She also talked about the causes and symptoms of DVT — a disease that, according to the American Heart Association, about 600,000 Americans develop DVT every year. That’s about 420,000 more people than the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

The exact number of deaths from DVT is unknown, as it is often the cause of death in other bedridden hospital patients and many times goes unnoticed.

Doctors of the American Public Health Association say deep vein thrombosis resulting in a pulmonary embolism is the most common preventable cause of hospital deaths.

It makes me mad that so many lives are lost at the expense of a curable disease when there are enough incurable diseases as it is. The problem, I think, starts with education. If people were educated about the symptoms of DVT, maybe the number of deaths would decrease.

After being in a cast for six weeks, courtesy of a beach volleyball game I made my mom play, she began complaining of sharp pains in her leg. When she discussed this discomfort with her orthopedic surgeon, he told her it would eventually go away. He continued to tell her to ignore the almost unbearable pain for the next four weeks.

So she did. After all, doctors know best. Or, at least, that’s what we are supposed to think.

How wrong we were.

When my mom and I found out the symptoms include leg cramps, tenderness, swelling and warm sensations — symptoms my mom was told to take an Advil to control — we knew it was time to find a doctor who would listen. Two days later, we did.

When my mom complained of the same leg pains to her new physician, he immediately sent her to get a Doppler exam to see if DVT was the cause of her pain.

I went with her for moral support. Unfortunately, it’s hard to be supportive when you lock yourself inside the bathroom because it’s easier than facing the reality — your mom has DVT.

After sitting in the hospital waiting room for what felt like three days, my mom was finally moved to a room and given heparin — an anticoagulant given through the vein.

By 8:15 p.m., I was all cried out and the nurses were on the verge of physically removing me from my mom’s room. Visiting hours had ended at 8 p.m., and no one but me seemed to care that my mom was lying on a hospital bed fighting for her life.

Six months later, my mom was still experiencing pain, wearing a compression stocking and taking Coumadin — a blood thinning medication taken orally.

Three years later my mom continues to battle DVT. Her blood clots might never go away, thanks in part to an orthopedic surgeon who neglected to listen to his patient’s complaints.

This happens more often than not.

Doctors are trained professionals who we are supposed to trust with out lives, but we must remember, too, they’re only human.

Thanks to online resources like WebMD.com and WrongDiagnosis.com, it’s easy to try to diagnose yourself in the privacy of your own home.

For more information regarding DVT, its symptoms and affects on the body, visit on the Web www.americanheart.org.

If something about your body just doesn’t feel quite right, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and never ignore your instincts.

They could save your life.

Stephanie Goldberg is a State News staff writer. Reach her at goldbe74@msu.edu.