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Kim Philo

I am a very rare FEMALE with Hemophilia (2% Factor VIII). I want to show people, with PROPER training AND the help of your physician and other professionals: TAKING CARE OF YOUR BODY, WILL HELP IT TAKE CARE OF YOU! Maintaining an appropriate body weight, having good muscle strength, and stability plays a huge role in the amount of bleeding episodes! 

I was diagnosed at age 11. At that time, before my diagnosis, I was very active and participated in contact sports, such as volleyball. When I hit my knee on the playground at school, a ripple effect happened that changed my life. My knee swelled up to it’s maximum capacity and was extremely painful! I lived in small town Iowa, and the doctors were not sure what was happening to me. The first thing they tried was aspirating my knee (inserting a needle into the knee joint and extracting fluid). This did not help. They took X-rays, which showed nothing. Next step was to do arthroscopic, exploratory surgery (to take a closer look at the inside of my knee and hopefully find out what was happening). The day before surgery, during the pre-op blood work, they found a hiccup in my bleeding times. Surgery was cancelled and more blood tests were ordered. At this point they knew I had a bleeding disorder, I was given Fresh Frozen Plasma to stop the bleeding into my knee. I was then sent to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for more blood tests. It was there, I was diagnosed with Moderate Hemophilia A. At that time, I had 4% FVIII in my blood. I was switched to Cryoprecipitate for bleeds, until recombinant products came out. Because my knee joint was delayed in getting the appropriate treatment for such a long time, I now have damaged cartilage. My doctors told me, it was not healthy for me to participate in the sports that I loved. It was suggested to me to try something less stressful, like golf. I have been playing ever since and loving every minute of golf.