Columns

I am passionate about raising sickle cell disease awareness. Increased awareness leads to a better understanding of the condition, which leads to more conversations about it. I believe that this will lead to conversations among people in positions of power, who can then take action to improve our lives.

One thing people always ask me is how I navigate dating as a sickle cell patient. Since we’ve now entered the month of love, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, what better time for me to write about dating while chronically ill? From the start, I am very open…

This week has been challenging for me. A brutal combination of cold weather and stress has left me facing back-to-back sickle cell crises, and there’s no telling when it might end. In the past, I had been known to be quite stubborn about going to the hospital…

In a previous column, I mentioned some of the good things that happened to me last year. This included a decrease in my iron levels and my subsequent switch from Desferal (deferoxamine mesylate) subcutaneous infusion pumps to Exjade (deferasirox) tablets. This was one of my greatest highlights of…

I’m writing this column during a sickle cell disease crisis. I have not had one this bad in a while, so I’ve been feeling pretty low. I recently explained to a friend that I hate feeling like I am helpless and wasting time whenever I have a crisis.

Just like that, 2020 is over. What a year! I do not think 2020 turned out as expected or planned for anybody at all. When the year started, I had really low expectations. I did not expect a pandemic, but I also did not start the year with a list…

Here’s a little fun fact about me: Christmas is my second favorite time of year after August, which I like because it’s one of the hottest months here in the U.K. It’s also my birthday month, and the month that Notting Hill Carnival is held. With this festive period…

I have been writing for Bionews, the publisher of Sickle Cell Disease News, for over a year now. This experience has been amazing, to say the least. When I was first contacted about becoming a columnist, I was skeptical. I questioned whether I would be good…

I hate when sickle cell disease gets in the way of life, although I feel its effects 24/7. There is no escaping the symptoms, such as fatigue and chronic pain, which are less intermittent than the pain crises. But most times I can live with it, I can…

Iron overload is a side effect that some sickle cell patients suffer from as a result of blood transfusion programs being used as long-term treatment plans. Back in September, I wrote about trying a new medication to address my iron overload problem. For the past two years,…