My Scan Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree
We had just come home from watching my husband coach basketball — a completely ordinary night.
Nothing felt significant.
3:00 a.m.
At 3:00 a.m., I woke up in terror.
I couldn’t move.
I could barely speak.
Every breath sent a stabbing pain through the back left side of my ribs.
I truly thought I was having a stroke or heart attack.
It took thirty minutes just to get from our bed to the couch.
Even crying hurt.
Breathing hurt.
Sent Home
We went to our local ER.
A chest scan looked clear.
I was a healthy 23-year-old with zero risk factors.
They told me it was a back spasm and sent me home with pain medication.
Something Wasn’t Right
But the next day, I could barely walk.
Something wasn’t right.
My husband and I decided to drive to a larger hospital.
That decision saved my life.
The Second Scan
They gave me morphine so I could lie flat for another CT scan.
I remember hearing the doctor say:
“Is this for my patient? This can’t be right. The healthy 23-year-old?”
My scan lit up like a Christmas tree.
Multiple blood clots. In both lungs.
Bilateral pulmonary emboli.
No Answers
Even after meeting with specialists, no one could explain why.
The only possibility was having an infection (Influenza A) weeks earlier — but even that wasn’t certain.
They had even told me mine had originated from my lungs, which was terrifying in itself.
The Weight of It
It was the most painful and scary experience of my life.
There’s something sobering about wondering if your next breath will come easily.
I see God’s hand in every detail — in the timing, in the instinct to go back, in the courage to advocate when something felt wrong.
If we had accepted the first answer, I don’t know if I would be here.
Sometimes faith looks like prayer.
Sometimes it looks like persistence.
Sometimes it looks like getting back in the car and trying again.
God carried me through.
And I will never take another breath for granted.
Life After
A blood clot changed everything.
It taught me not to take a single breath or step for granted.
I’m deeply thankful for the ability to move my body and stay healthy — I truly believe the active foundation I built helped save my life.
Every day now feels like a gift.
I joined a few groups to hear different stories and try to find ones I could relate to.
Before this, I had truly never heard of blood clots.
What I Want Others to Know
Don’t let the fear after survival steal the life you fought to keep.
Anxiety may get loud, but it doesn’t get to run the show.
Advocate for yourself, listen to your body — but don’t stop living.
Healing isn’t just physical.
It’s choosing joy again, even after something scary.
