PE

My story begins in February of this year when I felt a sharp, intense pain in my ribs. Assuming it was a pulled muscle from a workout the day before, I didn’t think anything of it. But by 4 a.m., the pain woke me up. I called the non-emergency services here in the United Kingdom,…

My name is Amber, and I am the mother of two children, a runner, and a nursing assistant. I lead a fairly active lifestyle. In August of 2019, I started birth control. I had previously been on birth control for several years before having my children, so I thought nothing of it when my doctor…

My name is Gina and I am a 32-year-old mom of three children. On March 23, 2020, I gave birth to my third child. My husband and I had made the decision he would be our last, so I signed the consent forms for a tubal ligation several months prior. March was the height of…

In December 2016, my life felt as full as it could get. I had six kids ranging in age from 1 year old to 12 years old, a busy freelance writing career, and involvement in various community organizations, including a parent advocacy group I had helped form a year before. Yet, my concept of “busy”…

My name is Layla, and I was a 22-year-old law school student at the time of my blood clot, and I also was working as a nanny for a wonderful family. I had been a cheerleader in middle and high school, and even though I didn’t continue going into college, I was still very active,…

On July 4, 2014, I was mixing pancake batter for my kids and their friends who had spent the night at our house. I felt excruciating pain in my chest. Every breath felt like I was being stabbed. I actually laid across my kitchen counter and tried to take shallow breaths. After about 20 seconds,…

In July of 2019, I nearly fainted in my lobby on my way to work. My roommate was gone all summer, so I phoned my parents who talked me through the symptoms I had and advised me to call an ambulance. I met the emergency medical technician outside and after a quick electrocardiogram of my…

November 2 is a day that will forever haunt me. The previous day I got up from my work desk and was extremely lightheaded. It was almost as if I couldn’t walk, I was so dizzy. I grabbed a snack thinking maybe my blood sugar was low, but it didn’t help. I chalked it up…

In March of 2020, I had my second child via C-section. The surgery went well, and my baby was healthy. However, afterwards, I had a significant postpartum hemorrhage, which caused my body to have to work very hard to clot. About a week after coming home from the hospital, I developed a low-grade fever and…

Super Bowl Sunday in February of 2016 seemed like it was going to be just a normal day of eating great snacks, laughing at commercials, and judging the halftime show like I was a professional critic. I woke up that morning with what felt like I slept wrong or pulled something in my shoulder. I…