Woman

When I was just a few months shy of turning 24, I traveled to Mexico, which included a four-hour drive to the airport and four-hour flight. Once I returned, I got sick with a gastrointestinal bug and was off work for three days. The night before I returned to work, I had some chest pain…

I am a healthy 30-year-old woman. Or at least I thought I was. This summer, I was getting my 1-year-old ready for the day. I lifted him onto the changing table and started to feel light headed. I grabbed him and put him on the floor and sat down to catch my breath, but I…

I was an active 40-year-old woman. I ran every day and had three sons who were keeping me busy. I had noticed for over a month that I would have calf pain during my daily runs. Since I only had pain while running, I figured it was related to exercise and gave it little thought.…

I was walking my dog when I suddenly felt weaker with every step. I needed to sit down on the ground repeatedly throughout the walk. I had chest pains, shortness of breath, and I felt faint. I called my family and went to the emergency room. It turned out that my D-dimer levels were high.…

After 20+ hours of flights from Bali to Oregon, I was dehydrated from severe “Bali Belly.” I felt a cramp in my calf several hours after landing. Over the next two days, the pain and tenderness escalated sharply and spread throughout my lower leg. As a former ultramarathon runner, it felt like I’d raced 50…

On January 28, 2024, I took a hard fall and I thought I just pulled my calf. I elevated my leg, iced it, applied heat, and continued working out three to four times a week. By February, my left calf had swollen up. I thought maybe I had sprained it so I used the massage…

My first pulmonary embolism was on August 15, 2015. I was on birth control for irregular cycles and began having pain in my lower right side, which I thought was a pulled muscle. A week after the symptoms, the pain was unbearable. I went to the ER and was diagnosed with a right lung pulmonary…

In April 2023, I had a spontaneous seizure at work. I was taken to the hospital and stayed for 10 days. On day 8, I had a lumbar puncture (also known as a spinal tap) to try and find the cause of the seizure. The following day, I woke up with an intense, sharp, left-sided…

In October 2017, I had a long day working behind my desk and had not gotten up or hydrated much. After about 10 hours, I headed straight to a volleyball game as I played in a league. Midway through the game, I experienced a sharp, painful cramp in my right calf that would not subside.…

I experienced my pulmonary embolism in September 2023. Our youngest son and I had taken our older children to school, and the day went on normally. I noticed that I was becoming easily winded while doing really simple activities. My heart rate was also high. After school, our middle child had soccer practice and sat…