Factor V Leiden

“It’s nothing,” I thought when I had lower back pain at the age of 19 followed by odd cramps in my quadriceps while working out. See a doctor? “No way,” I thought. “I will fight through this, I can tolerate pain and I will be fine.” I even wrote off feeling exhausted, thinking that I…

I love to travel. I grew up in Boston, and after college I moved to Washington, DC. Moving away from home and my family was the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but one of the most rewarding as well. By taking this leap of faith, I grew so much as a person and traveled to…

As I look back on my blood clot experience, my symptoms started in mid-July, when I had a sharp pain in my right calf. I recall asking my aunt, a former nurse, “How do you know when you have a blood clot?” I dismissed the pain I was experiencing as due to a recent increase in…

My name is Martin R. Lemieux, and for over 20 years now I’ve survived five DVTs – blood clots in my left leg, one clot in my right leg, and another clot in my left pelvic area. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also had to manage three massive chronic wounds that will not heal.…

My name is Lisa Nelson and I am 35 years old. I happened to run across the listing for the annual Austin Stop The Clot race on the calendar page from RunTex and was disappointed it was coming up so soon. I couldn’t possibly still sign up, but more importantly: Am I up for a…

When I was 14 years old, my father died at age 41 of massive pulmonary emboli (PE). At that time, there was no genetic testing to determine if he had a clotting disorder. I am 49 years old now, and I survived bilateral pulmonary emboli (PE) with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) one year ago. I…

My name is Alyssa and I was diagnosed with multiple pulmonary emboli (PEs) in January 2012 at the age of 21. I have finally gotten past the “I can’t believe this happened to me” stage and have finally adopted the “I can do something about this” attitude. My three-year anniversary of pulmonary emboli is coming up…

I discovered that I was heterozygous for the factor V Leiden mutation in June of 2000 after my mother tested positive during a workup for superficial thrombophlebitis. My primary care physician recommended that I be tested, since I was taking oral contraceptive pills. She also had a friend who had been recently diagnosed with factor…

Lori Preston, founding member of NBCA, learned of her inherited clotting disorder during pregnancy: “I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. My mother shared with me the painful recollection of the loss of her stillborn son she delivered 14 months before she gave birth to me. We never talked about this sad experience again, not until…

It all started Friday January 13, 2013. It was an unusually nice day for January in Pennsylvania so I spent an hour or two picking up the back yard.  That evening I felt a small twinge in my right calf, and figured I must have slightly pulled a muscle. Over the next 3 days, the…