“Don’t Wait or Gaslight Yourself. You Have One Life:” Alexus’s Story

“Don’t Wait or Gaslight Yourself. You Have One Life:” Alexus’s Story

Don’t Wait or Gaslight Yourself. You Have One Life.

I had a pulmonary embolism in December 2025.


It Started With a Fever

A couple of days before, I was sick with a fever.

My left leg started to hurt so bad — like a Charley horse.

No matter what I did, nothing helped.


Day Three

On the third day, I started to have bad chest pain and anxiety.

My resting heart rate was 140.


The ER

I went to the ER.

They found the PE that broke off from my left leg with a CT scan.

They gave me apixaban and sent me home.


The Cause

I have Factor V Leiden — heterozygous.

After my diagnosis, my mom was tested and found out she has it too.


Life After

This experience has made me become more aware, more active, and more mindful about what I eat.

Mental health after a blood clot — I still have anxiety I’ll get one again.


What I Want Others to Know

Go to the hospital.

Don’t wait or gaslight yourself.

You have one life.

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Additional patient stories

Jennifer Mullen Ray, an Autoimmune Protein S Deficiency survivor who spent 112 days in the hospital in 2004 after blood clots in her arms, shoulders, and neck were initially dismissed as psychosomatic — and who has navigated DVTs, pulmonary emboli, and a brain stem aneurysm over the 22 years since.

Nicole Barillari-Kritzer, a pulmonary embolism survivor diagnosed in October 2025 following eight-hour Chiari Malformation surgery, with contributing risk factors including Long COVID, homozygous Factor V Leiden, and a prolonged post-operative car journey.

Caden Byers, a 23-year-old college baseball player diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolisms following a flight home from Hawaii, weeks before his college graduation.