I'm asking for your help

She'll love me saying that, especially in print.

But, that first sentence is probably the last part of this column she'll like reading. I've been wanting to write this column for about a year now, but have been hesitant because the possibility of it embarrassing her.

But, I decided to go ahead with it because this forum — thanks to all of the wonderful people who pick it up — allows me to raise awareness for her.

Stormy Lee has Factor V deficiency.

Factor V deficiency is a mild form of hemophilia. It means when she sustains a cut or wound her blood clots at a much slower pace — about three times slower — than you or me. It's inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion, and it's estimated one in a million have her specific deficiency.

I learned about this deficiency firsthand about two years ago when she fell and sustained a cut near her right eyebrow. The small cut bled for more than 60 minutes as we sat together on the ledge of our bathtub pressurizing the cut with a whole box of gauze pads.

This is something Stormy Lee has dealt with her whole life. She's comfortable with it, sometimes too comfortable for my liking, and Stormy and her doctors know how to treat Factor V deficiency.

The treatment for Factor V deficiency is fresh frozen plasma. It's readily available at most hospitals and helps control her bleeding.

So, what am I hoping to gain from writing this column?

I know this is a long shot — but we live in a small enough town that many of you know Stormy. It's my hope that in writing this column, you now know her condition and if, Heaven forbid, something bad happens to her on the roadway or elsewhere in public you will remember this column and communicate her deficiency — Factor V deficiency — to law enforcement and medical professionals at that time to give her the best, most-efficient care.

I'd also like to recommend donating blood and plasma whenever that is possible in the local area.