Sophie recounts her past experience with blood clots in her lungs, while today she still deals with lung damage.
In February of 2021, as I arrived to the hospital ward for my shift as a student nurse and healthcare support worker, I collapsed and was taken to the A&E or emergency department. There, I was diagnosed with multiple massive pulmonary emboli or blood clots in my lungs, right heart strain, and lung infarction or the death of some of my lung tissue due to an inadequate supply of oxygen.
Through the night, I took a turn for the worse and was taken to the intensive therapy unit. I remained there for a week, undergoing intravenous treatment with heparin, an anticoagulant or “blood thinner.”
The doctors explained that my clots were probably due to the hormonal contraceptive patch I had been using. Also, I was one year post-partum or one year out from having given birth. Pregnancy and childbirth are major risk factors or blood clots. Scans also showed that there had been prior damage from a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or blood clot in my right leg.
Unfortunately, my symptoms never improved. In December of 2022, I had a right heart catheter that showed I have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. My clots never fully dissolved, so I am awaiting further tests in London. I’m hoping to have a pulmonary thromboendarterectomy at the Royal Papworth Hospital to remove the clots from my lungs and improve my prognosis.
