Caitland Wright, 26, was initially told she had kidney stones and left in a chair for two days with no diagnosis as her leg swelled up
A young care worker has spoken out after a massive blood clot, initially mistaken for kidney stones, caused her severe chronic pain and impaired her mobility. Caitland Wright, 26, began to feel “twinges” in her back during a family holiday in 2023.
In just two weeks, Caitland found herself hospitalised and in agony, yet without a diagnosis for two days as her leg swelled alarmingly. Her situation became critical when she was identified as having “the largest clot (the doctors) had ever seen”, leading to her treatment with blood thinners.
Caitland, from Birmingham, contends that this delay in medical attention has resulted in lasting pain and significant changes to her lifestyle: two years later, she still struggles to walk and has had to abandon both her jobs and her master’s degree due to the condition.
She said: “I don’t know anyone that’s had a blood clot at my age. People don’t look at me like I’m a 26-year-old woman. They look at me with pity, and I just hate it. I don’t want other young girls going through this.”
The symptoms were subtle at first, with Caitland recalling how she “didn’t feel quite right” on the Cyprus trip in April 2023: “I had twinges at the bottom of my back, but I just thought it was because I was going to the gym. To begin with, it felt like a pulled muscle that you want to stretch out.”
However, the discomfort rapidly escalated to the point where she found herself “crying” and reliant on analgesics daily. When she could no longer urinate one week on, her mother Mandy rushed her to A&E at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Caitland said she received IV fluids and morphine before being left stationary for an extended period, during which her leg swelled, causing her intense pain. “Then my leg started swelling, and I was screaming,” she said.
Initially diagnosed as kidney stones by doctors, Caitland said her true condition was only discovered following a CT scan that exposed an extensive blood clot in her iliac veins that spanned from her calves to her lower back.
Upon the magnitude of the clot being revealed, urgency ensued. “People just barged in as soon as they realised how big the clot was,” she said. “They said it was the largest clot they had ever seen.”
Treatment began belatedly with blood thinners: “They started me on blood thinners, but they started me quite late – they should have done it as soon as I got to A&E.”
Prior to her traumatic health episode, Caitland contributed to patient care both as a domestic worker and a healthcare assistant in the very hospital where she later became a patient for the clot treatment.
Her first-hand experience dealing with difficult situations on a dementia ward gave her insight into healthcare challenges. “I worked on a dementia ward: I used to get hit and everything, so I know that side of it,” she said.
“The NHS is so underfunded, and staff don’t get paid enough for what they go through.”
However, becoming a patient herself shed light on another issue—the dismissive treatment young female patients receive: “But actually being a patient, I realised how younger girls are treated. It’s like we’re just being dramatic – it makes you not want to go. They made me feel like it was all in my head.”
Caitland was moved from A&E to a ward and claimed that she was did not eat for two to three days, saying “they didn’t offer me anything”. Furthermore, she was rebuked by a sister on the ward for her mother’s help whilst washing, chastening her with: “Your mum can’t be here. You’re an adult.”
She recounted her hospital experience: “They were pumping me with fluids, so I was needing a wee quite a lot. I had nurses get annoyed when you ring the bell to ask for help to go to the toilet.”
Caitland shared a disheartening interaction with one doctor who she said told her: “You know, there are people worse off than you. There are people with cancer up above – you’re really lucky.”
This left an emotional scar as Caitland confessed: “I haven’t been out in my wheelchair by myself, because I feel like I don’t deserve it. I feel there are worse-off people than me and I think it’s because of the comment that the doctor made.”
She said how assurances to be assessed by a vascular surgeon from another hospital fell through, claiming “no one came”. She described her worsening condition: “My leg didn’t change at all. It was still big and blue, and sometimes it would go black.”
Following several hospital visits over the summer, Caitland finally met with a consultant in October 2023, five months after her initial A&E visit. Sadly, by April 2024, scans illustrated that her right leg veins were “severely diseased” and beyond the help of a stent to enable blood flow.
Despite some progress with physiotherapy enhancing her mobility, she still faces severe limitations, unable to bear weight or lay her right foot flat on the ground.
Describing her ongoing pain, Caitland said: “My right leg hurts from my toes to my back. When the pain is really bad, I can’t move.
“I can’t get up the stairs – I have to get up on my bum, using my one leg and my arms. If I can’t have a stent, I can’t live like this. I want my leg off.”
However, she shared that her consultant advised against amputation as her clot, which extends into her back, is still present. Caitland reminisced about the “a really good life” she led prior to her blood clot.
She said: “I’m seeing everybody have babies and get married and get their dream career. Mine’s been taken from me because of my clot.”
She expressed doubts about resuming her master’s degree in drama therapy due to her health condition, as prolonged periods of sitting leave her “wiped out for days”. Caitland also voiced her newfound caution towards contraceptive pills, known to heighten the risk of blood clots.
The NHS has highlighted that one in 1,000 women on the pill face an elevated risk of blood clots. Caitland is keen to raise awareness among younger women about the symptoms of a blood clot, with the hope they can be “caught sooner”.
The National Blood Clot Alliance lists these symptoms as swelling, chest pain, skin discolouration, breathlessness, and light-headedness.
Caitland confessed: “I wish I had spoken to a therapist sooner. You literally just get sent home with your tablets and your brain and it’s really isolating.
“By the time I saw my consultant, I was depressed. I just wish that these services were offered straight away.”
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham was contacted by the Press Association for a comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.
Caitland’s GoFundMe page for her electric wheelchair expenses can be found online.