PE

After I broke a bone in my foot, I was put in a leg cast up to my knee. I was told to keep it elevated, don’t put any weight on it, and rest. Ten days later, I felt lightheaded and my cast was feeling tighter, so I went to the doctor. They put on…

When my symptoms started, I was 34 years old, a bride-to-be and an avid runner. In fact, I was going to run a half-marathon the week before my wedding. Training had been going well, but as race day approached, I noticed I was feeling unusually tired. To save energy for the wedding, I skipped the…

At 44 years old, I never knew the impact a blood clot could have on someone’s life, especially my own! Both physically and emotionally, 2019 has been a rough year for me. I was diagnosed with a chronic back issue in January 2019, and after many months of conservative treatments, I decided to schedule a…

I am a registered nurse, but that didn’t help me spot my issue. I was working a shift, and I felt very run down and tired. I thought maybe I was catching the flu. My left leg felt kind of tingly like my foot was asleep, and I had some pain in my groin, which…

On December 31, 2014, I went to a dinner party at a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve. I was uncomfortable the whole time. Simply put, my calf ached. I remember thinking, “That’s odd, I haven’t exercised in days, so why does my calf hurt so much?” I struggled to sleep that night and spent the next…

I started estrogen-based birth control in December 2018. I had a cramp in my calf, and two days later it was dismissed as nothing by my gynecologist. I stayed on birth control and what were actually clots in my right leg grew. I would later learn that the blood clots extended from my knee to…

On Thursday, December 20, 2018, I was 19 years old, and one day away from finishing my first semester of college. As I opened my eyes that day, I was having excruciating pain on the left side of my lower back. I had been dealing with lower back and hip pain since July 2018, and…

My name is Lucy, and I am 22 years old. I had DVT (deep vein thrombosis or blood clot in the leg) and PEs (pulmonary embolism or blood clots in the lung) due to estrogen-based contraception. I am sharing my story to raise awareness about the risks of estrogen-based birth control in women of my…

I am writing this story in memory of my husband, Jon Charles Shain, who passed away due to blood clots on January 26, 2019. Jon’s risk for getting a blood clot was high, but unfortunately, he did not realize it. Jon was being treated for prostate cancer for several years. Cancer is a risk factor…

In May 2015, I was wrapping up a day at work. I was short of breath and coughing badly. I told my husband to take me to the emergency room (ER) because I had been dealing with it for a week, and I was running out of my asthma medication. I went to the ER…