HOME - FACTS - FAMILY - FRIENDS - FAVORITES

On the morning of December 7th, 2004 our Heidi  and  her unborn baby, Rhett were taken from us to their eternal home in Heaven. Although they are not with us in the flesh, we feel their spirit with us always.

The autopsy concluded that Heidi died from a pulmonary embolus, a large blood clot in the lung VTE (venous thromboembolism).  VTE is caused by a disorder that promotes blood clotting called thrombophilia.  As many as 1 in 5 people in the country have thrombophilia!  Most people with thrombophilia don’t know they have it because they have no symptoms.  Pregnant women with a thrombophilia are at higher risk for developing a VTE.  This is due to normal pregnancy-related changes in blood clotting that limit blood loss during labor and delivery (God didn’t leave out any details, did he?).  Pulmonary embolus is the leading cause of maternal death in the United States!!!  Pregnant women can be tested for thrompophilia and treated during pregnancy.  Thrombophilia is inherited.  Our daughter Lacey suffered a seizure upon delivering her son Wylie and was in ICU for 3 days.  Her OB/GYN now suspects that she too has thrombophilia and is proceeding with testing Lacey and other family members to determine who carries the gene. We had no idea that Heidi had thrombophila.  We plan to become proactive in the National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia (NATT) in an effort to campaign for early diagnosis and optimal treatment.  The NATT is committed to fostering research, education, support, and advocacy on behalf of those at risk of or affected by thrombophilia.  One more point of interest, a March of Dimes grantee has been studying thrombophilia in pregnant women with the goal of helping to clarify which women could benefit from blood thinning treatment.  For more information on and/or to make a donation for research, please visit http://www.stoptheclot.org.