Just shy of three weeks ago I ended up in the emergency room. I couldn't breathe, because pain of pain in my left lung. Turns out I had a pulmonary embolism, from a blood clot that had broken loose from my right leg, traveled through my heart and went into the arteries that lead to my left lung. Blood tests showed I have three genetic conditions that make my blood more prone to clotting than most people's. My doctor said he's never seen anyone with all three before. Lucky me.
I've got Factor V Leiden (two abnormal copies of that gene), a problem with the prothrombin gene and with the gene for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, an enzyme. The good thing is now they know why a muscle strain led to blood clots. They also know how to treat it: lifelong blood thinners.
It also means everyone in my family has to get their blood tested to see what abnormal genes they ended up with. On the one hand, it stinks to have to tell all of these people I care about that my problems might be their problems, too. But it's also helping. Maybe by me going through it, and finding out what happened, others won't have to experience it. It's certainly not something I want anyone else to have happen.
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