New Semester 01/27/2010
New Semester! New Semester in school and I feel like a new man! Classes are going well so far; unlike last semester, when I had that horrible nose bleed in class. My Hemophilia has actually been treating me pretty good. I have had hardly any bleeds which I am very happy for. I have been doing prophylactic treatment every other day which is not too bad if it keeps me from having bleeds. Every so often I get “Superman” urges that I can do anything and I will not get hurt, but then I think about it again and I try to stay away from that kind of thinking. Going back to the school topic, I have had many questions asked of me about this topic. One of the recent ones is “Jaycee, I am currently enrolled at California State University studying business law. I have come to school many times on crutches and everyone is asking what I keep doing to myself and I just make up stories. What is your experience about telling your class mates you have Hemophilia?” My answer to this question is use your own judgment. In elementary school and middle school my mom told the teachers I had Hemophilia, but also told them that it was my decision to tell my classmates. I only told my best friends and I done the same in junior high. I was a little bit more open about talking about my Hemophilia when someone asked questions and I even made up reasons why my arm was wrapped up or I came to school using crutches. When I was in high school I was really open about letting people know I had Hemophilia and I even taught 2 classes every year on hemophilia. I even did an Infusion in front of the class. My 11th and 12th grade year in high school I went to a Career Center where I obtained my Phlebotomy License and I was totally open about letting people know. I felt it was a time for people to learn what others might go through in life. There were people who wanted to know more about it and totally accepted me, people who did not want to hang out with me because they thought I would bleed everywhere, and there were even the people who wanted to pick on me and beat me up because they thought it would be cool to watch me bruise. Well, I got through high school without dying so I decided to continue on to college. The only person that knew I had Hemophilia the first semester of college was the nurse. After the first semester I began to feel more comfortable with myself and the whole college experience so I teamed up with the social work student council at one of their fund raisers and set up an informational table to spread awareness about Hemophilia. However, I am still selective on who I tell personally about my Hemophilia at my college because college is a whole different environment. At Rio Grande there is a big variety of people and you have no idea about what is running through someone’s head. It is not that I am embarrassed about telling people I have Hemophilia, frankly it is no one’s business and I just have the right to tell who I want when I want and how I want. So decision is up to you! Remember a lot of people have heard of Hemophilia but they may not know the true facts. For example one of my friends thought if I got a paper cut I would gush out blood like a fire hydrant. If you decide to talk about it let people know the facts. Let them know that you can’t catch Hemophilia. That may sound funny but some people think they can “catch” Hemophilia. Some common questions that I have been asked about hemophilia are; can I catch it, what happens when you get hurt, will you bleed to death? I get tired when I get asked the same question over and over and over but the best way to responded is patiently giving simple answers. People may simply be trying to grasp the new concepts you have told them because they only knew the wrong information. The response you get when you tell people will vary. People will either try to help you, avoid you, try to hurt you or keep the same friendship. What ever your decision is whether you tell people or not you might want to keep these things in mind. Good Luck! CommentsMike Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:54:57 Jaycee, Leave a Reply | 
Hey I am Jaycee MCCain. I am 21 years old. I have severe Hemophilia A.
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