The story of Bridget
My name is Bridget, I’m 24 years old, and I have a rare bleeding disorder called Afibrinogenemia. This is a type of bleeding disorder in which my body does not produce fibrinogen, a crucial blood clotting factor. Without fibrinogen, my blood does not clot very well if at all. This is a lifelong disorder with no cure, fortunately there is a intravenous medication that I receive that helps me clot.
For the past 24 years I had only received this medication on demand through the veins in my arms or hands anytime I had gotten hurt. Sometimes I’d be able to go a year without a treatment, but other times I’d need a treatment at least 15 times a year. After several internal muscle bleeds, sprained fingers, cantaloupe size bruises, and what we thought was a possible brain bleed scare, I decided that it was time to start a prophylactic treatment for my bleeding disorder in which I would receive my intravenous medicine once a week for the rest of my life, to prevent these bleeds from happening, most importantly preventing a brain bleed from happening. Unfortunately, the veins in my hands and arms would not be able to support the once a week treatments, as the treatment itself is a rather thick liquid and takes upwards of 2 hours to administer, so I decided that getting a port placed in my chest would be the best thing to do. This way, the treatment could be administered easier, without worrying about it taking 22 sticks to find a vein somewhere on me (sadly, that’s happened before).
This past September, I went ahead and got surgery for a port, however this port was a living nightmare and gave me excruciating pain for two and a half months, until it was finally decided that it needed to be removed all together or have a new one placed. After the pain I was going through I was quite hesitant to get another surgery for a new port, as this one hadn’t done what it was suppose to do. After much consideration, I decided to go ahead and get that port removed and another one placed. Fast forward two months later, and here I am today, with a port that works, getting my prophylactic treatment once a week, and I’ve even learned how to self infuse myself, so I am able to do my own treatments in the comfort of my own home now. I wouldn’t say that life has been easy with a bleeding disorder, but it has certainly been eventful and has challenged me in more ways than one to be the best person I can be.