Infusing Love: Too Many Transitions

I know this is what we raise our children for – for them to leave the nest and fly on their own — I just never knew it was going to be so hard when it actually happened. My son, Nick, who is almost 18, started a Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine of prophylaxis when he […]

Infusing Love: Let Them Hurt

  Let’s talk about losing a child. I know, not a feel-good topic, but one I’m living with right now. The reason I blog, the reason I know why I even know about my own bleeding disorder is because I had a son. I say “had” because he died on Jan. 1, 2021. His name […]

Infusing Love: Mental Health is More Than Just a Buzz Phrase

Happy 2021 everyone! With this New Year comes a lot of hope and promises. It was a long 2020 with many life changes and stresses. I am the mother of a 28-year-old son, Michael, with severe hemophilia B and inhibitors due to allergic reactions to all factor 9 products. I know that sounds very stressful […]

Infusing Love: El Deporte Para Su Salud

Como saben soy mama de un niño de 11 años con hemofilia. Cuando mi niño fué creciendo empezó a aumentar de peso y en ocasiones presentaba dolores en sus tobillos. Yo como mamá súper protectora, (sí lo acepto, tengo que trabajar conmigo misma para no transmitirle miedo a mi niño) no consideraba ningún deporte como […]

Infusing Love: From My Son’s Point of View

It’s been a year since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States. The ever-evolving coronavirus situation can be a bit intimidating. With social distancing and quarantine are becoming frequent vocabulary words in our everyday conversations. The whole thing can feel downright overwhelming. Answer me this question…when did feeling exhausted and overwhelmed […]

Infusing Love: Asomos de romance inesperados

Mi esposo y yo nunca pensamos que terminaríamos el uno con el otro como compañeros de vida. Teníamos en común que los dos estábamos haciendo segundos bachilleratos en música en el Conservatorio. Fue allí donde nos conocimos, pero en todo lo demás, parecíamos ser totales opuestos. A pesar de mi estatura sobre promedio, yo era […]

Infusing Love: Un año nuevo saludable

¡Hola, mis queridas madres y Feliz año nuevo para todas! ¿Has notado el cambio en las preferencias en alimentos en los últimos años? Hoy les hablaré de lo beneficioso que es comer saludable.  De porque tener hábitos alimentarios saludables nos alarga la vida para disfrutar a nuestras futuras generaciones. Nuestros hábitos alimentarios, en gran medida, […]

Infusing Love: A Pillar of Strength

The staff of Hemophilia Federation of America and Infusing Love: A Mom’s View bloggers extend condolences to Maryann on the death of her son, Max. There are times as a hemophilia mom that you feel as though you can handle anything, like you could take on the world and make it a better place. Then there […]

Infusing Love: Cirugía en Tiempos de Pandemia

¡Saludos nuevamente a todas las extraordinarias mamás de nuestra comunidad, un fuerte abrazo desde la distancia! Para los que no me conocen, tengo un niño de 11 años con hemofilia A, que se llama Iván Manuel. Hoy les escribo, pensando en los diferentes retos que esta pandemia nos ha traído a nuestras vidas. Desde los estudios […]

Infusing Love: ¿El Amor Da Empoderamiento?

Hola, mis amigas de Infusing Love Moms Blog. Soy Ana, madre de un hijo con hemofilia Tipo B, deficiencia de Factor IX moderado y vivo en El Paso, Texas. Hoy quiero platicar con ustedes de el amor, el agradecimientoy el perdón. El amor es, quizá, el sentimiento mas hermoso que el ser humano pueda experimentar. […]

Infusing Love: Boys to Men

  I have been “Infusing Love” into my son Marques for the past 18 years! I have not only been infusing him with factor, so his blood clotting levels are normal, but I have tried to infuse him with the education he needs to live a long life with hemophilia. I pray! As hemophilia moms, […]

Infusing Love: My Quarantine Teaching Experience

Remote learning causes concerns for students with disabilities. Because of COVID-19, I found myself using technology as I teach and learn. I used to take for granted toilet paper, paper towel, hand sanitizer, rubber/paper gloves, rubbing alcohol, bleach and masks because it was always there at my reach. Now I have found myself shopping for these things. […]

Infusing Love: The Other Side Effects

There are new bleeding disorder side effects cropping up all the time. By side effects, I mean the extraneous things we have to manage such as insurance, genotyping and product choice. In a time before all the advancements, a side effect was learning to be an IV nurse and find a vein on a toddler,  […]

Infusing Love: Living with a Bleeding Disorder in the Pandemic

Since March 2020 we have had to get used to a new reality where taking care of our kids’ already special health situation has turned even more complicated. How to handle frequent visits to the hospital if the hospital doesn’t seem like a safe place? Doing virtual schooling had to grow on us, but we […]

Infusing Love: All the Adult Things

My son, Michael, has severe hemophilia B. He is soon to be 28 years old. Wow! That time flew by! I remember the day we found out he had hemophilia. He was 11 days old. We were shocked, scared and ready to take on this challenge life had given us.  We educated ourselves and our […]

Infusing Love: We Are Strong!

