This archive report was first published on 16 October 2019.
Condition behind my nine miscarriages ¶
For years, Susan Wanjiru suffered from unexplained pains in her legs and chest. It wasn't until she was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in 2000 that she finally understood what was ailing her.
As a teenager, Susan experienced pain localized in her chest and legs. She would visit hospitals, but doctors would tell her she was fine. With every hospital visit, she would be given medication, but she never quite healed.
It wasn't until she suffered a terrible pain in one leg that doctors identified the pain as a symptom of DVT. Over the following years, Susan suffered about three other DVTs.
When Susan and her husband decided to try for a baby in 2006, her doctor put her on daily anticoagulant injections to lower the risk of pregnancy-related complications. However, on the 14th week of her pregnancy, she had a miscarriage.
After this episode, samples from Susan were flown abroad to Germany for tests and analysis. The results revealed that she had a genetic condition called proteinase deficiency, which led to thrombophilia, an abnormal tendency to develop blood clots.
Thrombophilia made Susan's life very difficult. She suffered six more miscarriages after the first one. The disease made it difficult for her to carry a pregnancy to term, and she often struggled with walking uphill due to painful legs.
Dr. Gordon Ogweno, a specialist in Haemostasis, explained that there are two types of thrombophilia: inherited and acquired. In both types, the factors that increase blood's capacity to clot are exaggerated in amount or in functions.
Patients with thrombophilia also suffer from inflammatory states that release blood clotting factors. In other cases, the patient has abnormal blood cells or platelet disorders. Thrombophilia threatens the health and life of the patient, but there are predisposing factors that heighten the risk for developing clots and complications.
These factors include the use of oestrogen-based hormonal family planning methods, HIV/AIDS, injury to blood vessels, trauma or surgery, old age, immobility, or high cholesterol diets. Thrombophilia affects people of all ages, and in young people, it is less symptomatic due to increased physical activity.
Susan's experience with thrombophilia was particularly challenging. She suffered from recurrent clots, high blood pressure, and pre-eclampsia during her pregnancies. She was also at risk of life-threatening clots if she was pregnant.
Despite the challenges, Susan was determined to live a full life. She gave birth to her first child in 2008, but the pregnancy was complicated by thrombophilia. She suffered two more miscarriages afterwards and then gave birth to twins in 2018 in a similar fashion, which led to her second ICU admission.
Today, Susan runs a support organization called Susana Blood Clot Foundation, which offers counselling and other relevant resources to patients with thrombophilia. She wears a beige compression stocking every day to prevent blood clots and lives with the awareness that she could get a fatal clot at any time.
