Birth control
I’ve Become a Passionate Advocate for Mental Health Support: Carrie’s Story
In November 2022, I caught COVID-19 and was battling sickness for over a week. Mild symptoms persisted for a few weeks beyond that, but I was pretty much back to my normal routine by December. In January 2023, I began noticing symptoms that I had never experienced in the months prior: random shortness of breath,…
Be Aware of Your Body: Lyrene’s Story
In late February 2023, I was at work and experienced an extreme cramp in my right calf muscle. I just thought it was due to me being on my feet the entire day and I tried to walk it off. My calf was swollen, warm, and it was uncomfortable to walk. It felt as though…
In the Blink of an Eye, Your Life Can Change: Morgan’s Story
Waking up and not being able to catch your breath at 20 years old is the scariest thing. On November 14, 2022, I woke up at 4 a.m. gasping for air with intense pain in my lower back and sharp pain in my chest. My immediate reaction to the pain was to try and stand…
I Had Risk Factors I Didn’t Even Realize: Carley’s Story
During my senior year at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, I started getting sick. For about two months, my heart rate would randomly start going really high for no reason. I would wake up in the middle of the night and it would be at 160 beats per minute. I went to the doctor, and they…
My Symptoms Presented as Heart Failure: Kaylee’s Story
In November 2022, I was experiencing symptoms like joint pain and swelling in my arms and legs. I avoided seeing my doctor at first, but then I noticed I was increasingly short of breath, easily winded when I took the stairs and even when having a conversation. I had a little bit of chest pain,…
One of the Scariest Days of My Life: Katie’s Story
I had a bad case of the flu last December. However, I am a primary school teacher and a workaholic, so I did very little about it and carried on going to work. On the last Friday before Christmas, I woke up at 4 a.m. gasping for breath. My chest was extremely tight, and I…
Fight For Yourself: Allison’s Story
On October 7, 2020, a vein burst in my leg. At the ER, they ran no tests. They told me the vein looked like cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection, and sent me home with an antibiotic. They said if the red area got bigger, I should come back. I went back on the 11th and…
Blood Clots Developed After Surgery: Tonya’s Story
In February 2018, three days after emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder, I had a really bad pain in my right calf and was having difficulty breathing. So, I went to the emergency room, and I was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or a blood clot in the right leg, and bilateral pulmonary embolism…
I Got Extremely Lucky: Kelly’s Story
On Halloween 2021, I noticed that my thigh was sore and I was out of breath. I figured it was just a pulled muscle and allergies or a cold coming on. Walking into work the next morning, I was so out of breath that I fainted. I had fainted in the past, so I just…
I Truly Felt This Was It: Kylie’s Story
In February 2023, I went to the ER with abdominal pain I couldn’t explain. After four days in step-down ICU, 30+ labs, two CT scans, three ultrasounds, a chest X-ray, and an echocardiogram, doctors told me I had blood clots, which compromised my blood flow and caused splenic infarcts. After a consult with my hematologist,…
