Listen to Your Body and Be Your Own Advocate
My symptoms began Sunday, April 5, 2026.
I got up after sitting on our couch for a while with my legs folded and suddenly had an extremely sharp pain in my right leg that felt like a terrible charley horse.
I began holding my significant other’s arms in effort to shake the “Charley horse” out.
After several minutes the pain completely disappeared and I attributed it to me needing to work out.
The Worst Night of My Life
By Monday night, April 6, I began having really bad pains on the right side of my head, neck and chest.
I assumed I was sleeping wrong and took 1000mg of ibuprofin and slept as best as I could.
The next night, I tried to lay down for bed and it was the worst health experience of my life. I could not lay on either my right nor left side.
I certainly could not lay flat and the pain was debilitating. I was crying, calling urgent care as I couldn’t breathe laying down.
By this time, most urgent cares were closed, so I began researching “pain on right side underneath rib cage,” and thought it was a really bad muscle spasm or maybe my gallbladder. I sat up the whole night with no rest.
The EKG and the ER
On Wednesday morning, I scheduled an appointment with my PCP. She ran an EKG, which came back normal, but was concerned it could potentially be my gallbladder, so she scheduled an emergency ultrasound.
In the midst of waiting for my ride to come pick me up, the pain came back, this time during the day to the point where the receptionist had to get my doctor.
My doctor told me at that point I was going to the ER either by ambulance or my ride.
Eight Hours — and “Are You Stressed?”
I was in the ER for over eight hours before they found the blood clot.
The nurses and doctors kept coming back and asking me: “Are you stressed?”
I’m thinking: “Yeah, because y’all keep asking me that — and something is seriously wrong.”
It wasn’t until my nurse, who was checking on me and saw me crying from pain, decided to check my D-Dimer.
My levels came back at 1,262 — more than three times the normal range.
This now “medically justified” a CAT scan.
Not too long after that, my nurse was switched — although that same nurse was still there — and the doctor returned puzzled, stating that what was interesting was that all of my tests and labs were coming back normal. However when the nurse checked my D-Dimer, it was “elevated.”
From there she decided to do a CAT scan.
The results showed that I had a blood clot on my right lung.
They were admitting me to the progressive cardiac unit — because at the time the CAT scan was also showing one side of my heart was enlarged.
Thankfully, it was not.
Admitted — and Advocating
I was admitted to the cardiac progressive unit that night and stayed until April 10.
I told the nurse that something is wrong and I was not leaving this hospital until the doctors figured out what it was.
I told them to run every test they needed to run and let me know what they find.
The Aftermath
Since then, it has been a roller coaster — mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I was off work until the rest of the school year — I am an educator — as my driving, walking, and basic daily functions we take for granted were severely impaired.
I am on blood thinner called apixaban, 2x per day. I’ve also since had to get a couple of iron transfusions.
I still can’t lift heavy things or go up so many stairs without being winded.
I could not walk down the stairs without becoming lightheaded.
I could not drive to drop my daughter off to daycare for the first month and a half without having to pull over because I was lightheaded.
I had to go see 5 different doctors until June of this year and had at least 2 doctor appointments every week as they tried to determine the cause of the blood clot.
Finding the Cause
Genetic testing was performed because the hematology doctor stated that in order to determine that the birth control caused the clot, they had to rule out genetics.
Luckily, it was not genetics.
The birth control was confirmed as the cause.
What This Taught Me
I have been humbled.
I am the type that is always on the move.
This forced me to sit still — because physically, my body was forcing me to rest.
It forced me to listen to my body and to learn when to sit still.
The information provided in the NBCA pamphlet and on the website was very helpful because it informed me of how the clot most likely originated in my leg.
What I Want Others to Know
I am thankful that I did advocate for myself.
That my body did have symptoms — as many people are asymptomatic and find out too little too late.
Eternally grateful that God’s not through with me yet and for the angels watching over me both in heaven and here on Earth.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE!
