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 […]

Infusing Love: Sharing Our Hemophilia

I will never compare my bleeding disorder to my son’s — I will however share it with him. It wasn’t until I had a pretty significant brain bleed that I even paid attention to the fact that I have a bleeding disorder, that wasn’t until I was in my fifties and my son was an […]

Infusing Love: Durante la Adversidad

Hola a todas las lindas mamas de este blog, mi nombre es Lupe Torres, vivo en la ciudad de Las Vegas, NV. Soy mamá de tres hermosos hijos. Tengo una hija de 23 años, un varón de 24 y mi más pequeño de 18 años. Mi hija Michelle de 23 años fue diagnosticada con VWD […]

Infusing Love: Camp Time

Even though I have never attended camp, and had no idea what it was all about, I did not want my son, my only child, to miss out on the experience. The first time Omar attended camp; he was just 7 years old. He looked so sad and didn’t want to stay, but we all […]

Infusing Love: Día de Acción de Gracias en mi Hogar

The English version of this Infusing Love: A Mom’s View blog can be found below.    En Puerto rico se celebra el Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) al igual que en los Estados Unidos continentales. La verdad es que todos los días festivos federales se celebran, pero éste lo hemos “criollizado” en gran medida. […]

Infusing Love: Seeing Life Differently

My son’s pediatric ophthalmologist tells a story about a little girl who was about 4 or 5 years old who came in for an eye appointment due to some concerns. It was determined the little girl had severe double vision. She was seeing double of almost every single object in her line of sight. The […]

Infusing Love: When Hemophilia Makes You Feel Different

My son, Jackson, is nearing his 12th birthday. For our family, hemophilia is genetic. so Jackson has been dealing with his diagnosis since birth. We’ve been very open about his bleeding disorder since he was little; sharing and educating our family, friends and teachers. We are fortunate in that he can feel a bleed before […]

Infusing Love: What a Decade it has Been

Wow, it’s the end of the year and the end of a decade! I am not leaving this decade the way I began. My decade began with a 7-year-old son with severe hemophilia A, who I wouldn’t allow to play recreational sports. I was pregnant with twins, one being a boy, unsure if I was […]

Infusing Love: Remembering the HIV Crisis

  Do you remember the first time you heard about HIV or AIDS? Now it’s common to hear of it and you probably know people that have HIV. It was the early ’80s when I first heard of HIV, there wasn’t even a name for it yet. I was sitting in my truck during a […]

Infusing Love: Unstoppable Resilience

My dad taught me how to box and dance salsa; with these two skills—salsa and boxing—I learned how to defend myself and to never give up. I learned to always take notes on movements and to dance my way to resilience. Have you ever had the biggest hiccup that you just couldn’t get rid of? […]

Infusing Love: A New Day Has Come

I never thought this day would come…. When Myles was first diagnosed with hemophilia A, I knew we had a long road ahead of us. Doctor appointments and worrying about safety both inside and outside of school, could always be scary. However, the scariest was the responsibility of making sure Myles always had the correct […]

Infusing Love: Stand Up to Bullying

  Bullying has no shame. It shows no prejudice. Bullying affects anyone of any size, age, and ethnicity.  It affects all of us. When I watch grown people intentionally hurt each other with words and actions, it always surprises me. One day I asked a young lady why she was making fun of her coworker. […]

Infusing Love: Keys to the Kingdom

Over the last several years, I have been focused on the idea of transition and independence as Thomas speeds through his adolescence. While he will always be my little boy, I simply have to face the facts that this six-foot, 16-year-old will be making decisions for himself and his healthcare in short order. There have […]

Infusing Love: Stand Up to Bullying

  October is National Bullying Prevention Month. For older moms, we think of bullying happening at school and after school in the neighborhood. But the unfortunate reality is that there is now the addition of bullying at home through social media and texts.  Historically, many have referred to bullying as a “childhood rite of passage.” […]

Infusing Love: Pride and Perseverance

  My mother was called a “bleeder” when I was growing up. I remember she almost died from a hemorrhage after surgery and her nose constantly needed to be packed at the emergency room due to nose bleeds. I never bled like her and never considered I might have something too. I went 36 years […]