Surviving a silent killer CLICK FOR MORE: "take rat poison every day, and I'm happy to have the chance. Of course, it's in small amounts and under close medical supervision – but it's what keeps me alive.

Thanks to this drug (a blood thinner) and the availability of good medical care in our area, plus a stroke of luck, I not only survived a massive blood clot, but two weeks later could do everything I did before, including some fairly serious volleyball on the grass at Mission Bay Park.

As a new member of the Coumadin Club, I've learned some fascinating and frightening facts. First of all, this is not a very exclusive club. According to the National Institutes of Health, 2 million Americans each year develop this condition, called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. Of these, 600,000 – nearly one out of three – will progress to a pulmonary embolism (a piece breaks loose and goes to the lung), which is fatal for at least 10 percent..."