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Connie Bowen
Way back in 1976, I was a Senior in High School and my older sister hooked me up with her GYN and set me up with birth control pills. Very cool
of her. Damn near killed me.
I lived in Colorado and every year the High School sent a group of Seniors on a cross-country school trip into the mountains. I was on that trip, sleeping
in a sleeping bag in a room full of other teenagers when the blood clot passed through my heart and lodged in my lungs. I didn't know what was going on
of course, all I knew was that I couldn't breath, couldn't move and it felt like dying. I latched onto another student who was walking by and somehow got
a teachers attention. At the time, no one knew what was wrong with me, so one of the chaparone teachers gave me an asprin. I wasn't taken back to Denver,
and I wasn't allowed to participate in any of the week long activities.
After I got back home it wasn't long until I was coughing up blood and diagnosed with multiple PE. I spent 6 weeks in the hospital and eventually was placed
on coumadin for 1 year. I was not allowed to go back to High School, but with the help of a tutor I was able to graduate. After a year on coumadin, I was
taken off medication. I have bad scaring in my lungs from the incident.
Life went on and I had 2 children, with no complications.
4 years ago I was finally able to quit smoking. I had been trying to do that since 1977. (YEA ME!)
2 years ago this month I stepped off a curb while walking with my younger son and broke both ankles. Although I had informed my doctor about the PE in
1977, I was taken off the hepron shots before I was up and around and within a week I had a clot.
After a week in the hospital for DVT, the doctor asked to do a genetic test for Anti-thrombin III. He felt that was what I had. I eventually ended up at
the hemotologist with a diagnosis for Factor V leiden (hetero) and Prothombin gene mutation (hetero).
I am still working my way through doctors, trying to find a group I like. I have a GP-Internal Medicine doctor I like, but was disatisfied with the hemotologist
(He hardly speaks english and I had to have him write everything down so I could understand him!).
I had my younger son tested and am moving him to my GP instead of our old doctor. He is positive for FVL, but was not tested for the other associated disorders.
Connie Bowen