2009

The New Year is fast approaching. Do you and your family make new years resolutions? Maybe this would be a good time to commit to making life with a bleeding disorder a bit easier.

Perhaps 2009 will be the year your child or you learn home/self infusion. Maybe you have a older child that is about to venture out on his/her own. This would be a good time to start or continue teaching and guiding them about their insurance, making appointments, calling to request a factor order, the list is long! If you are a newly diagnosed person/family this may be a year of understanding and knowing that it is ok to add to your family!

I encourage you to take a few moments to reflect on the year coming to a close. I know for me having 3 sons with severe hemophilia we had our share of bumps! Some felt like mountains while we were going over them! We became stronger and closer. For the most part 2008 was a successful year! My sons all learned a litte bit more about themselves and their hemophilia as did my husband and I. We all rallied together when a severe bleed seamed more than we could take. As my eldest lay in a hospital bed post hip surgery in horrible pain I struggled to find possitive thoughts and feelings. It is easy to get caught up in how bad a situation is and have your thoughts be negative. I have found looking for the possitive makes a situation a bit more managable. Yes each of my boys spent time in the hospital this year.....some more than others....sometimes more than one in the hospital at a time. I made sure I reminded myself we are lucking to have a great medical facility to care for our boys and factor to help control bleeding. There are many in the world that do not have this luxury.

As 2008 nears an end and 2009 begins, sit down as a family and reflect on what you have learned what you have accomplished. Make a list of what you would like to do to make life with hemophilia just a bit easier in 2009. We can not always control a situation but we can always control how we handle it! So take a deep breath......you as parents are doing a great job! Be proud of yourselves!

May 2009 bring you much peace, happiness, and good health!
Cheers!
Lori

Ice and the Winter

Hello to you all. I hope you're all ready for the holidays. This is really a busy time for us all. I just thought I would share alittle story. If your son is anything like my 6 year old, he wants to play out in the snow. We had an ice storm last week and he thought it was cool to slide down the drive way to his bus. He made it all the way down without falling. Later that night we went to get into the car and he thought he would try it again. This time he fell and hit his face. Yes he had a knot and a cut on his forehead and check. He's ok now, but I believe he learned the hard way that ice is dangerous. His sister thought she could play on it because she doesn't have hemophilia, but we explained it's dangerous for anyone. I hope to hear from someone out there. Stay safe and Merry Christmas to all. Enjoy every day.
DeAnn