On March 14, two months before I was to get married, I fell off my front porch steps and thought nothing of it. I went to work and walked normally for eight hours. In the last 30 minutes of my workday, I started experiencing extreme pain in my left foot.
I went to the ER, had an X-ray taken, and found out I had a sprained ankle. I was told to use crutches for a week. Five days later, in the middle of the night, I woke up with a new type of pain that felt like someone was lighting my foot on fire.
Concerned, I went back to the ER. After another X-ray of my foot, confirming I still only had a sprained ankle, the doctor decided to order an ultrasound.
I learned that morning that I had a chronic, unprovoked DVT completely unrelated to my fall the previous week, but I only found out because of that fall. I had constant leg pain that I always mistook for soreness after the gym. We’re not sure how long I’ve had it or what caused it. I have no genetic markers, have not traveled recently, had no surgeries, injuries, or birth control that could have provoked it. It’s a mystery.
At 28, I have had to adjust to taking apixaban twice a day, a medicine I had only ever known elderly people taking. I have anxiety from questioning what would have happened if my blood clot had never been detected. I am grateful that my fall led to doctors finding my blood clot, but the unknowns are scary. I will always be at risk for blood clots, and I now have a higher risk for miscarriages.
I hope my story connects with younger people in the same scenario, experiencing an unprovoked blood clot without answers. I felt alone in my initial diagnosis. My hematologist had never treated someone my age with an unprovoked blood clot.
My advice is to advocate for yourself as much as you can. Find a doctor who will spend the time to listen and take you seriously.
