I am a 30-year-old active man. I was riding my bike at night. I had my lights lowered and there was a big machine sitting on the road. I ran into it and got a head injury which was immediately treated with stitches. The stitches came off after 11 days but soon after the accident, I had an empty/numb feeling in my left thigh, as if there were no muscles in my leg! I told my doctor, and he ordered X-rays of my left thigh to check if I had any fractures. There was nothing wrong with the bones, so he said there was nothing wrong — it was just from the accident.
One morning I had a very sharp pain from the middle of my left thigh to my lower abdominal area — a pain I had never felt before in my life. I went back to the doctor and he ordered another X-ray of the area. Once again, it showed nothing wrong and so I was sent me home with painkillers.
Later, I was chatting with ChatGPT and it told me I should rule out a DVT. So after 4 days of painkillers without feeling any better, I went back to the doctor. He examined my leg which was now completely swollen from groin to feet. He suspected that I got a bacterial infection and prescribed antibiotic injections, but I told him that I wanted to get a Doppler Scan done.
So I went and got the scan done and suddenly I had a diagnosis for an extensive DVT from the pelvic area to my feet! I was started on anticoagulants and I changed doctors. I met a vascular surgeon who put me on medication for 5 months. They checked me for Factor V Leiden but (fortunately) the test came back negative.
I now only have some residual clot in formal and superficial femoral veins. My iliac veins and all other veins are clear now; however, I still have discomfort and pain on and off in my thigh area. I hope this never happens again.
My advice: always go with your gut feeling, because in the end, medical professionals aren’t the ones that have to live with the consequences.
