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…
HemoWife - a Column by Allyx Formalejo
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…
My husband, Jared, first set foot in a gym just months into our relationship. It wasn’t some grand fitness decision — just curiosity. What would it feel like to work out? That question led us to a small, hole-in-the-wall bakal gym near his university — a Filipino term…
Before I ever met my husband, Jared, he had learned to adapt well to having severe hemophilia B and seizures. But one moment from his childhood still finds its way back to him. On the first day of fifth grade, his teacher told the class there would be a…
Sleep has always been a troublesome subject for me. Even as a child, it felt optional — something I could push aside in favor of thoughts, ideas, or whatever held my attention in the moment. In high school, that tendency only intensified. Sleep became negotiable, almost expendable, as if I…
The pool was loud in the way summer pools usually are — whistles, splashes, kids calling out to each other, coaches raising their voices above the noise, parents chatting on the sidelines. Our 7-year-old daughter stood at the edge, waiting for her instructor to guide her into the Olympic-sized pool.
A recent study found that people with hemophilia who report better mental health may be more likely to adhere to their prophylactic treatment. It’s a compelling idea — that mental well-being can influence how consistently someone follows a care plan. But as I read through it, I couldn’t…
One of the stranger skills I’ve developed in my marriage to someone with hemophilia isn’t medical — it’s domestic. It’s the art of removing blood stains. To be fair, I already had some experience dealing with blood simply by being a female person who menstruates. But when you’re married…
