Mental health

When I had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in my left leg, I was a 19-year-old college freshman who had never heard of blood clots before. I assumed I’d broken my leg and hobbled to two classes before going to the hospital. The hospital was a rural one with only four beds in the ER,…

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 my first pulmonary embolism (PE) at the age of 30. My symptoms began with prolonged shortness of breath for about six weeks. There were many days when I woke up unable to breathe. I disregarded this symptom because I assumed I was just out of shape. However, my shortness of breath got progressively…

I am 18 years old and during November 2020 I contracted COVID-19. A few months later, I started having pain in my leg and I found it difficult to breathe. My mom took me to the doctor and they told me it was just anxiety. But three days later, I convinced my mom that something…

On September 5, 2021 I woke up in the middle of the night with a cramping pain in my right leg, which didn’t seem like anything serious at the time. I woke up the next morning and carried out my usual routine, but the pain became unbearable so I decided to see a doctor. The…

The Road to Diagnosis As far back as my teenage years, I had experienced chronic shortness of breath. This worsened in my twenties and thirties as new symptoms emerged, including occasional chest and arm pains and general exhaustion. Over the years I sought the opinions of countless doctors, leading to misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis, …

A few days after my fourth daughter was born, I went to the emergency room for terrible leg pain. They did an ultrasound and assured me I did not have any blood clots. I went back again for a second time because I was certain I had a blood clot. Again, they sent me home…

In September 2020, at the age of 24 and in good health, one week away from graduating with my master’s degree, I nearly lost my life. I woke up one day with a headache slightly worse than normal. Over a week, things got worse until I was in more pain than I had ever experienced…

I was diagnosed with the genetic clotting disorder factor V Leiden when I was 15 years old. My aunty (my dad’s sister) had a blood clot during pregnancy and she learned she had FVL, which led to members of my family, including me, being tested for it too. While growing up, FVL never had any…

My name is Tim. I was born, raised, and still live in Salem, Arkansas. Salem is a small town with many people raising cattle. My dad always had a few heads of cattle and, growing up, I would get on calves trying to ride them. I grew older and started getting on young bulls until…