Thank you for visiting my page. My name is Tom Geraghty, and I've been chosen by The National Blood Clot Alliance to run the 2021 New York City Marathon under their banner. This will be my second attempt at the New York City Marathon, my first coming in 2015. I am a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department, a husband, and a father to two incredible kids. Here's my story and why I'm running for the NBCA.
On December 31st, 2019, I woke up from a nap with a stabbing pain in my back whenever I took a deep breath. I chalked it up to a pulled muscle or sleeping funny. Gradually, the pain got worse and worse. At dinner on January 1st, it became pretty clear that something was wrong. I went to an urgent care to get checked out.
The staff at the urgent care were wonderful, attentive and diligent. The PA there said the way I was presenting sounded like it could be a blood clot. Not a chance, I thought. It's probably a kidney stone or something like that. Regardless, I went to the hospital for more tests.
I hadn't even gotten into my paper thin gown before I was whisked away for chest x-rays and a CT scan. Within 2 hours, the doctor came into my room and confirmed my worst fear. I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in my right lung.
How could this happen? I was in fairly decent shape. I'm a runner for crying out loud, we're supposed to be invincible aside from knee problems! We started on blood thinners immediately. First an injection of Lovenox, then Xarelto.
The doctors told me I was pretty lucky. The clot was in a place that hit a lot of nerves, causing my pain. If it were in a different spot in my lung, I wouldn't have known about it until it broke off, traveled to my heart, and, well... it would have been too late by then. I was smart enough to get checked out immediately too. Waiting would have just made things worse.
I'm happy to say I'm more than a year post diagnosis and off prescription blood thinners! We have no idea where the clot came from. I haven't been on any long trips recently, no recent trauma, no cancer. Thankfully, my blood tests came back negative for a clotting disorder. The best part is that there wasn't a ton of lung damage done, so I'm able to keep running.
After getting discharged from the hospital, I immediately started researching blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, DVTs, blood thinners, any and all information I could get my hands on. My research led me to the National Blood Clot Alliance and Team Stop The Clot. When I saw they were a part of the 2021 New York Marathon, I knew I had to apply, to tell my story, to raise awareness.
This past year or so has been a whirlwind of emotion. Compared to so many others who have clot issues, I'm extremely lucky. My quality of life hasn't been severely diminished, I'm able to keep working, and more importantly, I'm alive.
Every breath right now feels like a gift. Every hug from my kids is a little tighter. Every mile I run is precious.
There's a long way to go with this. We may never find out the cause of the blood clot. I may get another one, I may be on some kind of blood thinner the rest of my life. But for now, I'm just thankful to be here, able to tell my story, able to keep running, to keep living.
Thank you for visiting my page, for any contribution, for your kind thoughts and well wishes!
On average, 274 people die every day from blood clots.
900,000 cases per year are now suggested by recent scientific modeling and public health statistics.
100,000 to 300,000 deaths from blood clots occur each year, which is greater than the total number of people who lose their lives each year to AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle crashes combined.
On average, one person dies every six minutes from a blood clot. Don’t be one of them. Blood clots can be prevented. Understand the risks. Know the signs and symptoms.
