YouTube's iJustine opens up about 'scary' blood clot that landed her in the hospital for days

Justine Ezarik is opening up about a "scary" health experience.

The vlogger, known to the online community as iJustine, took to Instagram on April 11 to share that she suffered from a blood clot in her shoulder. She captioned the video detailing her experience, “Was a very scary last week. Finally posting the full story — longer version on YT with more! The current diagnosis is Paget Schroetter's Syndrome due to excessive repeated strenuous activity of the shoulders and arms.. possibly from my light saber and martial arts.”

In her accompanying video, she chronicled the ordeal, which she said began when she noticed that her arm was significantly swollen following a dinner with friends.

“Instead of going to the doctor, I went to sleep and just hoped I would wake up in the morning, which is a very scary thought to fall asleep to,” she said. “Woke up the next morning, was supposed to record a podcast, and decided that we had a very serious issue. The veins are starting to break in my shoulder. This arm is so swollen, I need to go somewhere now.”

After going to urgent care, Ezarik was told to go to an emergency room, where they confirmed she had a blood clot. From there, she was sent to a different hospital, where they performed a thrombectomy, which is a type of surgery to remove a blood clot from inside an artery or vein.

However, after she was told the clot was dissolved, Ezarik started experiencing the sensation of something “traveling” down her body, as well as shortness of breath and chest pain. Upon having a CT scan, she learned the clot had traveled to her lungs.

“The last five days in the hospital was absolutely traumatizing,” she recalled. “I couldn’t use my arms, I could basically do nothing. My arm was so swollen that the doctor was actually shocked.”

One theory, she said, is that there is compression on her vein from her rib, which may mean she needs to have a rib removed.

“They said I could keep the rib. Bonus points. Maybe turn it into a necklace,” she joked, adding that she is now on blood thinners.

Ezarik received lots of love and support from her followers in the comments section. One wrote, “Wow wow wow Justine. So glad you went to the hospital and got it checked out. Thankful you could go home and rest.” Another added, “Hoping for a full and speedy recovery. Wow. Just wow.” A third shared, “So crazy how fast something like that can happen! Glad they caught it, found the PE and you’re on blood thinners. Blood clots are seriously scary. Sending all the healing vibes your way!”

Ezarik concluded her video with a reminder to her followers to care for their health.

“I'm just grateful to still be here. This is a reminder that if you ever think something is wrong with your body, go seek medical help,” she said. “There are many outcomes where this could have been way more tragic.”

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