I’ve had four recurrent blood clots since 2022: The first occurred in my right arm, the next in my right lung, followed by another in my left arm, and then lastly again in my right lung. This last blood clot I experienced while I was actually taking blood thinners, or anticoagulant medication. And, I’ll never forget the look on the emergency room physician’s face that night when he found out and was contemplating whether to hospitalize me or not.
It’s been a life-changing event for me. You confront so many emotions. Fear, anger, paranoia, more anger, denial, and some depression and sorrow too. It’s been hard having my life change in so many ways, especially as a woman my age, when menstruation changes significantly too (something they don’t tell you). It was depressing to find out that they couldn’t clearly identify or diagnose my condition. I’ve had all the related genetic testing and nothing comes back positive or sheds any light on why this is happening. They say I have a clotting disorder, they just don’ t have a name for it. The hardest part for me is the look of shock and pity that people give me when they find out how many clots I’ve had. I don’t want pity. I just want to be normal again.
The Rowan Foundation website has been helpful to me given the information it shares, and I hope that by sharing my story I can help others too.
Learn more about blood clots here.
Learn more about genetic testing for thrombophilia here.
