Your Stories

Stories of women who have either lost their life or have been harmed by the Pill, Patch or NuvaRing

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Survivor Stories - Lessons Learned

Charissa Carnell - . Be your own advocate

My Blod Clot Story & the Dangers of the Birth Control Pill

Carissa Ubersox - Lucky to Be Alive..

Why I want my patients to choose a safer method

Stories of women that lost their life due to the use of

hormonal contraception

Alexandra Rowan - Age 23, died suddenly from a massive Pulmonary Embolism linked to hormonal birth control pill.

Erika Langhart - Age 24, Died suddenly from a massive pulmonary embolism linked to the NuvaRing.

Our beautiful, caring, sweet 24 year old daughter Erika was planning to come home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday, November 23, 2011. On Monday, November 21, I had just talked to her over the weekend and emailed her to tell her how much her dad and I were looking forward to having her home from where she lived and worked in Washington, DC. That evening I received a call from her phone. I picked up the call, expecting it to be her, and said, “Can’t wait to see you!!!”

Instead it was her boyfriend who told me that Erika had collapsed and was being rushed to the hospital...read more

Brittany Malone - Age 23, Death linked to the NuvaRing - Massive Blood Clot

Brittany Malone - DEATH DIAGNOSIS: Acute respiratory failure, diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage. Diffuse venous thromboembolism with deep venous thrombosis, severe anoxic brain damage.

It was 12:30 a.m. on December 1, 2012 when my wife and I were awoken by 2 simultaneous phone calls. The first call came from our youngest daughter Morgan to my wife’s cell phone which she keeps at her bedside every night. The 2nd call came to me from our eldest daughter Ashley to my cell phone. When my wife’s phone rang, she stepped out of our bedroom to take the call and I immediately could tell that something terrible had occurred. Ashley told me that she was calling from the hospital and that Brittany has been taken by ambulance to the emergency room after she her head rolled back suddenly and she stopped breathing at Morgan’s house....read more

Lauren Katherine Alexander - Age 20, Died while using generic Yaz pill Loryna

On the morning of Monday January 28th, 2013 at about 10:30 AM the telephone rang. We were about to receive the dreaded call that no parent ever wants to receive. For whatever reason, I picked up the receiver to hear a woman’s voice speaking English with a French accent asking me if I was the father of Lauren Alexander. The cadence of her words and the background noise told me that there was a serious problem. At that instant, a cold chill passed through me and my heart skipped a beat. Her name was Elisabeth, a hospital social worker informing us that our beautiful twenty year old daughter Lauren, a 3rd year student majoring in Russian Studies and French Literature at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec had been brought to the Montreal General Hospital Emergency Room unresponsive after being found on the second floor landing in the stairwell of her apartment building that morning while returning from grocery shopping. Lauren was resuscitated and stabilized in the emergency room and was now being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. Lauren was in grave condition having been struck down suddenly and most unexpectedly by what turned out to be a massive pulmonary embolism....read more

Julia West Ross - Age 29, Death linked to the NuvaRing

Julia lived in Southern California after completing an M.A. in Economics and had gotten married just five weeks before to her sweetheart Eric. She was so happy and we were all so very happy for her. I talked with Julia on Tuesday night and all was well. She and Eric were so excited, as they were to leave for their delayed honeymoon that weekend. Nothing seemed wrong. Then on Thursday night I got a phone call from Eric that Julia was in the ER.

Eric told me that Julia had been feeling a little tired, and that as she walked to her car on Wednesday night she experienced a moment of tunnel vision. At home she climbed in bed to rest, as she wasn’t feeling well.

Thursday morning she stayed home from work, which was not at all like her. Later that morning she called Eric, asking him to take her to Urgent Care, as something was very wrong. She couldn’t breathe, felt very weak and was vomiting. Eric rushed home and took her to Urgent Care...read more.

Amy Westbrook - Age 22

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand-
How few! Yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep, while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?

O God can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream

(Edgar Allan Poe)

This was one of Amy’s favorite poems. She was a 22-year-old college kid that was enjoying the university experience for the first time. Being away from home: the freedom, the fun, but not necessarily the studying. Amy was our youngest daughter, 5 years younger than her sister and 7 years younger than her brother. Growing up she absolutely adored her big brother; anything he said or did was gospel. They were very close. She became closer to her sister as she followed her to Colorado State to go to college where her sister became her advisor and friend at school...read more

Michelle Cummins Death - Age 18
Parents believe she died due to a blood clot caused by the Yaz birth control pill.

When Joan Cummins said goodbye to her 18-year-old daughter before her first term at university, she consoled herself by thinking she'd be back for Christmas.

But Michelle Pfleger never did come home. Instead, after less than a month at Elon University, North Carolina, she collapsed and died from a massive blood clot - after taking the birth control pill to treat her acne...read more /michelle-phleger.html

Luckily, My Story Ends With Hospital Discharge - Kaila Butler’s Story
On October 25th, 2012, I called my boyfriend to come and pick me up from work, despite living just a 10-minute walk away. The bad shoulder and back pain I had been dealing with in recent days turned into a sharp stabbing sensation throughout my body, leaving me breathless and unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. I pride myself on my ability to walk things off, and I have a very high tolerance for pain, so it made me very anxious thinking that it was a bruised rib. I had hoped that my boyfriend would take me home and put me to bed, but at his insistence I ended up at the Emergency Room at Burnaby Hospital instead....read more

Changed in an Instant - Jenna Kirsch’s Blood Clot Story
In every person’s life, there is one instance or one moment that changes them in ways they never believed possible. A moment where they reevaluate all that they have and all that they have worked for. Whether it is a good or bad change, it is without a doubt a memorable one. Some happen later in life and some early. My moment was October 18th, 2013, at the age of 23. It will forever be a part of me and has shaped me into who I am today. Although my experience was traumatic and will affect me daily for life, the end result is a better version of who I was always meant to be...read more

Brain Grenade - Sarah McCormick's Blood Clot & Stoke Story

On Sunday, April 14, 2013 I woke up with a headache. This wasn’t unusual for me; I had battled chronic headaches and occasional migraines for over ten years. I had tried almost every available solution, but never found relief. This headache was worse than normal, but since I had already made plans with my dad to hike the Manitou Springs Incline that day, I resorted to my usual option; suck it up, smile, and push through the pain. I got to my dad’s house and he could see in my eyes that my headache was getting worse. He offered up the option to go to Barnes & Noble, get a latte at Starbucks and look through travel magazines instead. I conceded because I was in pain, and also because this was another one of my favorite ways to spend time with him....download Sarah's Story /uploads/3/1/0/0/31005869/brain_grenade_by_sarah_mccormick.docx