My Experience

During my second cycle on chemo, I woke up one morning and my arm was 1.5 times as big as the other: it was swollen, bright white and painful to the touch. I was rushed into the emergency room with a blood clot. The doctors removed the port in my arm and began thrombolytic therapy – TPA – to break up the clot. It was a two-hour intravenous drip.

During the therapy, any cut on my body leaked blood. This included poke holes from needles and incisions on my arm where there had been surgery. It was tough to see myself leaking blood but you have to persist. I felt some chest pains — pieces of clot breaking up and going through my system, according to the doctors – and it was a bit scary but I got through it.

I was an inpatient at the hospital for about a week. I made a full recovery and now have full control of my arm.