When I was diagnosed with hemophilia B and von Willebrand disease in the 1970s, I was just 10 years old. Back then, most people didn’t believe girls could have hemophilia. I was told that my “deep blood” didn’t clot properly and sent on my way. Bleeding…

Successful immune tolerance induction (ITI) — a type of treatment that aims to re-educate the immune system to prevent the formation of inhibitors, or neutralizing antibodies targeting clotting factors — was associated with lower treatment costs in hemophilia A patients with inhibitors, a study in Brazil reported. Conversely, treatment…

Note: This story was updated June 11, 2025, to correct the number of weeks the woman in the case study was pregnant to 36. A woman carrying a hemophilia B genetic mutation received regular factor IX (FIX) replacement therapy during pregnancy and successfully delivered her baby with no severe…

Laughable. That’s how Heidi Bentz and Lucrecia E. Choto, two women who struggled for years to receive a proper diagnosis of von Willebrand disease (VWD), described the results of a 2004 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 75 women who…

Many of my recent columns have focused on my youngest son, Caeleb, and his transition into adulthood. I’ve shared how we’ve empowered him to live his best life, including lessons on taking responsibility for himself as he navigates the world. He must take the baton that we’ve handed him. We…

When my husband, Jared, was growing up, people in his community didn’t always speak kindly about mobility aids. Crutches, wheelchairs, and canes were often seen as signs of helplessness, things you turned to only when you’d run out of options. That perception stayed with him well into adulthood. He did…

A therapy designed to promote the growth of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) in the body prevented inhibitor development in a mouse model of hemophilia A that was treated with factor replacement therapy, a study showed. Inhibitors, a type of neutralizing antibody some patients develop that can make replacement therapies…

Last week I traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to spend a few days with my wife, Cazandra. She works as a hospice chaplain there and usually travels back to Belen, our current home, on weekends. We’ll end this busy commute schedule next month, when we both move full…

My household is navigating a season of major change. As the family of a frequently relocating pastor, we’ve honed our adaptability, mastering the rhythm of moving with grace and resilience. This summer we’ll exhibit that adaptability again as my husband moves to a new appointment in Las Cruces, New…

Plan D. That’s what I’m working on now. Last week, I learned that a factor VIII (FVIII) product I’m taking for my hemophilia has had some disappointing results. I can’t say I’m surprised about that, as I had a negative reaction to the medication, including feeling lightheaded and…