Karla is Retired

A note from Karla:

Dear friends and family,
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives for the past 35 years. It has been so rewarding. My journey however began 40 years ago, in 1985, when I was a young nurse caring for children with bleeding disorders on the inpatient unit, 3JCW, a school-age/adolescent unit. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I began to dedicate my nursing career caring for those in the bleeding disorder community.
The patients I remember most from my early years, on the inpatient unit, are those who required hospitalization frequently and were very ill. The very first one I took care of was a pre-teen who had something called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and pneumocystis carinni pneumonia. At the time, everyone was very nervous and really didn’t know anything about this new disease, or if it was contagious. I remember telling him, I am not going to take care of you any differently than I would anyone else, and I didn’t.
Another boy was in the same situation, however just starting school. His community was outraged and refusing to let him go to school, despite the education the hemophilia staff later provided. The family dealt with many difficult situations in their community. Due to this, most families, even those not infected, were keeping their bleeding disorder a secret and instructed their child and families members not to talk about it to avoid being ostracized. A few others I remember was a boy with hemophilia who had a ruptured appendix and very ill; another was a dare devil and decided to jump off the roof of his garage; needless to say, he was hurt badly and in the hospital for quite some time.
I interviewed for the hemophilia/bleeding disorder coordinator and was pleasantly surprised when I got the job! Oh my, did I have a lot to learn from our team in a short time; 6 weeks later I was on my own at summer camp. Thankfully, our doctor and director, was there with me telling me to watch the kids guard their joints, limp, but always continuing to participate because they didn’t want to stop having fun and some of them were avoiding being treated. Treatment products at the time were plasma-derived, were a large volume to infuse, and time consuming. It was not uncommon for me to see knees that looked like the picture below during the early years. Thankfully, as I am sure you’ll see in pictures about camp, that is not what we see today!

Over the years with you, we have shared difficult times, tears, and anger about what you and others have lived through. So many lost their lives. However, there has also been joy, such as getting to know each of you, your families and being there for you during the good and difficult times. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this community. Every one of you holds a special place in my heart and I will remember you always. Thank you so much.
Love,
Karla