Gaslighting

At the end of summer in 2018, I was days away from the beginning of my college soccer career at Furman University. Every day that summer, I was preparing my body physically for the demands of being a college athlete. During my last workout before I left for preseason, I began experiencing chest pain, shortness…

I am a 24-year-old  old active and healthy woman. No real elevated risk factors for clots. I never thought it would be me. I had underwent an ablation, minimally invasive procedure to treat supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), which is an abnormally fast heart rate originating in the upper chambers of the heart (atria). They said that my SVT…

I am a three-time pulmonary embolism survivor! My first PE was in 2003 after childbirth complications (including a collapsed lung), which caused me to be hospitalized for one month. After I was released from the hospital, I returned one week later with shortness of breath while my lungs were still healing and stayed in the hospital…

I just had my one-year clotiversary! Last Presidents’ Day, on February 19, 2024, I faced a life-altering struggle. After days of coughing up blood and an urgent care provider’s dismissive reassurance that I simply had a bad case of bronchitis, I finally found help in the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed me with an unprovoked pulmonary…

In April 2020, at the peak of COVID, I started experiencing pain in my lower back. During a walk with friends, a sharp pain would shoot down my right leg with every step. I tried to ignore the pain and continued the walk. Later that evening, my leg started to swell, and the pain got…

I had been struggling to breathe for a long time, but always thought it was anxiety or asthma. I had told my doctor for months I couldn’t breathe and she always treated me as if I was crazy. In August 2024, I started feeling really sick and had chest pain, I was tired and coughing…

I ran my first marathon in April 2024 and eagerly began training for my second one. I quickly noticed that training was a lot more challenging than usual. I chalked discomfort in my shoulder up to lifting heavy weights in the gym and chest pain up to my sports bras being too tight. My heart…

At 31 weeks pregnant, I was getting ready for the arrival of my baby when I started experiencing extreme pain in my left leg. I remember going to my baby shower and barely being able to walk. This was very concerning, so the next day, I called my OB/GYN and explained my symptoms. Unfortunately, she…

When I gave birth to my son, I was so excited to be a parent. But I began having headaches that were not normal. In the hospital, I was given medication to clot my blood because of slightly more than average blood loss. I was also given extra blood pressure checks because my blood pressure…

After leaving the gym in 2017, I experienced the worst pain imaginable in my right leg without having an injury. I thought maybe the pain would leave after icing and elevating it. But, as the day went on, the pain and swelling worsened to the point I couldn’t stand or walk on it. I went…