Jody never felt her DVT coming.
Risk Factors:
- Birth Control Pills
I explained where it hurt, and that I had a low grade fever. The doctors took an x-ray of my chest, and that’s when they told me I had a blood clot in my lung. I was totally shocked.”
Six years ago, at age 48, I had DVT and didn’t even know it. I never felt a thing, until one morning when I woke up with pain on the left side of my chest. I thought maybe I’d slept wrong, so I just got up and went about my day. It hurt whenever I took a deep breath, but I kept thinking it would go away. That evening, however, I was still in pain so I finally went to the E.R.
I explained where it hurt, and that I had a low grade fever. The doctors took an x-ray of my chest, and that’s when they told me I had a blood clot in my lung. I was totally shocked. The pain in my side was the only symptom I had, and it had just started that morning! They also took X-rays of my legs, suspecting I had a DVT clot that broke off and caused a pulmonary embolism in my lungs. They didn’t find anything, and I never once felt any pain in my legs. I was put on warfarin, an anti-clotting drug, and kept in the hospital for three days.
I’m very lucky to be alive. I don’t have to take warfarin anymore, and I live a healthy lifestyle, including eating well, exercising often and being happy.
DVT can strike out of nowhere. Though I may never know how it happened, being on birth control for such a long time definitely put me at risk. If something doesn’t feel right, get it taken care of immediately. This is a very serious disease. Be aware of your body, and if you feel any unexplainable pain, go to the doctor right away.
