Alexander Joseph Bruno
Hi, I'm Alexander! I was born at Lawrence General Hospital on April 5th 2012 at 9:59pm. I weighed 8 lbs 5 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches tall. The day after I was born, I got a shot in my heel and it did not want to stop bleeding. The doctors eventually came to the conclusion that my ankle braclet was on too tight and it made the blood keep flowing. So I bled through a few bandaids and then the bleeding stopped. The next day I got circumcised. I was all ready to go with my parents to see my new home, but unfortunately the bleeding from my circumcision did not want to stop either. So the doctors took me to run some tests and in the mean time the they put in some stitches. The bleeding did slow down but the doctors thought it would be best if I waited one more night so they could keep an eye on me. The next morning the test results came back and they were abnormal. The doctors now recommended that I go see a Specialist in Boston. They checked me out again and the bleeding had finally stopped. I was good to go. So I got to go home on Easter Sunday and spend the rest of the day with my family.
The next day I drove to Boston with my parents to Tufts Floating Hospital. We were going to see the Hematologist to find out what was going on with me. The Nurses and Doctors here were very nice to me, but they did have to do some blood work. After about an hour long wait (where my parents were going nuts not knowing what was wrong) they came back with the diagnosis. I have Severe Hemophilia A. We were all freaked out! Me and my Dad had never even heard of Hemophilia. Mom had heard of it before but didn't know much about it. The nurse was very helpful. She sat with us and explained what Hemophilia is. She also gave us a book all about Hemophilia.
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Me and my rubber duck collection.
When we got home my Dad started reading this book. We learned everything we could about Hemophilia. We learned what it was, the different types, the different levels, how to treat it, and that with treatment I can still live a normal life. We also learned about the New England Hemophilia Association (NEHA). When we got in contact with NEHA they were great! They got us in contact with other families who have little boys just like me with Hemophilia.This was good because now we had other people we could talk to that knew what we were going through. So getting back to me! I got to meet the nice people at Tufts a few more times over the next few weeks. They wanted me to keep coming back so they could check me out, and help my parents learn more. I was nervous about getting my Hepatitis B shot because it is a deep muscle shot. The Tufts staff knew just what to do though. They called my Pediatrician and told them all about me and what to do when they gave me my shot. They put ice and compression on my leg as soon as they gave me the shot and had my parents hold it there for 10 minutes. When they came back to check it out, it was all set and I got through it with no problems. So as of now I have not needed to take my medicine yet! We have had some people come to visit at our house to talk to my parents about Hemophilia, but so far I am doing great!
On my 2 week birthday, I went with my family to Fenway Park for their 100th year Anniversary and free open house. It was awesome! I got to touch the green monster! We walked around the warning track and had a great time. I had fun and am glad I got to enjoy my first day at the Park with such a big group of my family. We went with 12 people. I guess I must be used to traveling in a pack now because my family is HUGE!!!
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At 9 weeks I went to my first wedding. It was my cousin Kendra's wedding. I slept through the whole thing. Then we had to leave so I could go to my second wedding. This one was for my cousin Jenn. I was awake for this one and had alot of fun talking to everyone! When we got home my parents were tired from both weddings in one day, but I had a surprise for them.... I was wide awake! I kept my Mom up all night. I tried to keep Dad up too but he kept falling a sleep.
(For updates since June10th 2012 please check out my blog!)
(For updates since June10th 2012 please check out my blog!)