Abby Prohaska

My name is Abby Prohaska and I am a rising Junior at the University of Notre Dame. For as long as I can remember I have played basketball. Growing up my dream was to play in college and then once I graduate become a professional. However, the possibility of that happening was threatened on October 16th 2019 when I heard the words “Pulmonary Embolism”. It all started two weeks before October 16th. I was experiencing a GI issue. It eventually got better and wasn’t as big of a problem. Fast forward to The Monday of October 14th. I started experiencing a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I had gone to practice like usual except I could barely keep up during our scrimmage. A few practices before I had noticed that my breathing wasn’t where it needed to be but i brushed it off thinking it was just my asthma acting up. But during that scrimmage something felt more off than usual. If I had been in such good shape a week ago how can I not make it up and down the court now? By the night the pain had taken over my right side inhibiting my breathing to the point where I had to take very small or thin breaths. I had told my athletic trainer earlier that day and we were going to check it out the following day. I went to sleep and was tossing and turning all night because I couldn’t get enough air. I noticed that when I laid down I would feel like I was suffocating. The next day was the 15th our team media day. I went through the day in a lot of off and on pain because I took some Advil that helped relieve it. Once we finished up media I ran up and called my mom crying because I had been in so much pain. I then went to see my team doctor and she suggested we go to the ER. Once we got there they checked my gallbladder because of symptoms I had been experiencing. But after my CT scan I finally found out what the problem was. I had a pulmonary embolism. Essentially I had a big blood clot in each of my lungs. On my right side I had an infarct which meant it was so bad that part of my lung wasn’t getting enough blood circulation causing all of the pain. My first thought was what now? I’ve never heard of this happening in young athletes. The doctor came in explaining that not only is it extremely serious but I also may never play again. At that moment I couldn’t comprehend how I even got to this point. Eventually I found out that a medication I was on had estrogen in it and I had a specific gene in my blood. So when these too factors mixed I was more prone to clotting. So after I got out of the hospital and went to multiple appointments and got advice from many doctors I ended up being on a blood thinner and had a plan for my comeback. Hoping it all would go well I would be able to play this following year. It was a slow three month progression, but now I am happy to say I defied the odds and will be returning for my Junior season this winter. Through this experience I was able to strengthen my faith, appreciate the game even more, and invest more into relationships and loving people. Although it was not ideal to be sidelined I was able to grow so much as a player watching and listening to my coaches. I found other ways to help my team. I remained focus during every practice and the girls knew if they had any questions that I could help them and if I couldn’t I would find someone that could. It challenged me to be in the present and control the things I could control. If there’s one thing I was able to pull away it is to speak up when something bothers you because you may never know how serious it could be. God had a different plan in store for me this past season and even though it was hard and lonely sometimes I learned more this past year than I ever have before and for that I am grateful. Life is too short to have a bad attitude when faced with adversity.