Olympic Hopeful Sidelined by Contraceptive Device

But it's all good, right?

In the summer of 2012, Henry started using the device NuvaRing. It releases the hormones estrogen and progestin into the bloodstream.

The two hormones work together to prevent the ovaries from producing mature eggs.

"Within 10 days of taking it," Henry said, "I had a hard time breathing."

She said she continued to use the device because she had not yet made the connection.

However, she said things became worse. She was training in Utah where her breathing became so bad, she could not speak in conversation.

Henry said she saw a total of five doctors. None of them could determine the cause.

She eventually went to see a pulmonologist in Connecticut, who said she had blood clots and sent her to the emergency room.

That doctor diagnosed her with pulmonary embolism and told her it was from the birth control device.

"They just said multiple blood clots in both lungs. It looks like if you took paint and splattered it like that, there were just blood clots everywhere," Henry said.

She spent 10 days in the hospital. That's when she said she found out her Olympic dreams had been dashed. She said she had to miss a year of training, and that there was long term damage.