Our 12th annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction on Sunday, April 24th, had no choice, but to be a great success. It was a beautiful 70 degree day, the fountain courtyard at the historical and picturesque Valentine Museum provided the perfect stage for friends, family and guests to hang out, sip wine, enjoy tasty food and hear the delightful sounds of the Church Hill Music Company. Meanwhile having fun bidding and outbidding each other for trips, excursions, restaurants and gifts in the silent auction, as well as taking a chance with the raffle. The whole atmosphere of the day was fun and energizing! I am happy to report that our own hard working Executive Director will be relaxing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I believe I did see Kelly's dad lingering by that silent auction item!

We added a little mystery this year with a wine pull. Folks bought a ticket not knowing what vintage they would go home with! The lucky winner of an $80.00 bottle was our advocacy champ Becky Bowers-Lanier - enjoy every sip Becky! The Valentine allowed guests to tour the museum and the Hemophilia Federation of America's (HFA) History Boards were displayed inside with Sonji Wilkes of HFA available to answer questions and share more about hemophilia's history. I'm embarrassed to admit I had not toured the exhibits in the Valentine before Sunday and now I am sure to return, it is a true Richmond treasure. 

This event did require quite a bit of time and planning, hundreds of emails, not to mention all that went into requesting and gathering all those wonderful auction items!  From the ordering of linens to the tasty take away boxes it was all done with so much care and love! I cannot say enough about the Wine Tasting committee (pictured in the photos above), the VHF staff and our corporate friends. Because of everyones hard work and generosity we brought in over $28,000 (almost $10,000 more than last year) and had almost 100 attendees - our best year yet! I would do it all over again with them....next year! AND I hope to see you there as well.

Update from the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Society of North America (THSNA) Summit in Chicago

 

Jan Kuhn, RN, MPH | Program Manager, Central Virginia Center for Coagulation Disorder, Virginia Bleeding Disorders Program

The generous support of VHF helped me attend the THSNA meeting in April and participate in many excellent presentations. Two of these may be of specific interest to VHF members: 1) an update on platelet disorders; and 2) promising new treatments for hemophilia.

 

The first presentation was part of the nursing preconference session and included clinical and laboratory evaluation of inherited platelet disorders. Unlike hemophilia, diagnosing inherited platelet disorders can be a complex process, including careful review of the patient and family's medical history, physical exam and laboratory testing. It is often frustrating for families as lab testing is very expensive and may require repeated lab draws, based on the results of previous tests. As medical science knowledge grows, the best strategies for diagnosing platelet disorders will likely change. Increasingly, we are understanding the platelet disorders are a very heterogeneous group, meaning that we are finding more and more types of platelet disorders. For example, platelet dense granuole deficiencies may be as common as von Willebrand Disease! We are also recognizing the need for newer tests that would automate and standardize testing for greater accessibility and reliability. For patients, the good news is that we are increasingly coming to understand the complexity of these "pesky platelets" with hope of better diagnosis and treatment.