HemoWife — Allyx Formalejo

“Write about the first time you witnessed me with a bleed,” offered my husband Jared as we talked about my column over breakfast. Couples usually remember firsts. The first date. The first kiss. The first of anything special or unique to both of them, including the good and…

I’m 25 weeks pregnant. Now that I’ve passed the halfway point of my pregnancy, I’m full of thoughts about the future. What happens when I give birth? After I give birth? When it sinks in that we are parents? Based on my ultrasound scans, it looks like we will have…

My husband Jared mentioned in his latest column that he works at a local organization called the Hemophilia Association of the Philippines for Love and Service (HAPLOS). It is truly a pleasure to serve other people with hemophilia, along with their families and carers, through the organization’s efforts.

Today, I received a phone call from my dad. He wanted to talk to me about safekeeping some of his finances, as he had been planning to travel to our hometown to sort out some property-related matters. Since my mom passed away in June, he has been focused on getting…

Tomorrow is a long-awaited milestone in my pregnancy. I am scheduled to have an ultrasound, during which we will finally learn our child’s definite sex. My OB-GYN will also check for structural anomalies. I feel excited and nervous. All my husband and I want is a healthy child. But with…

I am a pregnant entrepreneur. Throw in a husband with hemophilia and epilepsy into the mix, and there you have it: the crazy life I’ve been living for the past five months. Let’s do away with the inspirational mumbo-jumbo that goes, “Everything will be OK, just have faith!” Instead, let’s…

I will not baby my husband. I will not carry all the weight on my shoulders just because he is “sick.” His disability does not mean that he is brittle. He has the capacity to grow, develop, and become more resilient over time. But that is something he won’t be able…

Let me tell you one of my secrets: I have anxiety. I don’t mean the kind of anxiety you’d feel if a package hadn’t arrived days past a delivery date. Or if you were lost in an unfamiliar place at night trying to find your way home. That kind of…

I’m looking at you, insurance companies and banks who won’t approve people who have a history of chronic illness or who were born with one — such as my husband, who has hemophilia. Of course, I am looking at this from a different perspective than the one businesses take. Then…

It’s almost 11 in the morning. My husband Jared and I are lined up at the mall-based satellite branch of our national health insurance system. By now, the mall has been open just less than an hour, but there must be a hundred or so people already, impatiently awaiting their…

Last week, just after our wedding, Jared got a shoulder bleed. Jared has severe hemophilia B, but he does not get bleeds often. When he does, it’s almost like a vacation from things, a sign that we need to take things more slowly. When the bleed clots,…

In a week’s time, I’ll be a 20-something married woman. I’ll be transitioning from my current “single” civil status to writing “married” on government forms. Just a few days ago, I had the sudden realization that I won’t be using my current name for much longer. Soon, I’ll be taking…