As told by her daughter, Kelly
My mother was 54 when she passed away from a pulmonary embolism. She had fallen and broken her ankle while walking across our street to look for a Mother’s Day card for my grandmother. The break was a bad one, so the orthopedic surgeon suggested surgery.
We all were unaware she had factor V Leiden, and the surgery, on top of the break, was what led to her having two episodes of multiple PEs in her lungs.
She had warning signs. I remember her telling me that she was sore, and couldn’t walk from our house to our garage (about 500 feet) without stopping and catching her breath. She always chalked it up to her asthma, but it was just another symptom of a blood clot. She survived the first PE, but with the second one, she wasn’t so lucky.
My world has been flipped upside down. My mother will never get to watch her two granddaughters grow up, and will never be able to give me advice or enjoy getting old together. Time does not heal all wounds, it just makes them smaller and less noticeable.
Please, please, please, if you think something is wrong, go to your doctor. Listen to your body and know the warning signs. Not just for your own body, but for anyone who may be having signs of a blood clot.
There are always warning signs and they need to be taken seriously. Remember the signs, and get blood work and genetic testing done. Know better, and do better. It will save a life.
