Benefits of Home Therapy

Less joint and muscle damage from having to wait to get factor concentrate

• Fewer infusions needed to stop a bleed.
• Less need for pain medicine.
• Less pain and crippling due to prolonged or partly treated bleeding.

Psychological and social benefits

• Feeling more independent.  This often happens when you take more responsibility for your own care.
• Increased confidence and feelings of self-worth.
• Fewer feelings of being helpless.
• A more “normal life”
• Not missing as much school or work.
• Day to day living is less interrupted by home therapy than by visits to a hospital or doctor’s office.
• Less time spent traveling to or waiting in medical buildings.  This leaves more time to spend in more fun ways.
• Being able to infuse your own factor makes traveling easier.

Lower medical costs

• Fewer stays in the hospital saves money.
• Treating early saves money since fewer doses of factor are needed.

Risks involved with home therapy

These are possible problems of home therapy:

• You may not seek medical help when needed.
• You may treat too often or not often enough.
• Family members can be hurt if they handle blood, needles, or syringes in an unsafe way.
• Storing factor incorrectly can make it not work as well.
• If you don’t follow all the steps, you can get a blood infection.
• You can have an allergic reaction and need a doctor’s care right away.  This risk may be higher for children with severe hemophilia B.  Doctors recommend that these children get their first 10 to 20 infusions of factor IX at the hospital.