HemoWife - a Column by Allyx Formalejo

With Valentine’s Day over, it’s amazing to look back at the “Love Month” celebrations my husband, Jared, and I have had since we first started dating. In our six years together, we’ve had our share of Valentine’s Day celebrations. Some stood out more than others. One example is the time…

Memories flooded my mind as I was going about my usual work today. I suddenly thought about my life before I met my husband, Jared, before my pregnancy, and before our daughter, Cittie, was born. I thought about my depression. And then I thought about our future as…

Two members of our local hemophilia community passed away in recent weeks. My husband, Jared, knew one of them, who succumbed to an iliopsoas bleed. The other was an older member of the hemophilia organization my husband works with. He had a stroke that led to bleeding in…

The new year is a wonderful time. To many of us, it’s a symbol of fresh hope and new beginnings. I greeted January with many dreams and the hope that they may come true. After an eventful series of moments leading up to New Year’s Eve, my husband, Jared,…

I’d been sick with acute respiratory troubles for almost a week. Not a minute had gone by without a sniffle or a sneeze. My sinuses had been painful and horribly congested, my throat inflamed, and my stomach upset due to the collection of phlegm in my digestive tract. (Don’t get…

As early as September, colorful Christmas lights adorn all sorts of spaces in the Philippines. Families begin decorating their homes and stores start to roll out out holiday promotions: holiday-themed drinks, planners for collecting stickers — you name it. At the onset of such traditions, one can feel the so-called…

My 10-month-old baby, Cittie, is becoming a daddy’s girl. She looks for her daddy when she wants to play. She clings to him when she wants to be carried. She gets uneasy whenever he leaves the room. Jared, my husband, can’t even stand up to go to the bathroom, lest…

My husband, Jared, and I are at a point in our lives where our careers have taken on greater significance. It seems like just yesterday when we were college students eager to graduate and experience life, curious about the mysteries that the future might hold. We were figuring out our…

The importance of keeping a consistent schedule cannot be understated. A solid daily routine can help you save time, be more effective, and reach goals faster. As a new mom and wife to a person with hemophilia, scheduling does not come easily. Most of the time, my schedule is…

Many in my millennial generation dread adulting. The idea of surviving in the real world without the comfort of a family safety net is daunting. Young adults who are barely scraping by can feel alone and isolated. I was thrust into the world of adulting fairly early. In our mid-20s,…