When I was in my late 20’s, I had a very bad case of the flu and was in bed for a few days. When I started to feel a bit better, and started mobilising, I got a terrible pain in my leg….there weren’t any other symptoms, so I just put it down to not moving much during the previous week.
The next morning, when I tried to get up for work, I could barely breath and was gasping for air. My husband called 999 and I was taken into hospital. I had a scan which revealed a massive, bilateral pulmonary embolism. I was told that ue to the size of the clots, they had become trapped in my lungs but, had the reached my heart or brain, I would not have been so lucky.
I was thrombolised and spent a number of days in intensive care before spending a few more days on another ward.
In the following months, I experienced shortness of breath, chest pain, and fatigue. In the longterm, I have suffered a lot of anxiety simply from just worrying if it will happen again.
I was discharged on warfarin which was supposed to be short-term but, further testing revealed I had a prothrombin gene mutation which I was totally unaware of, so now I will remain on anticoagulant medication for life.
I have also, unfortunately passed this onto my daughter.
15 years on….and thankfully, I have not suffered another episode, although I still worry about it.
