By Joe Markowitz
Let’s start with the growing old part. I was born in 1950, and some of my first memories of doctors were from being treated in emergency rooms. However, my first memory of a meaningful conversation with a doctor was when I was visiting a hematologist in Yonkers, New York, with my parents. He told me about a hemophilia patient who died from licking an envelope. I have not licked one in about 60 years. The other bit of news he shared was that I’d probably die in my 20s.
So, doctor, I guess you were wrong. I’m still here at 71.
There are two aspects of growing old with hemophilia that I feel are worth discussing. Hemophiliacs of my generation generally have arthritis and experience pain and mobility issues. However, with the highly effective products now available, the stress caused by hemophilia is no longer related to bleeding. The stress is from the decades-long degeneration of joints that bled back 50 years ago, mostly before college.
Surgery, unimaginable several decades ago, is now fairly routine as long as the expertise of your hemophilia treatment center is behind you. I’ve been lucky enough to have bilateral knee and one hip replaced, so I am no longer experiencing joint pain. The surgeries were accomplished with no bleeding, but lots of factor, including during the post-surgery physical therapy period.
Then there’s the second aspect of growing old, the aspect unaffected by hemophilia. As we age, our bodies seem to find new ways to torment us. As a kid, I thought having hemophilia meant I wouldn’t have any other bad medical things happen to me. What I didn’t understand is that at about the same time you get on Medicare, your body wants to take advantage of the great insurance and dumps new ailments on you.
Look around at men in their 70s, and you can be sure each one has at least one of these conditions: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, enlarged prostate, vision and hearing problems, arthritis or diabetes. These conditions are not unique to hemophiliacs but the result of living a long life.
Having hemophilia, with or without a co-morbidity, complicates the medical intervention for some of these conditions. For instance, if a person with hemophilia has AFib, aspirin and blood thinners are not the go-to treatment. Many arthritis medications have caused stomach bleeds that can be made more complicated with a bleeding disorder.
So maybe growing old with hemophilia requires more caution and planning than most people need. But we ARE growing older and leading full and happy lives. And that is certainly a great, previously unexpected outcome!
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