My Life Before My Diagnosis

5 Fast Facts about me:

• I am graduate with a degree in Supply Chain Management and minor in International Business
• I have been to 20 different countries including studying abroad in Costa Rica, Spain, Argentina/ Uruguay
• I played sports growing up and love watching them. GO VOLS!
• I love being active which includes going on hikes and working out
• My friends would describe me as “adventurous” , ” dependable” and ” funny”

I had a good childhood growing up. I played sports and was in marching band. When I was in college, I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform at a high level. I did it and graduated with the highest honor. I moved to Chattanooga to do an internship at automotive factory for a year. Once completed, I decided to move back to Nashville to start to work with our family business in October 2019. I moved back in with my parents while I worked on where I was going to live next. At the time, I was in long distance relationship.

Events leading up to my diagnosis:

December 25th, 2019- This is my first memory of having pain in my right calf when we went for a walk in Atlanta. I honestly didn’t think much of it because I worked out 5 days a week. Maybe I did something weird at the gym.

December 31, 2019- I remember it cramping and telling my boyfriend that I feel like it is getting worse but still just chalking it up to tearing a muscle or something. My parents told me to go doctor, but I just shook it off.

Early January 2020- I got a massage and had them really work my right calf ( a total face palm now). At the gym which is a boot camp format, I remember thinking either the holidays really are hitting me or something because my lungs felt on fire and was short of breath easier.

January 16th, 2020- I flew to see one of my best friends that lives in Durham, NC. ( Again looking back an another face palm because it is recommend not fly if you have fresh clot due to risk of breakage off and going to another part of the body). My friend is ironically a nurse. We like being active together and to go on a simple walk was a task for me. I dreaded going up her 3 flights of stairs to get to her apartment because I would be so winded by the time I got to the top. My leg at night would cramp so bad that I would take Advil. I also had fatigue. We went to the movie theater that had the nice recliner chairs and I basically paid to take a nap in there… totally worth it though.

January 20th, 2020- I had a late flight home and at this point I began to start limping. Definitely not normal , but even with all these symptoms I thought it was a pulled muscle. I decided to go an urgent care the next morning.

The picture ” I believe in Raleigh” was the last photo I took before my life drastically changed how I operate as a person. The next post will be about the day I got diagnosed.