Woman

My name is Lisa Nelson and I am 35 years old. I happened to run across the listing for the annual Austin Stop The Clot race on the calendar page from RunTex and was disappointed it was coming up so soon. I couldn’t possibly still sign up, but more importantly: Am I up for a…

I was recently asked to present to a professional group of thought leaders about my experiences with atrial fibrillation (AFib).  In preparing for that presentation, I put a lot of thought into how I might tell this story and in wondering about how I should start my story, and I realized that I was thinking…

On October 25th, 2012, I called my boyfriend to come and pick me up from work, despite living just a 10-minute walk away. The bad shoulder and back pain I had been dealing with in recent days turned into a sharp stabbing sensation throughout my body, leaving me breathless and unable to walk more than…

When I was 14 years old, my father died at age 41 of massive pulmonary emboli (PE). At that time, there was no genetic testing to determine if he had a clotting disorder. I am 49 years old now, and I survived bilateral pulmonary emboli (PE) with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) one year ago. I…

My name is Alyssa and I was diagnosed with multiple pulmonary emboli (PEs) in January 2012 at the age of 21. I have finally gotten past the “I can’t believe this happened to me” stage and have finally adopted the “I can do something about this” attitude. My three-year anniversary of pulmonary emboli is coming up…

I had just been released from the hospital due to a severe allergic reaction. I was allowed to leave, but with some medication and no signs of blood clots. It had been just two days after I left when I began to get a high fever with swollen lymph nodes on the right side of…

I discovered that I was heterozygous for the factor V Leiden mutation in June of 2000 after my mother tested positive during a workup for superficial thrombophlebitis. My primary care physician recommended that I be tested, since I was taking oral contraceptive pills. She also had a friend who had been recently diagnosed with factor…

In every person’s life, there is one instance or one moment that changes them in ways they never believed possible. A moment where they reevaluate all that they have and all that they have worked for. Whether it is a good or bad change, it is without a doubt a memorable one. Some happen later…

My name is Caitlin and this is my blood clot and May-Thurner Syndrome (MTS) story. At 29, I was an active person, traveling a lot, playing sports, and chasing my nieces and nephews. One day, I thought I had pulled a muscle in my left thigh but shook it off with exercise. However, when the…

I recently had my first encounter with blood clots. I was a rugby player who suffered many blows from both tackling and being tackled. After one particular blow to the stomach, I started having really bad pain in the small of my back, but assumed I had only pulled a muscle. A month later, I…