Strong. Every January I reflect on the year to come. I chose a word based on something personal, either to myself or to our family. This year I chose the word: Strong. I chose that word specific to my goals for the year. I’ve been a consistent runner since 2015. In fact, I love it […]

Infusing Love: The Power of Symposium

  Attending HFA’s Symposium has always fascinated me. I have attended a few symposiums with my family: St. Louis, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and San Diego. During symposium, I networked with individuals who were in various fields: social workers, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and patients.  Days were filled with inspirational kickoff and educational breakout sessions. There […]

Infusing Love: How Do Moms “Do” a Virtual Symposium?

  We are now four or five months into this very bizarre time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. If you’re like me,  you’re not getting any more used to this “new normal” but rather more than ever, ready for it to be over. While we may be ready to get back to life the way it […]

Infusing Love: You Are Missed

You know what I miss? You. I miss you. I miss looking into your eyes, I miss tearing up when I try to explain my struggles and listen to yours. I miss smiling with you when I tell you about my adventures and you tell me yours. I’ve been a part of the bleeding disorder […]

Infusing Love: Pay It Forward

“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” — MLK Jr. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” — Mohammed Ali Volunteering is gift. It can be the best things you’ll do — both for your community and you. For me, there are mental health benefits in getting […]

Infusing Love: La casa y el salón llenos del virus

  Un plato lleno de virus y un poco de brillantina es todo lo que se necesité para explicar a mis niñas la importancia de lavarse las manos. Cuando mis hijas eran pequeñas enfatizaba fielmente en la importancia de lavarme las manos con agua y jabón. Teniendo en cuenta de que ellas tienen un trastorno […]

Infusing Love: The Overwhelmed Mom

When I received Hemophilia Federation of America’s Infusing Love: A Mom’s Blog schedule back in January for this year’s blogs, I thought, “Ok I have plenty of time to think and write the best blog yet for me.” Wrong… As the months went on, the craziness with my boys’ school and extracurricular activities and sports, […]

Infusing Love: Her Wild Man

Sometimes I feel that Maddox doesn’t even have hemophilia, because he’s such a wild man, and responds so well to his new medication. At first, we were so scared as a family to make the switch. Understanding that every family is different, we didn’t want to be swayed in the wrong direction. We have seen […]

Infusing Love: Tomando Responsabilidad

Tomar con responsabilidad una situación difícil no significa indiferencia. Yo también como muchas de ustedes, quiero vencer mis miedos, ser positiva, y hacer frente a las adversidades con la mejor actitud. Pienso que la manera de hacerlo es educándome. He asistido a algunos cursos, conferencias, y grupos de apoyo que han ayudado mucho en mi […]

Infusing Love: When The Time Comes

Our children face difficult things in their life on a daily basis. We teach them, we guide them and then pray it all works out. When they are little, we can control situations and speak for them when we believe we know our children better than anyone in the ER. We are the MOM! We […]

Infusing Love: Making Memories

  The Infusing Mom bloggers have a set schedule on when articles are due each week. As my date drew near, I believed I had my topic. I had been scrolling through my Facebook feed and noticing pictures of kids whose parents had captured the fun they had that day. My kids are older, and […]

Infusing Love: Prepared But Not Prepared

  As bleeding disorder parents, we are planners. We love to know what, how and when something is headed our way, and we will be prepared. We have been disaster relief preparing since day one. We have hospital/ER bags ready to go at a moment’s notice. Even during this age of smart phones, we have […]

Infusing Love: Sentirse Empoderado

Saludos a todas las madres que, como yo, tienen en su vida y en sus corazones una persona muy especial que llena sus días de felicidad. Les contaré un poquito sobre mi vida. Crecí en una familia donde la hemofilia estaba en nuestro diario vivir. Esto me hizo ver la condición como algo normal. Mi […]

Infusing Love: Transitioning from Teen to Adult

  I remember when Nick was much younger, we went to a meeting and one of the sessions was on transitioning from teen to adult. I remember thinking I didn’t need/want to go to that because we were nowhere near that time. I blinked and all of a sudden, we are at that time. And […]

Infusing Love: Back to Reality

There are times as a hemophilia parent where hemophilia is not at the forefront of your mind. Times where you can just live and enjoy every moment without worry. It’s almost as if hemophilia is a distant memory. You run on autopilot — not thinking, just doing.  \At these times hemophilia has absolutely no impact […]