在我得这个病之前，我是根本没有想过我会得什么肺血栓，
就觉得这个和我这个年龄的人是没有关系的。

得了以后我才意识到这个病和我们并不远，还是要重视的。

对于我们女性，以下几个因素是high risk
* pregnancy
* c-section
* 吃避孕药

PE得症状一般不明显，shortness of breath, chest pain,是常见症状。

我的经历在
http://www.huaren.us/dispbbs.asp?boardID=333&ID=510900

转一篇news 6新闻播报员Jennifer Gray得经历吧。她是吃避孕药造成的。

By Jennifer Gray

If someone would have told me a year ago that my birth control pills were
killing me, I would have laughed. At 25 years old, I was on the top of my
game. Professionally, I had just started my dream job six weeks prior as a
meteorologist at NBC 6 in Miami. Physically, I was in the best shape of my
life, even researching where I was going to race my next 5K. I was excited
about my new life and job, and thought I had finally found the challenges I
had been looking for in my career. Unfortunately, those challenges were only
a drop in the bucket for what was slowly surfacing.
Jennifer Gray
Less than 2 months after moving from Louisiana to Miami, I began to
experience fever and body aches. I didn’t think too much of it, especially
considering the crazy hours and long days I was working. The only issue was
it didn’t seem like the symptoms were improving.

After a run of four different antibiotics, I continued to work during the
next few weeks. My doctors kept telling me it was a Urinary Track Infection
(UTI). Then, one Sunday morning, when I could barely stand in front of the
camera, I finally went to the ER. I had shortness of breath, severe pain in
my lungs, and it was all getting worse. The ER doctors said it was mono, but
the chest pains were unbearable. When I asked
about the pain, they blamed it on the mono and/or anxiety, but I demanded
more tests. Only then did the doctors find pulmonary emboli (PE) in both
lungs – the largest measuring 9.9mm. With a pale face, the doctor told me I
would have died within hours if I had not been so persistent.

As I lay there alone in a strange new city - I had no idea how this would
change my life. My physicians were shocked, especially since I was in
incredible shape and wasn’t a “candidate.” After three days in the
hospital and countless blood tests, they found I genetically carry factor V
Leiden. I also tested positive for several other anticoagulant antibodies
that make me more prone to clotting by 50-fold. The biggest surprise to me
was that it was my birth control pills that triggered the clot. I guess I
never really knew the potential risks involved with taking birth control
pills, and I had only been taking them for a couple of years. A few weeks
later, my sister found out she also carries factor V Leiden and was
immediately taken off birth control.

Since that day, I’ve spent many hours before and after work in doctors’
offices undergoing tests. I’ve been on Coumadin? ever since. My
doctors at the Cleveland Clinic are still debating whether I should stay on
Coumadin? for the rest of my life. My family and friends quickly became
my source of strength and support when I couldn’t find any within myself.

NBC was my family 1,300 miles away from home. Everyone urged me to take as
much time off as I needed, but I refused and returned to work less than two
weeks after my hospital release. I tried to hide the magnitude of what
happened, because I didn’t want to appear “weak” in a business that’s so
demanding of your strength. Even though I struggled with the denial of
something so traumatic happening to me in my prime, I just wanted everything
to appear normal.

Five months later, I’ve developed the strength and courage to face these
challenges. I know now that life will never be normal, but it can be managed
. I learned to not look at Coumadin? as my enemy, but as my saving
grace. I thank God every day for giving me a second chance. I have more
energy now than ever before and have even completed my first 5K run since
the incident.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to my second run. I now look at my
obstacles as opportunities to speak out about PE, especially birth control
pills risks. Statistics show that one out of roughly every 20 people have
factor V Leiden, and PE is amongst the three top causes of death in the US.
The next person does not have to be you. I often wondered about my purpose
in life. How would I be able to change the world, even if it were one person
at a time?

My mission is now crystal clear - raising awareness about birth control
risks and blood disorders, so no one else’s daughter, sister, mother or
best friend will have to experience what I did. I will continue to challenge
my doctors, nurses, and educators when it comes to the risks of taking
birth control pills. My new mission reminds me of an old spiritual song –
“If I can help somebody as I travel along; if I can cheer somebody with a
word or song; if I can show somebody that she’s traveling wrong… then my
living will not be in vain.”


Remember, my story doesn’t have to be yours
Posted on 11/18/08, 04:11 pm