Factor II

On January 19, 2024, I received a call from my 13-year-old son, Christian. He was struggling to breathe. He’d been unwell for weeks, starting with an unknown virus that had progressed to pneumonia. Just the day before, he was diagnosed and treated in an ER. We took him back, assuming his breathing issues were a…

I was diagnosed with my clot in February 2022 after a period of immobility recovering from a torn hamstring. I was unaware of any underlying health conditions, and the blood clot was seemingly out of nowhere. The medical professionals where I was living at the time placed me on blood thinners and left me to…

My first DVT was in July 1995, two weeks after the birth of my first (and only) child. I had a shooting pain in my left buttocks and rode an ambulance to the hospital with my newborn and husband. The ER docs did not seem to consider the possibility of a DVT and were looking…

In August 2023, I had my second bunionectomy. The first was in 2015 with no complications. This time would prove differently. Preparing for surgery, I was advised by the surgical team to curtail my activities in the following days. After surgery, I adhered to the instructions. I elevated my leg often and limited going up…

In December 2022, I had the worst pain in my life in my left side of my buttocks after working out. Being a physical therapist and a retired high-level figure skater, I assumed I had strained a muscle until I was unable to walk or bear weight on my left leg. After three ER visits…

I had an appointment with my PCP on October 5, 2019 for shortness of breath. I could barely walk to my car from his office door. My lower legs were hurting. I was 56 and on no medications. He referred me to a cardiologist. The following day, after my morning coffee, I could hardly walk.…

When I was 20, I had some pain in my leg. I chalked it up to a pulled muscle. In the next few days, it seemed to get worse. My mom convinced me to go to the hospital, but they told me I was constipated and sent me home. The pain continued to get worse…

After having provoked blood clots from hip surgery (the symptoms I experienced included leg pain, shortness of breath, and chest pain) I asked my primary care physician if she would order bloodwork to determine if I have a clotting disorder. I was detailing my family members with similar issues: my mother had an unprovoked pulmonary…

In October 2020 at age 28, I woke up at 5 a.m. with back pain. It felt like I pulled a muscle. Throughout the day, the pain got worse. It hurt to sit or lie down. By the next morning, I was vomiting from pain and decided to drive myself to the emergency room. The…

In the spring of 2018, I began having severe shortness of breath. I’m an asthmatic and was using a rescue inhaler constantly, but it didn’t help much. After about six weeks of complaining to my healthcare providers, they did a chest x-ray that was normal. Two weeks later, I was back in the office with…