I am not too young for a blood clot
Hi! I’m Nicole Baral (@nicbaral), I am 19 years old & currently studying early childhood education. On October 17th, 2017 my life changed. I was leaving class when I suddenly had this overbearing pain in my left leg. After about ten minutes, my leg went numb and I was unable to walk. I called my friends who then rushed me to the emergency room. That day I had multiple scans and tests to try and figure out what was going on. At that point, my leg had turned purple & the doctors were sure it was a blood clot. Turns out, I had Phlegmasia Cerulea Dolens (PCD) which is a severe case of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The surgeons were faced with a challenge, and were not sure if they would be able to save my leg. Two months inpatient and 14 surgeries later, I still have it. However, I have no feeling from the knee down and doctors are unsure if it will come back, so amputation is still an option. Right now I am working on walking with a brace & will hopefully be able to ditch the crutches for good. Although this has been the biggest challenge I have faced, I am not going to let it take hold of my life. My message to others is just to keep going. It may seem difficult right now, but things will eventually look up!
