Jeff

Hello. I am new to this website but not to Factor Five.

In November of 1997, I was 21 and was working as a Security Officer at Glenbrook Mall in Fort Wayne, IN.

I walked nearly five miles or so a day. One day I felt a pain in my upper left thigh, thinking I just pulled a muscle, I did not think anything of it. This went on for nearly two weeks. On a Friday night, my upper left thigh was very sore, I went to bed early and woke up early Saturday morning. Instead of the pain being in the usual spot, it was now in the back of my left calf, it was so painful when I tried to put weight on it.

My mom and dad took me to the Emergency room, where they asked me questions like did I have a sit down job? Did I fly a lot? I told them no to these questions. So they did an ultrasound on my leg and discovered a very big blood clot.

I was admitted immediately and they assigned a Cardiologist to me. The next morning, they performed an angiogram but were not able to dissolve the clot. They placed me on Heparin Therapy and was able to go home the day before Thanksgiving.

The doctors took so much blood from me and were running several tests. It was determined that I had a blood clotting disorder and would have to be on Coumadin Therapy for the rest of my life. This was so new to me. I talked to my mom and it turns out her side of the family had this problem.

The doctors have tried to keep my INR's between 2-3 but I have developed other clots.

I did have a massive Pulmonary Embolism in November of 2007 and another blood clot in my right leg in March of 2009 where they inserted a Vena Cava filter, of which is still in today.

I have been very religious as far as taking my Coumadin every day and I get my Pro Times done every six weeks. The doctors now have my range 2.5-3.5 and so far, no other clots have formed. This is a very scary disorder and many people do not understand it. I am thankful that there are more resources out there now than back in 1997. Keep up the great work on this website.

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