Living with Blood Clots and Clotting Disorders
Blood clots and genetic predispositions to clotting disorders can have serious lifelong consequences for patients… and for their families and friends.
Collected here are the stories of those living with Thrombophilia. Click on the links below to read personal stories about coping with these conditions.
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This
is the story of a blood clot survivor who wants to remain anonymous, but
still desires to share her story, because she benefitted from finding
National Blood Clot Alliance . She survived multiple pulmonary emboli,
and was found to have Antithrombin III Deficiency. Another probable
trigger for her blood clot was use of birth control pills.
Read more.
Tim
Allen is using his experience with DVT and PE to do a
cycling tour in the summer of 2010 to raise funds for NBCA.
My name is Tim Allen and I am 59 years old. I “busted” my foot
playing soccer in college and needed surgery to repair it about
35 years ago when I was in the Air Force. However, it got
worse recently, and I dislocated my toes whenever I ran.
Unfortunately, I developed DVTs in my calf on the same side as
the repeat surgery to mend my foot again.
Read Tim's Story.
Caitlin
Augustine suffered
through three DVTs caused by Factor V Leiden and almost died as a result.
Read this 22 year old's amazing story about her fight to live and now join
her in the fight to Stop the Clot. Read
Caitlin's Story.
Mary
Bare wrote this story about the death of her twin sister Deborah from a
pulmonary embolism. Read Deborah's story.
Kyle Baca - Elizabeth Baca sent this
story about losing her 14 year old son, Kyle to a pulmonary embolism that
was misdiagnosed. She found that writing his story helped her a lot, even
though it was a very emotional experience for her. Here is Kyle’s story, as
told by his mother. Read Kyle's
story.
Sarah
Bell wants to raise awareness of May-Thurner Syndrome. Photo is
Sarah, husband Dustyn, and daughter Ashley.
Read Sarah's
Story
Cedric Bills
relates an inspiring story of a person in the peak of physical condition suddenly being stricken with a life threatening health issue.
"As U.S. Army Master Fitness Trainer, I was use to physically
challenging my body. So it was not unusual, when in August of 2002 I
shrugged off a sharp pain in the calf of my leg – a pain that had jolted
me from a restful morning sleep..."
Click for Cedric’s account, in his own words, of his battle to regain normalcy.
David
Bock was seriously injured when he slipped
and fell in Upland, California on March 8, 2008, while visiting
there from his home in Arizona. He was rushed to the emergency
room (ER) of the nearest hospital where the ER doctor diagnosed
fractures of his left tibia and fibula in his lower left leg.
(left ankle bimalleolar fracture). He was in a great deal of
pain, and was told that the fractures needed open reduction
internal fixation surgical repair...
Click here to read David's
story.
Theresa
Boland tells her story of surviving a near fatal blood clot. Important
ideas include: Pregnancy makes blood more likely to clot (“hypercoaguable”),
especially toward the end. Family history of blood clots is significant in
terms of individual risk Hormonal based birth control increases risk for
blood clots. It is not uncommon for DVTs to be diagnosed as something else.
Click here to read Theresa's story.
Lisa Boyd experienced a near fatal blood clot after delivering her second child. Like many people who experience blood clots, her medical providers did not recognize the symptoms until it was almost too late.
Click here to read Lisa Boyd's story.
Cassandra
Bradshaw was at death’s door due to a large blood clot found in her inferior
vena cava and an infection after delivery, but she refused to believe her
prognosis and is now a hopeful survivor who wants to spread awareness.
Deirdre Callahan
is an avid triathlete who lives
in Mentor, OH. She became involved with "NBCA Clotbuster" activities and
is helping to fundraise for the organization. " On Mother's Day
1997, I developed a DVT (blood clot) in my femoral vein. I had been a
mother for almost 2 weeks. When I called the hospital, they told me to
make an appt. with my doctor in the morning -- they didn't think blood
clot since my calf didn't hurt. Fortunately, the clot didn't break off
and I ended up in the hospital for 8 days. It took another 10 months for
the doctors to finally diagnose that I have a blood clotting condition
called Factor V Leiden -- the gene mutation was only discovered a year
or two earlier." Here she shares why NBCA
means so much to her.
Read Deirdre's story.
Dan Capobianco - I am a
56+year old male. I have occasional asthma, primarily exercised induced.
If I notice asthma symptoms while working out, I can usually push through
them and finish the work-out, although I do use a bronchodilator when I need
to. I am an avid martial arts devotee – black belt in one style, brown
belt in another style (working to black). I do some weight work (not
heavy lifting), occasional pull-ups and about 30 push-ups every other day
for strength training. I typically train for about two hours 3 times per
week. Read Dan's Story.
Jay
Danek was bereft after his father died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism, so
he wanted to share how important his father was to him. A few months after
his father's death, he decided to start a running program, and lost over a
hundred pounds. Jay has also used his running to raise money for National
Blood Clot Alliance.
Michael Deal found out that he had Protein C Deficiency because he persisted in finding out what might have caused his blood clot. Read Michael's Story.
More Patient Stories
