Blog
June 28, 2012
HoG Teens Love Georgia Teen Institute
My experience at GTI has been an amazing experience and adventure. The extravagant activities that the GTI staff provided for me helped educate about becoming a better leader and taking the things they teach us and applying them to everyday life.
June 4, 2012
Using Reiki for Pain Relief and Stress Management
Reiki has proven to be a very effective pain and stress management tool for me over the past three years. The major incident that Reiki assisted me with was due to a car accident where I was rear-ended at a stop-sign, the other car was travelling at about 30 mph and rammed my vehicle into the car in front (also stationary). Fortunately, there were no broken bones, only soft tissue damage. However, due to having von Willebrand Disease, I (like many of you) couldn't take the anti-inflammatory medications to help with recovery and due to my own sensitivity to pain medication, was relying on Tylenol versus stronger analgesics.
April 24, 2012
My Personal Experience with Beating Hepatitis C
The HTCs and HoG are staffed with excellent doctors and support personnel and I thank all of them for their dedicated work helping people like me. I met Cathy Dowis for the first time during an annual visit to the Emory HTC where the usual blood work and questions took place, all in all a routine visit. A few weeks later I received a devastating call from Cathy. She told me that my blood work showed elevated liver enzymes indicating Hepatitis C. My first response was "What? Hepa...Hep" I could barely get the words out.
March 30, 2012
Camp Wannaklot and the Trot to Clot Walk And Run — A Winning Combination!
Being a spouse of someone with hemophilia has introduced me to a community filled with amazing people. As I learn about their stories and how HoG has enriched all our lives, I am humbled and more determined to be a part of something so special and important. My first major volunteer job was as a counselor at Camp Wannaklot and 2012 will be my fourth year in this role.
March 15, 2012
Tobacco—I’m Not Buying It Video Contest for Students
What would you buy with an extra $1000? That’s the grand prize in the Tobacco—I’m Not Buying It video contest introduced March 8 by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health.
March 12, 2012
Dying with Dignity: Not the Easiest Dinner Conversation (But It Is Getting Easier)
I have learned that it takes practice to talk about dying with dignity, particularly when you have five minutes during one of Hemophilia of Georgia’s statewide family dinners. I mean, seriously. I’m supposed to talk about death and dying issues right after our clients and their families have enjoyed a nice buffet? For a fleeting moment that is what went through my mind when it was decided that family dinners are as a good a time as any to talk “advanced directives.” These directives tell your family and doctors how you want to be treated when you can’t speak for yourself.
February 22, 2012
The Hemophilia Handbook: From Three-Ring Binder to Internet Resource
I inherited The Hemophilia Handbook. When I began working with Hemophilia of Georgia (HoG) in 1990, The Handbook was two years old and already very successful.
January 23, 2012
Order Summary Forms
I am being challenged to go paperless; to scan documents, lose the paper calendar, makes notes on an iPad. Unfortunately, Hemophilia of Georgia is not there yet! We’re working on it but have a long way to go. When it comes to “forms” we have plenty of them.
December 16, 2011
The Challenges of Living Far From a Hemophilia Treatment Center
Living far away from a Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) presents many problems. Among these is distance to travel. This can result in more than one day lost from school or work and extra expenses for gas and hotel . We won’t even mention having to drive in Atlanta when you come from a town where "rush hour" lasts 10 minutes!
November 28, 2011
Open Enrollment Choices
From September to December I get a lot of calls about insurance open enrollment, which is the time you can make changes to the insurance you choose from the plans offered by your employer. For most people this is a mundane yearly task that they have to go through. For people with a chronic condition it is a critical task that takes a lot of preparation and detective work.