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We celebrated World Blood Donor Day on June 14. It reminded me that blood donors are a heavily relied upon and greatly anonymous source of support all over the world. If blood donations did not exist, medicine as we know it would be so different; the whole system would…

Whenever I meet new people and tell them I have sickle cell disease (and explain what it is), they often ask how they can help. June 19 is World Sickle Cell Awareness Day, so I thought it appropriate to discuss ways that you can help the sickle cell community,…

June 19 is World Sickle Cell Day, and I have been reflecting a lot on my life with sickle cell. From a young age, I was always encouraged to keep my diagnosis hush-hush. People would only know I had sickle cell if they needed to know.

I recently was admitted to the hospital during a sickle cell crisis and because of suspected COVID-19. My experience was harrowing. I have experienced many things as a sickle cell disease patient. I have had pneumonia more frequently than I can remember, suffered collapsed lungs, had deep vein…

Small veins and sickle cell are never a good mix. As luck would have it, I have both! From an early age, I associated my health with injections. I would beg not to be taken to the hospital to treat a crisis, as I knew I would be treated…

Dealing with sickle cell disease is a constant battle. In every moment, I either am fighting my way out of a painful crisis or fighting to stay out of a crisis. There is no rest. I can’t take my foot off the gas. I can’t decide one…

Living with sickle cell disease, I rely on several medications and treatments for various situations. In general, I take medications for my own well-being, as research shows that sickle cell patients who struggle to comply with medication regimens tend to experience a lower quality of life. Ergo, to have…

My parents knew they were carriers of the sickle cell trait before I was born, so they made an effort to find out if I had the disease during the prenatal stages of my mother’s pregnancy. Once they found out I had it, plans and preparations were made to…

One of the most widely discussed symptoms of sickle cell anemia is a sickle cell crisis. This is an episode of pain caused when sickle-shaped red blood cells block the body’s blood vessels and prevent oxygen from flowing. One can read the biological explanations of such a crisis, but…

My activity levels have steeply dipped because I’ve been restricted to my house. I’m unable to go on my normal walks or to the gym, and many friends are in a similar position thanks to the pandemic. To combat inactivity, my friend proposed an exercise challenge: “The 1,000 Reps Challenge.”…