Moving for a job isn’t as frightening as it used to be

I’m a pastor in the United Methodist Church, where the one constant we share is change. In our denomination, pastors serve on an itinerant system, which means that the cabinet (the bishop plus the district superintendents) chooses which pastors will serve in different locations. As a result, I’ll move from Belen, New Mexico, to Las Cruces, farther south in the state, at the end of June. My new church will be St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

When the cabinet asked us to move in the past, our first concern was the new congregation’s proximity to a hemophilia treatment center (HTC). Because Caeleb, my youngest son, had already experienced complications of hemophilia, we needed to be close to the University of New Mexico Hospital in downtown Albuquerque. We depended on our experienced medical team when making decisions regarding my son’s healthcare.

No other medical facility in the state has a treatment center focused solely on meeting the needs of those living with bleeding disorders. Hemophilia A — the condition that both of my sons live with — is rare, affecting approximately 1 in 5,000 live male births. As a result, many medical professionals know little, if anything, about treatment.

This lack of knowledge outside of HTCs is why, when asked to move to a new church before, I couldn’t take some assignments. The risk of complications for both Caeleb and his older brother, Julian, proved too great to accept a change.

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Years ago, when preparing for my ordination service, Caeleb started having a bleed in his right ankle. We were in a small, rural city and knew he needed to see a doctor. My wife, Cazandra, took Caeleb to a nearby emergency room (ER), where she told the attending medical team precisely what she’d seen and suggested that our son needed a factor VIII infusion.

Luckily, my fast-thinking wife called the HTC in Albuquerque and asked if someone could speak to the doctor on call regarding my son’s condition. The ER physician agreed to talk to our hematologist, and together, they stopped the internal bleeding in my boy’s right ankle. We breathed a sigh of relief as Caeleb’s pain decreased significantly. I arrived in time to see my boy preparing for discharge from the small hospital.

Cazandra and I discussed the situation in the car and agreed that the visit reminded us of the importance of access to our HTC in Albuquerque. We thanked God that the ER doctor didn’t mind receiving instructions from our hematologist. But we also knew we couldn’t be sure that all doctors would follow the same protocol. The ER physician could’ve refused to talk with our medical team and instead administered treatment that might’ve proven detrimental to our son’s psychosocial development.

We’ve come a long way

Now, our situation is different. In the fall, Caeleb will move into a dormitory at the University of New Mexico, right across the street from the hospital. We don’t need to worry about his care. He will soon be 19 years old, and our new location — about 200 miles south of where we live now — will allow him to take charge of his medical needs. We can offer him support from a distance.

Cazandra and I are excited about our next chapter. While we prepare for our move, we feel confident that Caeleb has the tools he needs to handle his bleeding disorder. He has the doctor’s and pharmacist’s telephone numbers on his cellphone. I smile and say, “Thank you, dear God.” We feel all will be well, but we can return to Albuquerque in less than three and a half hours if something goes awry.

When Cazandra and I initially talked about the move to Las Cruces, it felt like something was missing. We met with key leaders at the new church and set a moving date, but something still didn’t feel right. Finally, we realized that, in all our planning, we hadn’t considered a bleeding disorder. We looked at each other, smiled, and I told her in my best Elvis impersonation, “We’ve come a long way, baby. Thank you. Thank you very much.”

Note: Hemophilia News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Hemophilia News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to hemophilia.