I remember when my son told me he thought his girlfriend of three years, Jessie, was “the one.” Some of you know that this sweet young woman, who we’d begun to think of as our future daughter-in-law, died suddenly about a year ago.
Jessie died of a pulmonary embolism, which is a complication that occurs when a blood clot (medically known as DVT - Deep Vein Thrombosis) breaks loose and migrates to the lungs, where it blocks a pulmonary artery or one of its branches.
I am writing to help increase awareness about it, because the symptoms can easily get missed as they did in Jessie’s case, even by medical professionals. About a week and a half before she died, she had a slight swelling in her ankle and went to her clinic. The doctor who examined it thought it looked like a mild sprain, asking her if she remembered hurting it, to which Jessie replied, “No.” He joked with her that she must be a tough girl, to not even notice she had sprained her ankle! But it wasn’t a sprain; it was swollen because of a DVT/blood clot.
A few days later she went to the clinic again, having difficulty breathing. She was then misdiagnosed with pleurisy and given a prescription. In reality, the blood clot had begun to move toward her lungs.
Jessie died suddenly and unexpectedly in the entryway of her home just a few short days after that, at age 24. Emergency paramedics arrived while she was still conscious, but she stopped breathing minutes later and neither they, nor the hospital doctors could revive her.
Many things increase the risk of blood clots, such as the birth control pill or patch, hormone replacement therapy, being immobile, surgery or injury, and certain blood proteins. You can learn more by going to www.preventdvt.org. Blood thinner would have saved Jessie’s life, if only someone had known the symptoms when she first experienced them.
Rays of Hope in Times of Loss: Courage and Comfort for Grieving Hearts is dedicated to Jessie’s memory. It helps people through grief’s emotional excursion. Thank you for helping us increase awareness about DVT.
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