In 2022, at the age of 32 and competing in the national rowing championship, I had my first serious crisis. I had to ask for help to get out of the river, hoping that the symptoms thought to be asthma would go away. However, the symptoms didn’t pass. The doctors didn’t find any sign of a problem. I was healthy and the tests were perfect. The doctors said it was all an anxiety issue, but the pain over the weeks became unbearable. Living another day with the pain was already a sacrifice.
Finally, in despair in the emergency room, the pain was so severe that a pulmonary embolism or blood clot in my lung was suspected. When confirmation arrived, the diagnosis was even worse, I had a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism as the clots had already aggressively affected both lungs. No doctor can understand how I survived almost two months in this condition or how I didn’t experience any serious complications.
The doctors suspect that I may have some genetic clotting condition, which they have yet been able to pinpoint, and, as a result, my the blood clot in my lung was triggered by the use of hormonal birth control pills.
Thankfully, I was able to return to what I love: rowing. There are some physical consequences but fear and doubt are the most difficult to overcome. It has been hard.
