Here's the Latest Hurdle

Hemophilia

Right after the New Year began you had developed a bit of a cough, so Mom decided to take you to see Dr. Tung. It turned out the cough was nothing to be concerned about, but she was worried about some bruises you had on your side and under your arm, so she reccomended that you get some blood tests done at the hospital. The initial tests from the hospital revealed an abnormal PTT . Dr. Tung then asked us to see a hematologist named Dr. Flug. Dr. Flug performed some more tests which confirmed that you had Hemophilia A and called to tell us that night, Tuesday, January 8.

Of course the news shocked your Mom & I, but we wanted to make sure that what the doctors were saying was right, so we both began researching, reading and talking to people to find out all we could. On Friday, January 11, we went to the Hemotology center at HUMC wehre Dr. Flug and Nurse Laura Goode informed us of the details of your condition. You have a severe case of Hemophilia A, meaning that compared with the greater populous, you have less than 1% of Factor VIII.

At this point your Mom & I were even more astonished, and probably in denial of the diagnosis to some degree. We went home and thought about what to do over the weekend. Monday was fine and then Tuesday your thumb got nicked while your nails were being cut and if we had any doubts up until this point they were soon replaced with a greater understanding of your condition. I rushed home from work and we both took you to HUMC to get you first factor treatment. It was a long evening and it took the staff 6 tries to finally establish an IV to treat you, but as soon as the factor was pushed into you system, the thumb stopped dripping.

Since then you have had one other treatment at HUMC on February 2 after you fell and bumped your head. On this occaision, we went directly to the ER at HUMC, but you were still stuck a total of four times before the IV was established. The good news was that you were so spent from crying that you slept though your CT scan (which is de rigor for head injuries in Hemophiliacs it seems). The CT scan came back OK and we were off.

Your Mom & I are so glad you have come into our lives, and like I said in the title of this post, this is just another hurdle we all have to cross. We sent a letter out to all of or friends and family describing your condition and the response we got was overwhelmingly positive. So be strong in knowing that you have many many people behind you, and as long as I am alive you will not have to face these troubles alone.