A Silent Killer

"I'm going to Iraq." These are words that have caused worry for many families since the war in Iraq began. They certainly were words Melanie Bloom dreaded to hear from her husband, NBC News correspondent, David Bloom, in early 2003. She – along with many other journalist and military families – deeply feared the dangers of war. She feared for David's safety. Yet she was also proud of David's determination to tell the soldiers' stories and to bring the reality of war home to the American people.

An awful event did take David's life in the sand-blown heat of war, but the killer was neither an insurgent's bullet nor a mortar shell. When her telephone rang that night in April 2003, she remembers thinking, through a fog of shock and grief, "What? He died of what?" She had never heard of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE). Yet, in a strange and far-away land, these unknown, unseen conditions took the life of her husband and the father of her three little girls.

Now, three years since David's death, Melanie Bloom still feels profound loss and grief, especially knowing that her husband's death could have been prevented. David could be living today, had he and she been aware of this danger, this silent killer. Of course, nothing can change what happened to her own family, but Melanie, knowing what she knows now, can help others live. She now devotes time as an emissary to raise public and medical community awareness of David's little-known killer, DVT and PE. She wants to share her story with the readers of Keeping in Circulation.

In the year leading up to the war, David shuttled back and forth to Kuwait. He spent weeks with the troops in the desert, then went to the Pentagon for chemical and biological warfare training, then returned to New York to co-anchor the weekend Today show. When he ultimately embedded with the 3rd I.D. and began the long push across the Iraqi desert, he managed to stay in close touch with Melanie and his daughters, often through satellite phone or emails. In one e-mail, he wrote to his children that it was hard being away from his family. But, characteristically, he added a word for the troops in Iraq and their families back home: "When you're missing me, as I am missing you, remember to say a prayer for all those other boys and girls who are missing their mommies and daddies too."

With growing apprehension, Melanie watched the nightly news. She observed David as he quickly donned a gas mask while a chemical alert sounded in the background and watched, with thudding heart, when David crouched down and urgently relayed to Tom Brokaw, "We're under fire, Tom!" She smiled as he held glow-sticks up next to his face so that he could still be seen during a blinding sandstorm. And she fought back tears when he wished their twin daughters "happy birthday" through the television set as their little faces beamed up at his image.

Through all of those long and dangerous days and nights, David called home nearly every day via satellite phone. His wife explained that one such call came a few days before his death. He was speaking in a whisper. He said his unit had reached the outskirts of Baghdad and he was sleeping outside atop the fender of the M-88 tank in which he had been riding. "We have to be quiet," he said. "We can't have lights or any noise because of the possibility of ambush." Melanie asked, "David, why are you sleeping outside? Get back into the tank where it's safe! But he said he had been confined too long inside too small a space. His legs had been cramping and he couldn't bear another night with his knees tucked to his chin. He went on to tell me about the stars over Baghdad as he lay there, gazing into the cold, desert night sky. As I look back now, I wish I had recognized the most dangerous warning sign of all – those whispered complaints of leg cramps."

David had at least three key risk factors for DVT. First, he experienced prolonged immobility as he worked, ate, and 2 slept inside a tank. Next, he was dehydrated. He and the troops were subsisting on rationed water supplies. And finally, only too late did Melanie learn that David carried an inherited blood coagulant disorder called Factor V Leiden, a symptom-free condition that increases the risk of DVT.

This non-discriminatory disease takes its toll on the young and old, male and female, fit and unfit. Risk factors or triggering events include cancer, immobility from an acute illness or surgery, obesity, pregnancy, long-distance travel with little mobility, post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy, and even going on "the pill." By identifying the symptoms and risk factors, doctors can readily prevent or treat DVT with blood-thinning drugs.

Melanie Bloom never envisioned that she would take center stage on an important public health issue. Melanie's hope in telling David's and her story is that she can help raise public awareness of this silent, insidious killer that took her husband's life so quickly. Melanie is the national spokeswoman for the Coalition to Prevent DVT and participated in a national media campaign for DVT Awareness Month in March.

Melanie Bloom lives with her three children in New York.

For more information on DVT and PE, read this article and visit the Vascular Disease Foundation Web site at www.vdf.org.