Hemophilia – Sports and Your Child
I have a 13 year old son with hemophilia and I am all the time asked by friends, doctors and nurses how we have managed living with hemophilia. More specifically, how is it that my son is so involved in sports and that he gets so few bleeds.
First off, my son has severe hemophilia, meaning that less than 1% of his blood clots. (Hemophilia is a genetic disorder where the blood does not clot properly. It ranges from mild, medium to severe.) When my son was diagnosed at four months of age with hemophilia, we were stunned. We had no history of the disorder and de facto had to educate ourselves on the topic and learn what dangers life would bring him. What we did settle early on, is that we would raise our son to be a person, not a victim. Hemophilia would not be used as an excuse not to partake in life.
Mountain Bike Kids Camp
The most “bleeds” occurred when our son was learning to walk (at nine months!). Lots of falls and lots of internal bleeding. Once he was garage on his feet, things got much better. We do infuse our son twice a week in order to preclude “bleeds”. At around the age of 3, he began riding a bike. By age four, he was rollerblading. At the age of six, he was skiing in the Rocky Mountains (with an infusion each morning before going out on the mountain). He played soccer from age five to ten and by fifth grade, he was on the school volleyball team and basketball team. Volleyball has come to be his passion and he participates in volleyball training camps every summer for two weeks.
Schwinn High Timber Boy’s Dual Suspension Mountain Bike (24-Inch Wheels) Review
Schwinn High Timber Boy’s Dual Suspension Mountain Bike (24-Inch Wheels) Feature
- 24-inch boy’s mountain bike with steel-mountain geometry frame
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Schwinn High Timber Boy’s Dual Suspension Mountain Bike (24-Inch Wheels) Overview
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Schwinn High Timber Boy’s Dual Suspension Mountain Bike (24-Inch Wheels) Specifications
Rugged and forgiving, the Schwinn High Timber boy’s 24-inch mountain bike is ideal for cruising tough trails or hopping neighborhood curbs. The High Timber features a steel-mountain geometry frame for easy controlled riding, along with an SR Suntour suspension fork that smoothes the path and increases control. The bike also shifts quickly through its 21 speeds thanks to the SRAM grip shifters and Shimano TX-31 rear derailleur. And riders will no doubt appreciate the quality padded saddle. Other features include alloy linear pull brakes, SR Suntour alloy cranks, and lightweight alloy rims.
About Schwinn
Founded in 1895, Schwinn is an American icon that’s long been synonymous with quality and innovation. The company has built some of the best-known and best-loved bikes of multiple generations, including the Aerocycle, Paramount, Phantom, Varsity, Sting-Ray, Krate, and Homegrown. Today, Schwinn continues to innovate with such releases as the redesigned Sting-Ray, Rocket mountain bikes, and Fastback road bikes. With a continued dedication to quality forever synonymous with the Schwinn name, America’s most famous bicycle brand looks forward to providing another century of innovation, freedom, and performance to people of all ages.
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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 31, 2011 00:38:06
So for those of you who live with hemophilia or have a house member with hemophilia, you must wonder how this child can be so active and yet get so few “bleeds” – especially person who is severe!
We attribute his good condition to his activities. Being physically active at a young age allowed him to form his balance and coordination. The stronger his muscles became, the fewer “bleeds” he got. Over the past five years, he may have gotten a handful “bleeds” due to sports related injuries. Most of the “bleeds” that he received in his life were due to incidents while recess, not from organized sports.
What sports have we done with our child?
* Swimming – We put a pool in our backyard when our son was two. This is the best performance with for a child with hemophilia as it is easy on the joints. I would say that this performance has been the most useful in his life. Swimming and playing in the water has increased his muscle force tremendously.
* Bike riding – At age three, he was an early adopter of the bike. Surprisingly, no crashes. And he all the time wore a helmet.
* Soccer – Recreational soccer was part of our summers for five years in a row, then he just lost interest.
* Downhill skiing – This would be the most controversial sport for a hemophiliac. I must point out that our son had an infusion each and every day that we were on the mountain and that he spent hours in lessons learning how to turn and ski properly. He has never had an injury from skiing as control has been drilled into his head from the very beginning. Do not send your son off skiing and hope for the best. Our success has been due to total house participating and being smart on the hill
* Fencing – He gave it a try when he was ten, but was not too fussed about it. (I think it was far more work than he understanding it would be).
* Tennis – He loves playing tennis with the family.
* Volleyball – He has had one finger bleed and one ankle bleed in the four years that he has been playing. This year will will be buying ankle braces as a prophylactic measure.
Being physically fit is very foremost for a hemophiliac. If your child is carrying extra weight, that puts more pressure on the joints which in turn can cause joint bleeds. In addition, being physically active develops coordination which diminishes the likelihood of slips and falls.
Please note that the above listed sports are not for everyone. I firmly believe though, that the swimming at an early age (and his prolonged swimming) was key to construction his muscles. The point I would like to make is that your child needs to be active and needs to have quarterly infusions.
Hemophilia – Sports and Your Child
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