Laurie Kelley

How to Donate Factor

Laurie Kelley December 14, 2025

I get asked this a lot: How best can I donate factor to you?

I’ve been donating factor to developing countries since 1996, so I have a pretty good idea of the best ways to do this, from a charity point of view. Each year I ship out millions of IUS of factor, donated to us from patients, hospitals, specialty pharmacies and occasionally some hemophilia nonprofits. It comes in many ways: as vials in bubble wrap; as vials wrapped in newsprint; in coolers; with ice packs; in envelopes, boxes and occasionally bags—when someone actually braves our long driveway and brings it to my doorstep.

I appreciate every single vial and each IU. We save lives together. But…

There is a good way to donate, meaning efficient. It would help my efforts if everyone could help out and ship it in an efficient way. One, to better the environment, and two, to expedite my efforts to inventory and then ship out the factor to those in need.

So here are some tips!

Contact me in advance in case you have any questions about your shipment.
Do not send anything prior to 2020.
Do not send us factor that is in-date and intended for you or your child to use. You must have a valid reason (switched product, failure of product to work…) to send in-date. And in-date goes to Save One Life, not to me.
Do not use coolers or ice packs. This adds to expense, bulk, leads to wet boxes, and is very bad for the environment. I try to recycle and give away the coolers and ice packs, but it takes up a lot of time and is not always successful.
Remove the vial of factor from its box. I only need the vial of factor. (Why? Because most people in developing countries can easily obtain sterile, medical grade water from a local pharmacy. They also can get all the ancillaries they need. These are cheap overseas. I don’t ship them because they are bulky and super-expense to ship relative to their worth.)
Repeat: I only need the vial of factor.
No sterile water, no needles, no filter devices, no gauze, no alcohol swabs. What to do with them? I know you also want to repurpose good items, so please donate them to a local animal shelter or veterinarian’s office.
Package it carefully. Big vials, like those for Recombinate, von Vendi, Alphanate, and Humate-P can shatter. Use bubblewrap, paper towels or even packaging paper. (I recycle everything!)
Advate cannot be removed from the plastic tube. You can send as is.
Do not remove the sticky labels from the Advate tube! I need those for the vials of factor (I do remove them from the tube).
Place the vials of factor in a protected cardboard box or padded envelope. Ship to me at 21 Sawmill Way, Georgetown MA 01833.
Regular mail via the USPS is fine. I am all about saving money so no need to ship FedEx if you don’t want to. We do ship FedEx to other countries.
Please do not request a signature! I live in a very secure place, and the mail carriers and FedEx people know us well. It’s safe!

That’s it! Watch this video for a quickie demo, and read the lovely thank you we received today from a young man in the Philippines…

“I cannot thank you enough for all the help. I have been sleepless for two weeks now enduring the pain. My mom and I pray for God’s help and guidance to let me through this toughest challenge of my life now. I am starting to give up, and here you are. Thank you and to the donors of this heaven’s gift. I cannot express how much this means to me.”

Thank you to all our compassionate donors! Happy holidays!

Get Ready for Flu Season

Laurie Kelley November 29, 2025

Having any chronic disorder means taking extra special care of your overall health. As we approach flu season, it’s good to revisit why it’s a good idea to get vaccines. I never had a flu vaccine until about ten years ago. Previously, a person who is in the business of vaccines asked if I had received my flu vaccine. I said no, never, and didn’t need it. Already had the flu and it wasn’t that bad. He replied, “You probably did not have the flu. then” I thought he was just trying to boost his business but guess what? When I legit caught the flu, and was in bed five straight days and couldn’t move, I thought about vaccines. Avoid the high fever, raging thirst, splitting headache, constant joint pain and nausea? I’ll take the shot.

I had Covid too, not too bad, even after having the vaccine. It made me realize that nothing is foolproof but precautions are a good idea.

Recently we had a new baby in the family. The young parents are requesting that we all wash our hands any time we want to pick the baby up. And wear masks if we’ve been traveling. I thought that was a bit overdoing it, but rethinking it, and reading the words of the esteemed Dr. Fauci, I realize that any precautions we can take these days against viruses is good. The hemophilia community knows this after enduring the horror of the 1990s, when HIV was rampant in the blood supply. In Fauci’s own words:

“Chickenpox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don’t think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you’re older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don’t just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it’s been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.

“Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed-out they’re going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you’re going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don’t just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it’s been around for years, and been studied medically for years.

“HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.

“Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be cataloged, much less understood.
So far the symptoms may include:

Fever
Fatigue
Coughing
Pneumonia
Chills/Trembling
Acute respiratory distress
Lung damage (potentially permanent)
Loss of taste (a neurological symptom)
Sore throat
Headaches
Difficulty breathing
Mental confusion
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomiting
Loss of appetite
Swollen eyes
Blood clots
Seizures
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Rash
COVID toes (weird, right?)

“People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again. A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill.
Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.

“This disease has not been around for years. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally ‘do not know’ what we do not know.

“What we DO know [is we] are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and [we] recommend baseline precautions such as:

Frequent hand-washing
Physical distancing
Reduced social/public contact or interaction
Mask wearing
Covering your cough or sneeze
Avoiding touching your face
Sanitizing frequently touched surfaces

“The more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren’t immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.”

I already got my flu and shingles vaccine this fall; did you?

’Tis the Season!

Laurie Kelley November 16, 2025

Does your child get excited during the holidays? Have spring fever or cabin fever? Can’t wait for summer vacation, turkey or Santa?

Seasons have an effect on people, whether chemical, biological, or psychological. Your child may experience seasonal bleeding patterns: bleeding happens at certain times of the day, week, month, or year. You may find that your child bleeds more often in the spring and summer, when the days are longer and he is more active.

Or your child may have seasonal bleeding around holidays. The bustle of welcoming relatives, eating sugar-rich foods, and receiving gifts can all create excitement, and this may mean more activity and increased bleeds. Accidents happen, and no one is to blame. What’s most important is treating promptly, so you can get back to the holiday fun!

Thanksgiving and the December holidays are approaching. Be sure to have extra factor doses on hand, HTC numbers ready just in case, and watch for any sign of a bleed or breakthrough bleed, Staying proactive can keep the family active!

Stormy Weather Ahead

Laurie Kelley November 2, 2025

In September I visited the Arctic, a rare opportunity to see the top of the world—a hostile yet remarkably and singularly beautiful environment. On board our ship were many scientists, some of whom were conducting research into pollution of the ice. Form their presentations, I learned a tremendous amount about how the planet is warming, and the impact of global warming on glaciers. Glaciers are melting. This is indisputable.

And with these changes at 90° North, the entire planet is affected in various ways. One way is the variability and instability of the weather. You may have noticed. More frequent droughts in some regions, more monsoons, earthquakes and hurricanes in others. And the intensity of these storms is increasing.

Last year at this time, Valencia, Spain was terrorized by a horrific flood, comparable to the effects of a tsunami. Hundreds died. We in the United States were reeling from Hurricane Milton, one of the deadliest storms to hit Florida on record. There were also floods in Nepal and the Sudan, and a hurricane in Mexico and again, Florida.

And just last week, Hurricane Melissa pummeled Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, deemed the worst hurricane it has ever experienced. I have many friends in Jamaica who are part of the bleeding disorder. I sometimes send factor to them, and have visited twice over the years, to help resurrect the patient group and to assess needs.

One thing the global bleeding disorder community is not good at is disaster relief. When Nepal experienced a devastating earthquake in 2016, I was the first on the scene—six months after the earthquake. It’s shocking that we cannot do better, when so many patients live in disaster-prone regions, and live in poverty.

We in the US have it better but we still have a long way to go before we can respond well to disasters affecting US bleeding disorder patients. So this leaves it up to each of us to be prepared for disasters. What should you do now to prepare?

Know the geography and weather patterns where you live. California has many geographical faults that cause earthquakes; wildfires are particularly bad. The Midwest states of Texas, Nebraska and Kansas are dubbed “tornado alley” for their frequent and sometimes devastating tornadoes. The northeast has “nor-easters” every ten years or so. And Florida is hit with hurricanes that often originate off the coast or in the Caribbean Sea. Here in the east, September and October are hurricane season moths. Normally we are lashed with the tail end of a Caribbean-originated hurricane. Pay attention to weather forecasts daily.
Ensure you have factor and ancillaries on hand at all times. When storms hit, you often are not able to travel, and face power outages. Your factor supplier may not be able to bring you factor, and you may not be able to contact them. Keep at least 10 doses in your fridge at all times, and plenty of ancillaries.
Keep candles and flashlights ready, with fresh batteries. Keep your cell phone charged, and have a power bank charged and ready if your phone runs low on power.
Know your local emergency numbers, in case you need to be evacuated due to your medical condition. Panicked callers have overwhelmed 911 services, so you may not be able to always reach help when you need it.

