International

I remember going for a walk with my 10-month-old daughter the day I first felt the pain. I thought I’d pulled a muscle in my shoulder while pushing a heavy pram up a steep hill. Over a few days, the dull, sharp pain became worse. It felt like it was wrapping around my shoulder and…

I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in 2013 as a side effect of steroids I was taking for nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder. I was on warfarin for two years until my doctor advised me to stop taking it. In March 2023, I had sudden pain in my left leg that was the worst…

I am a 48-year-old male and in March 2023, I was diagnosed with a blood clot spanning from my lower right calf up to the pelvic area.   This was the result of a meniscus procedure I had done on my right knee approximately four weeks earlier. The first symptoms I experienced were tightness, swelling,…

I was 21 years old when I began experiencing cramps, pain, and a burning sensation in my left calf. I visited multiple providers, who told me my symptoms might be due to a deficiency.   But I woke up one morning and couldn’t stand up. I had a shooting pain from my left groin to my…

In 2016, while on duty as a firefighter, I experienced pain behind my knee and swelling in my right leg. A couple of weeks earlier, while playing with my children, I also experienced what I could only describe as a “shaken fizzy can opening feeling” in my chest that went after a minute or two.  …

I was 24 weeks pregnant when I learned I developed a bilateral pulmonary embolism (PE). I had been suffering from shortness of breath but had no other symptoms. Blood clots aren’t in the family, and I am young, fit and healthy, so my midwife was certain I wouldn’t have this condition.   She referred me…

On January 1, 2002, I woke up feeling like I had a weight on my foot and was dragging my leg. As the morning went on, my leg felt like it was double the size of my right, and I was in pain. My husband took me to the emergency room.   The doctor believed I…

At the beginning of 2022, when I was 18, I started feeling pain in my chest. Since I was a professional triathlete preparing for the next season’s races, this pain was negatively affecting my training. I ignored the pain and difficulty breathing and pushed myself harder.    However, one night I woke up with extreme pain…

In 2018, when I was 21 years old and just over three months postpartum, I was diagnosed with multiple pulmonary emboli (PE). I started having trouble breathing in the early evening which I assumed was just my asthma acting up. This continued all through the night and into the morning. I was using my asthma…

I was diagnosed with a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism (PE) on November 5, 2021, three weeks after my 23rd birthday. Everything started as a pain in my calf. The funny thing is that the pain began mid-workout, making me believe it was a pulled muscle.   After a few days, the pain started to travel upwards…