How do you even begin to explain one of the most terrifying, traumatic experiences of your life?
It started with a cough that just wouldn’t go away. At first, I figured it was something mild that would pass. But instead of improving, things slowly began to change. I was getting more tired, out of breath doing the simplest things, lightheaded—just not myself.
We decided to start checking my oxygen levels, and when my numbers started dipping into the 80s, we knew something was really wrong. That Sunday afternoon, we headed to the ER.
The waiting room was packed, but they started running tests. My troponin came back high, my heart rate was elevated, and after an X-ray and CT scan, everything changed.
Before I could even process the results, the doctor walked in and told me I had massive bilateral pulmonary embolisms—huge blood clots in both lungs and a saddle PE—and that I was being admitted immediately.
In that moment, everything went blurry. Fear, shock, disbelief, tears. I felt them all at once. They started me on heparin, and I tried to process what was happening.
The plan was intense: a procedure where they would travel through a vessel in my groin, up through my heart, and into my lungs to suction out the clots—all while I was awake so they could monitor my breathing. I was terrified, but I knew it had to be done.
During the procedure, I could feel everything—the pressure, the pulling in my chest, the strain on my heart. They noticed my blood was still very thick, even with the heparin. They gave me another dose, but things quickly took a turn.
As they tried to move me, I started wheezing and then gurgling blood. I couldn’t breathe.
They called a rapid response.
I went into acute respiratory failure. I remember hearing voices, alarms, chaos.
I survived—but it wasn’t easy.
I spent two weeks in the ICU and had to undergo two thrombectomies after the first attempt failed. Even now, I’m still recovering and physically limited from everything my body went through.
What makes this even harder is that no clear cause was ever found. Aside from birth control for PMS symptoms, all other testing came back negative.
This experience changed my life completely.
If I could share one message, it would be this:
“Trust your body and be seen before too late. Do not be stubborn.”