We still have one month left of hurricane season, which could yield up to 19 named storms and five major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and atmospheric administration. That’s above the annual average of 14 named storms, partly as a result of higher ocean temperatures and lower trade winds. Disaster preparation efforts have been affected by staffing cuts and the current administration’s vow to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management agency. The agency has lost at least 25% of its full time staff. Without federal funds, many states may not be able to assist people affected by disasters.

As soon as you know that you are in “weather season,” and then hear that a storm is developing, be prepared for a worst-case scenario. Keep updated with popular apps like RadarOmega and FEMA App. Ask your local bleeding disorder organization what they suggest for being prepared and for help during a natural disaster. Suggest that there is a presentation on it by a local expert for yoru next annual meeting.

Visit this National Bleeding Disorders Foundation’s page to learn of resources available. Read MASAC’s Document $227 policy on having a home factor supply to prepare for emergencies, And also visit the Hemophilia Alliance’s Disaster Relief Fund page to learn how this group assists people affected by disaster. Read a great article here on CNN of what to have in an emergency.

Weather is predicted to become more unstable and intense in the coming years as the glaciers melt. Now is the time to educate yourself and prepare.

Blood and the Most Odious Demon

Laurie Kelley October 19, 2025

Blood is the giver of life… and legends. It’s prominent in fairy tales, detective stories, myths, medicine and our business of hemophilia. It’s a favorite for dressing up costumes at Halloween time, like now. Blood holds such a fascination by us humans, so it’s natural that there are misconceptions. I’m currently rereading the classic Dracula and was amused to read how Dr. Van Helsing, a professor from the Netherlands and expert on the nosferatu, wants to help young lady Lucy, a victim of Dracula’s nightly blood draining, by giving her a transfusion of blood. “Is it you or me?” he asks Dr. John Steward, about which one of them should roll up their sleeve to donate; Steward who replies, “I am younger and stronger, Professor. It must be me.” Steward offers his blood based on the concept of vitalism, that blood contains the traits of the being in which it flowed—a concept that was unchallenged for fifteen hundred years. Later in the book, Van Helsing says to Lucy’s fiancé Arthur, “John was to give his blood, as he is the more young and strong than me…. But now you are here, you are more good than us, old or young, who toil much in the world of thought. Our nerves are not so calm and our blood so bright than yours!”

So Arthur becomes the better blood donor because he is calm and not scholarly! Of course, this is nonsense, but author Bram Stoker fell for the widespread belief in vitalism when he wrote his book in 1897. Dracula isn’t so picky; he pretty much would drink anyone’s blood.

Douglas Starr tells us in his landmark book Blood that the Egyptians saw blood as the carrier of the vital human spirit, and would bathe in it to restore themselves. Roman gladiators were said to have drunk the blood of their opponents to ingest their strength. “Our own culture attaches great value to blood, with the blood of Christ as among the holiest sacraments, blood libel as the most insidious slander, the blood-drinking vampire as the most odious demon.”

And blood becomes a problem when someone has hemophilia or von Willebrand Disease. A microscopic protein is either missing or malfunctioning. In the 1970s and 1980s, doctors would replace the missing protein with products made from human blood. But widespread contamination with HIV led to the nation’s blood supply being destroyed. While scientists eventually produced recombinant blood-clotting products in 1992, the damage was done. An estimate 10,000 with hemophilia would die—50% of the US hemophilia community.

Rather than secure eternal spiritual life by consuming wine that has been transformed into Christ’s blood during Christian Mass, Dracula drinks human blood to extend his physical life through the centuries. We now use ultra-safe, genetically-engineered blood-clotting products to clot blood that does not clot on its own, to extend our physical life… and enjoy Halloween, vampires and all!