Leg pain, redness or swelling in the calf or thigh should never be ignored. It could be a sign of a serious, potentially life-threatening condition. It's called deep vein thrombosis, also known as DVT. And it's a condition you and your doctor should be discussing.

Thirty-five years ago at age 48, Fran Van Twisk experienced what she describes as excruciating leg pain.

“The real deep veins, you know that when it hits,” Van Twisk said.

A blood clot formed deep in her leg. Doctors diagnosed her with deep vein thrombosis and put her on a blood thinner almost immediately.

“The worst thing that can generally happen is a piece of that blood clot can break off, can travel through your blood vessels, through the right side of your heart and lodge in your lungs,” Mike Gulseth with Sanford's Anticoagulation Program said.

Gulseth says that's a pulmonary embolism, which can be fatal.

“Somewhere between 60,000 to 300,000 people will die of pulmonary embolisms every year in the United States,” Gulseth said.

Since her first clot years ago, Fran has had five more and has noticed a trend.

“The only time I've had blood clots is when I've had some medical condition that had to be treated,” Van Twisk said.

Blood clots can be common after surgery, but your risk is also increased if you have limited mobility, like sitting for a long period of time, if you've injured the blood vessel by falling or if you've inherited a blood clotting disorder.

Gulseth says it's a condition you should discuss with your doctor, especially before a procedure.

“How are you going to prevent blood clots when we have that procedure and I think that's a great way that patients can keep themselves safe,” Gulseth said.

Van Twisk is keeping the condition under control with a blood thinner and has her blood checked on a regular basis.

“You can't help but worry about it because there's a risk factor to it, but I think I know the signs soon enough and take care of it,” Van Twisk said.

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