Surgery

I gave birth to my daughter on March 15, 2022 via C-section. By April 9, I had developed debilitating pain in my right lower extremity, as well as a low-grade fever. I called my doctor, and she stated my pain was sciatica and the fever was not attributed to my recent surgery. My leg didn’t…

Watch a video of Joanna’s story here.  I am a miracle in motion, and my story is one of ongoing survival and transformation of finding beauty that fuels me in life’s most challenging moments. I didn’t know much about blood clots until three of them nearly took my life — an unexpected complication after a…

I am a 24-year-old  old active and healthy woman. No real elevated risk factors for clots. I never thought it would be me. I had underwent an ablation, minimally invasive procedure to treat supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), which is an abnormally fast heart rate originating in the upper chambers of the heart (atria). They said that my SVT…

I am a three-time pulmonary embolism survivor! My first PE was in 2003 after childbirth complications (including a collapsed lung), which caused me to be hospitalized for one month. After I was released from the hospital, I returned one week later with shortness of breath while my lungs were still healing and stayed in the hospital…

In January 2025, I collapsed at A&E (the emergency department in the UK) with chest pain and a racing heart (tachycardia.) I have a history of arrhythmias and spent three days in the hospital for tests, and was put on medication for arrhythmia before being discharged. I was due to have a follow-up and was…

On March 31, 2023, while playing high school softball, an opposing player slid into me, breaking my tibia and fibula. I was taken to a nearby hospital via ambulance where I underwent surgery the next morning. My leg had some swelling over the next couple of months, but it was never bothersome until June 8.…

On a Saturday night, five days post-hysterectomy, I felt mild rib pain on my right side and became easily out of breath, even just rolling over in bed. Thinking it was my asthma, I used my inhaler and messaged my OB since breathing issues were on my watch list. My OB responded Monday morning, asking…

I had my first child in 1989 by C-section. Four weeks later, my left leg was hurting so badly that I could hardly walk. I went to the hospital and was told I had a blood clot in my left leg (DVT) and had to stay in the hospital for one month. This was hard…

In September 2022, a couple of weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, I was woken up by an intense pain in my knee. It lasted a few minutes and then I went back to sleep. A few days later, the pain came back and spread to my thigh, and I could not put weight on…

When I went in for hip surgery to repair my labrum — a ring of cartilage in the hip that stabilizes and cushions the hip joint — I was excited. After two years of limited mobility, I couldn’t wait to get back to the active lifestyle I loved. I’d likely injured myself training for triathlons,…