PE

In March 2016, I had only been on estrogen-based birth control for a few months and decided to take a four-hour road trip with some friends. A few days after, I started to feel like I had heartburn. At first, my symptoms felt a lot like indigestion — pressure in the chest, but not painful.…

I had been having what I considered typical cold symptoms for about a month. Ongoing negative COVID tests gave little clarity. The doctors initially diagnosed me with a sinus infection then and pneumonia when the symptoms didn’t subside. I woke up Valentines Day 2022 with total numbness on my right side. I could not make…

My heart was beating unusually and I felt tired; it was a long day. After family holidays and an accident on the road, we were trapped for several hours in the car. When I arrived at my destination, my heart still racing. I felt it in my neck. My heart rate was between 160-180. As…

In early April 2023, I underwent a complete hysterectomy. My recovery was complicated by uncontrolled pain and urinary retention, which required a Foley catheter for a week. I then started experiencing a UTI, which required hospitalization. I was finally improving by the end of April, but on May 5, 2023, I suddenly started to experience…

As told by her daughter Pellayia My mother passed away June 22, 1998 of a pulmonary embolism. It was sudden. I left for university that morning and got a call in between classes that I needed to come home right away. I told my cousin that I had a quiz and couldn’t. He kept insisting.…

During Covid, I was teaching from home and not as active as I once was. I began feeling short of breath at the start of the week, but attributed it to the bad air quality from fires in the area. On Thursday evening, I began feeling a pain in the right side of my back…

In October 2020 I began to experience difficulties breathing, sharp stabbing pains, and dizziness that continued for for five days. During this time, I was avid long distance runner and weight lifter. My life revolved around fitness. I assumed since I was in such good physical condition that something like this would ever happen to…

Our son John died as a result of massive bilateral pulmonary embolism on August 10, 2023 after a high-risk cosmetic procedure performed on July 29, 2023 in Hawaii. John was less than 10 days post-op when his symptoms first began. His cause of death was cardiac arrest secondary to massive bilateral pulmonary embolism. My biggest…

I had two episodes where I was walking through my house and felt something in my chest. I felt clammy like I was about to pass out. After the second episode in March 2020, I went to the doctor I told her I thought I had blood clots. I felt something dragging through my chest…

At 35 weeks pregnant, I had a feeling that something was severely wrong. While cooking Father’s Day breakfast for my husband, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I called my OB and was told to come into triage for monitoring. I was admitted, but my oxygen levels were perfect, and my EKG was pristine. I…