After a healthy 33-year-old woman in New York had two strokes in less than three years, she took control of her situation and searched for answers, the Washington Post reports.
Diana Hardesman read medical journals, consulted experts and spoke with her father, a physician who specializes in critical care.
Following her first stroke, doctors said Handesman had patent foramen ovale, a common heart defect that does not usually cause medical problems. When she suffered a second stroke last May, doctors diagnosed her with May-Thurner syndrome, a disorder in which the leg vein is compressed and that may lead to blood clots.
Hardesman eventually decided to undergo an outpatient endovascular procedure, which she had in August. She is now taking aspirin and a blood thinner.
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Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.