Male, 61 yrs, excellent physical condition. In April I fell 25 ft from ladder, landing on my feet but compound fracturing both ankles, resulting in plates and screws to repair, and in casts from toes to upper thighs. Sent home in 4 days to a rented hospital bed and a very attentive wife who worked 24/7 to care for me. 6 weeks later following normal wake up and breakfast routine, into the wheel chair, etc, I suddenly felt a sudden chill, lightheaded and dizzy, turned white, fainted, then came to, and really felt disoriented. My wife saw this happening, dialed 911, and in minutes the medics were at my side, administering an injection, and putting me on a stretcher. During the ambulance ride I lost consciousness and vitals stopped, causing them to take me to the nearest hospital, not the one we requested, and there I was dropped off. The ER doctors did not know what was wrong. They suspected a stroke. After two days one doctor decided that my leg casts indicated possible clots could be present and ordered a sonogram, which disclosed a number of clots traveling up my right leg veins. He ordered heparin drip, and suggested a Greenfield filter be inserted into my vena cava. Since I am still alive, it worked. The omission of any blood thinners such as Coumadin following the initial ankle fractures was unforgivable and declared the contributing cause of the pulmonary embolism. My lower lobe of right lung is plugged and shows dark on x-ray. Any lower leg trauma should be monitored, clot formation expected, and dizziness, lightheaded feelings, and confusion should not be ignored. Published: September 29 ::

I have had right forearm swelling and pain. Thought it was some type of "tennis elbow" issue. Checked by ortho doctor and saw only swelling. One month later I had a hysterectomy with infection complications. Now 3 months since surgery, I am experiencing pain in the lower right chest area seemingly, under the right lower rib cage. I also have pain sometimes in the shoulder blade area on the right side. It feels like deep pain. I have been short of breath even for something as simple as speaking, but not all the time. I am taking estrogen replacement hormone at the lowest dosage. Published: November 11 ::

I was diagnosed with pneumonia, and was in the hospital for one week. When I got home I still wasn’t breathing normally so I went back to the ER they told me that my oxygen level was not good to do some blood work that they did. The doctor ordered a CT scan of my lungs and they found two blood clots in my lungs. Now that I have read information on Pulmonary Embolism it has become apparent to me that the chest pain that I was having for years was not anxiety. The lightheadedness and lack of energy wasn’t depression, so it took them 5 years to figure out what was wrong with me. Don’t let your chest pain go as anything because it would come and go never consistent, but very sharp pain when you breathe. The embolisms have affected my lungs so bad that I now Suffer with COPD I am 33 with four children. Published: September 11 ::

I am a 44 year old mother of 4. I run a small restaurant and antique store. I lead a water exercise class 4 nights a week. I am on my feet for quite a few hours a day. I developed a cough the beginning of June that has lasted all summer, just a dry nagging cough which for awhile worsened if I tried to lay flat. I often sleep propped up on pillows. For most of the summer I have experienced shortness of breath while exercising. I passed it off to weight gain and being out of shape from a long winter. This past weekend (Aug 9th) it seemed to get worse. I was easily winded and my heart would start racing when I walked or worked quickly. I didn't have any sharp pains, just a heaviness in my chest. Right now it almost feels like a marble rolling around in there. I broke down and went to the doctor who sent me to the emergency room. I thought maybe it was exercised induced asthma. The chest x ray seemed clear, but some blood work done indicated that I probably had a blood clot. After a CT scan I was told I had a clot in my left lung and several in my right lung. I was started on Lovax injections and warifan orally. My oxygen sats were 93 to 96, my blood pressure is low. I spent 2 nights in the hospital. I still don't know where these clots came from since an ultrasound of my legs showed nothing. I was sent home because Blue Cross and Blue Shield would not cover more than 2 nights for this. I have no real answers yet, but just want others to know that I was active the whole time and this happened. The only time I had leg pain was in the winter, I kept getting Charlie horses in my right leg. I did go to my doctor then wandering if it was a clot but he said no, it was probably from shoveling. Now I wonder if I wasn't right and it did travel to my lungs over the course of the last 6 months. Published: September 11 ::

It started with what I thought was a cramp or the like in my left leg. I used the normal over-the-counter muscle rubs with no help at all. After 2 weeks with no pain relief, the pain had gone up my calf to my thigh. As I began to massage the area, I immediately started to sweat profusely, had tremendous shortness of breath, vision was very blurred, and almost passed out several times through this 40 minute event. Living alone, off the grid, with no cell or landline phone, it took me 2 days to feel well enough to go to the doctor. It was deep vein thrombosis, which led to pulmonary embolism on both sides of lungs. One should never wait as long as I did to get the initial test of what the pain was in my leg. Don’t delay having the cramps in your legs checked out. It saved my life. Published: November 16 ::