Sydney’s blood clots began in 2020 after driving six hours to Mississippi and back to visit her cousins for a week. The very next morning after returning home, she told me she was out of breath and her leg was hurting badly and had a cramping feeling.…

At 29, I considered myself to be fit and almost indestructible. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink and I have a myriad of athletic accomplishments. I’ve run multiple marathons, I’m at a healthy weight, and I train in the gym regularly. All of the above left me feeling completely lost when I started to experience…

I hurt my knee, and after 10 months of physical therapy, I found myself having a meniscus repair surgery. Post-surgery, I was in physical therapy again. About six weeks after surgery, I noticed more swelling, which I attributed to being at work for some very long days and not having time to walk around as…

I was diagnosed with a DVT and bilateral pulmonary embolism on April 10, 2024. I underwent a biopsy for a uterine cyst in November 2023 and subsequently had my menstrual period for almost 30 days. My gynecologist prescribed me birth control to stop my period. From mid-January until April, I was taking four birth control…

On January 28, 2024, I took a hard fall and I thought I just pulled my calf. I elevated my leg, iced it, applied heat, and continued working out three to four times a week. By February, my left calf had swollen up. I thought maybe I had sprained it so I used the massage…