Hemophilia Sucks!

For those of you who don't know, I have a type of Hemophilia called Von Willebrand's Disease. Basically I am low on certain factors in my blood that help it to clot properly. This typically does not affect me on a day to day basis but every once in awhile it kicks me in the butt. Today was one of those days.

Yesterday while walking down the stairs I took a clumsy fall. I knew it must have looked bad when my Mom, who is one of those Mom's who says 'if they are hurt they will come to me', jumped up and ran over to make sure I was OK. I knew right away that I hurt my toe and my wrist had a nice scratch on it. To be honest, at the time I was more concerned about picking up the children't Tylenol chewables that spilled out of the bottle everywhere. As the evening went on my wrist bothered me more and more. Last night was awful. Everytime I rolled over or bumped my wrist I awoke in pain. BLAR! I was booked in for annual Hemophilia testing today so I figured I would have the Doctor look at my wrist while I was there. Upon seeing my wrist and my toes the Doctor was concerned. My wrist, hand and fingers especially looked bad. My fingers were not unlike sausages. So they sent me for my annual blood work and then once I returned the Doctor looked more closely at my wrist and toes. The toes are broken and the wrist has some soft tissue damage, possibly more. They decided to treat me for an internal bleed with DDAVP. DDAVP is basically a fake clotting agent. I have had DDAVP many times in the past without issue. Today however did not go so well. I was given it to quickly which caused my blood pressure to drop quite low. On top of that one of the side effects of DDAVP is slowed kidney function which is always something to watch for. Basically because my wrist looked so bad and because I had a bad reaction to the DDAVP I have to go back to hospital tomorrow and maybe Thursday. BLAR #2. BLAR #3...the room I was put in was the room Mike's Dad spent a significant period of time in while he was passing away from cancer. Of course the nurses didn't know this. They were trying to be accommodating for space and comfort since I had brought Evelyn with me.

The nurses and doctors were all fabulous. I had brought Evelyn with me thinking it would be a routine in and out thing. 5 hours later I was on my way home. Far from routine. The room I was set up in had a large bed and a couch. The room had a TV with a VCR which they setup a movie for Evelyn on. They also brought Evelyn healthy snacks and some juice.

Our day was long and emotional but adventurous. I feel lucky to be part of such an amazing clinic and have such wonderful doctors and nurses who are invested in our family and my health. They have referred Evelyn to the Children's hospital for Hemophilia testing later this year. I can only hope that her nurses and doctors will be as amazing as mine.