Tennis star Serena Williams cannot wait to get back on the court after emergency surgery for a blood clot that she said Wednesday was the "scariest moment" of her life.
The former world No. 1 was recovering from surgery, undergone the day after attending post-Oscars parties in Hollywood, to remove a blood clot from her lung.
"I could not breathe. I remember thinking, 'I'm walking, but I cannot breathe.' That forced me to the emergency room," Williams told NBC's "Today" show.
Williams said the clot "went from my leg to my lung. It traveled fast. I still have several clots in my lung, and they are still there. They have to eventually dissolve. I'm on blood thinner injections, so I inject myself twice a day. My lungs are fairly healthy, and I'm just on the road to recovery."
"Luckily enough, I was able to catch it soon enough that my career won't be affected," Williams said. "I love tennis, and now more than anything, I have so much to look forward to, just playing. I really just want to come back and do well."
As a result of being on the medication, she also developed a large hematoma on her stomach.
"I developed what started as a golf ball, ended up being a grapefruit on my stomach. I had to get it drained. When I got there, they said, 'We can't drain it — we have to surgically remove it,'" she said.
Williams has not played competitive tennis since winning last year's Wimbledon championship after she cut her right foot on glass at a restaurant in Munich.
But the 13-time Grand Slam champion said that she hopes to return to tennis this summer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
