On the 11th December 2020 (the day before my 23rd birthday) after a few days in and out of hospital for tests I was told I had a pulmonary embolism (PE) and several blood clots all over my lungs. It had been a strange and stressful year for everyone and the thought of having a health problem while the NHS dealt with a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic left me filled with dread.
I had started suffering breathing issues around September 2020 and as an asthmatic I assumed this was my asthma playing up and shrugged it off. Come October I was still no better so rang the doctors and after several courses of antibiotics, COVID tests, steroids and X-rays my doctor still couldn’t find anything wrong. I was healthy, oxygen levels were good, but I still couldn’t walk up the stairs without getting out of breath and on one occasion suffered a severe coughing fit where I felt I couldn’t breathe. I had gone from running and exercising every day to feeling fatigued just making a cup of tea. I know it sounds stupid looking back but I just thought my asthma was playing up and this moment would pass. By December 2020 I was still no better and after ringing my doctors they suggested I go up to the hospital to complete tests for a suspected blood clot. I also had a severe sinus infection alongside this which wasn’t helping my breathing.
I initially went in had blood tests which took around 6 hours to come back that day. These tests determined I had thick and sticky blood and due to COVID and limited staffing in order to determine the amount and size of blood clots I would have to come back 2 days later to the hospital for a VQ test. I was placed on heparin injections (where you inject into the fat of your stomach once a day – totally gross!) while I waited for the next few days. Following my VQ test which I can only describe as the loneliest the time during my hospital tests where you are in an MRI tunnel and if I’m honest I cried while the test was being done. I had felt so lonely – while I was in hospital waiting, I was the only young person there with every other patient either being far older than me or pregnant and I felt so afraid. Finally when I was told I had a PE I didn’t know how I felt – initially, I thought this was the best alternative but when I got home and my cousin who had DVT popped round with some biscuits I knew this was more serious than I initially thought.
I am writing this after 6 months of waiting to hear from my consultant the cause of my blood clots and in all honesty they don’t know. While I hear people say to me – maybe it was COVID, maybe it was the contraceptive pill. I think in all honesty it was just bad luck! My blood tests came back fine but I do have a heightened immune response hinting towards antiphospholipid syndrome however; to find the real answer I would have to come off blood thinners and wait to get tested however; the risk of a second blood clot is still high and therefore I will now be on blood thinners for life. In terms of this decision I have come to accept it; I am never going to be an MMA fighter, an F1 driver or a champion downhill skier but I can still live a happy, healthy and normal life.
In respect of my experience I have really learnt how truly resilient I am and after those 6 months of waiting I didn’t realise how patient I was! Despite the current news of blood clots in the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine I still had my COVID vaccine and urge anyone who is worried about blood clots to go forth and have it. However; after 6 months I still feel incapable of going for a run, but I have slowly been able to go on more walks and urge that anyone in recovery takes it at their own pace. Some days you will feel like you can do everything and the next day you will crash but learning to embrace this helped me through. It may take me over a year to get back to the levels of activity I had before, but my optimism has driven me. Having a great support network from my friends and family allowed me to escape the ‘lets talk about me and my problems’ and focus on the future and everything else yet to come.
In summary, I am still at risk and I am still scared sometimes but I believe my positivity and knowledge of my condition means I can still live a normal life. I hope to move on from this experience and help others through their lowest points.