Someone recently told me they thought they were experiencing arrival fallacy. I’d heard the term before. It describes the feeling of reaching a long-awaited goal, only to discover that it doesn’t bring the lasting happiness you imagined. After the excitement fades, life feels surprisingly ordinary again. Before long, a new…
HemoWife - a Column by Allyx Formalejo
I don’t usually ask myself whether I want something. I ask whether I can justify wanting it. Is it practical? Financially responsible? Useful enough? Meaningful enough? Will I regret spending the money? Could I explain the decision to someone else without sounding irresponsible? I suspect many care partners know this…
When I first started writing for Hemophilia News Today in 2018, I never imagined it would become part of my career. At the time, I was a young woman preparing for marriage and trying to make sense of life with hemophilia. I had stories to tell, lessons to…
I’ve noticed something strange over the years: Adults with hemophilia sometimes disappear from conversations that were built for them. I first noticed it in support groups. The louder caregivers became, the quieter some people with hemophilia seemed to get. Some stopped participating altogether. Others drifted toward spaces led by…
Every June, my social media feeds fill with rainbows. My LGBTQ+ friends celebrate Pride Month, while others share deeply personal stories about identity, belonging, and acceptance. Some are hopeful, some heartbreaking, and most carry a bit of both. Every year, I read those stories and find myself thinking about my…
If you’re raising a child with hemophilia, I understand the fear. It starts early — before sports, sleepovers, and field trips, and often before they’re old enough to understand their diagnosis. You learn about joint bleeds, head injuries, emergency room visits, and all the things that can go wrong.
I rarely participate in support groups on social media because some interactions leave me feeling more emotionally drained than supported. To be clear, there are genuinely kind and generous people in these communities. Many families have found lifesaving information, financial assistance, practical advice, and emotional solidarity through them. In…
Lately, I’ve been seeing a trend on social media where people ask artificial intelligence (AI) tools to write them a letter. Usually, the prompts are deeply personal. People ask for letters from their future selves, their inner child, or versions of themselves they feel disconnected from after grief, burnout, heartbreak,…
When people think about hemophilia, it’s likely they usually think about clotting factor, infusions, bleeds, emergency rooms, and hospital visits. And yes, those things matter — a lot. But after years of living alongside my husband’s severe hemophilia B, I’ve realized our real “hemophilia toolkit” extends far…
Lately, I’ve been noticing something about the way money affects my mental state. When our family budget starts running low, I feel it almost immediately. Not just as stress, but as a kind of heaviness that settles over everything. My motivation drops. I move slower. Sometimes, I even find…
