"Live Fast, Die Young?"
We’re getting to
the end of a biology lesson and in an attempt to excite the class for the next
lesson my teacher puts up a slide saying “Why people with sickle cell die
young”.
When the lesson finally came I could tell that my teacher significantly watered down the facts. With every symptom of SCA listed he added a disclaimer, he changed his stance from sickle cell patients dying young to “with today’s modern medicine sickle cell patients can live a typical long lifestyle”…which is true to a degree but that’s not the case a lot of the time.
When I was younger (10/11 years old) and still learning about my condition I spent quite a bit of time researching the symptoms of sickle cell and what this diagnosis meant for me. I saw many sites which said that people with sickle cell often tend to have a shorter life expectancy than the average person, but at such a young age it didn't mean anything to me, I only focused on the symptoms I experienced at that current moment of time e.g. my episodes of pain, jaundice and feelings of fatigue. I knew pretty much all the facts but it never actually hit me until that biology lesson.
After the lessons I did more research and learned that the average life expectancy for someone with sickle cell is around 40-60 years old. When I saw this number initially my heart dropped. All the plans I had in my head about what I wanted to do with my life suddenly came into question, all I could think was "will I have enough time?"
Although there are individuals living well over the average, with the oldest person currently living with sickle cell, Asiata Onikoyi-Laguda, is 90 years old, I understand that this is rare. But I know to get to that point I must always maintain good health. Through drinking water, eating correctly and taking my medication. I am personally praying like Asiata to significantly beat the odds. But knowing the facts has encouraged me to live life more purposefully. I have set so many goals that I attend on accomplishing and I don't plan on allowing sickle cell to limit my potential. My outlook on life has become more focused and I know that with the right level of consistency and endurance that only the sky is the limit for me.
Stay Healthy
Tito
I froze. I knew
this lesson was coming eventually but I didn’t expect him to take that
approach. I know my teacher meant no harm, I mean what were the chances that
the only black girl in the sixth form had sickle cell? My teacher must have
seen the blank expression on my face and he did some digging to find out if I
had sickle cell or not. Once he confirmed his suspicions he called me to the
side one day to ask me how I was, how I think he should approach the lesson and
if I mind letting my classmates know. I told him that he should just continue
the way he initially planned and that I didn’t want to tell my class mates.
When the lesson finally came I could tell that my teacher significantly watered down the facts. With every symptom of SCA listed he added a disclaimer, he changed his stance from sickle cell patients dying young to “with today’s modern medicine sickle cell patients can live a typical long lifestyle”…which is true to a degree but that’s not the case a lot of the time.
When I was younger (10/11 years old) and still learning about my condition I spent quite a bit of time researching the symptoms of sickle cell and what this diagnosis meant for me. I saw many sites which said that people with sickle cell often tend to have a shorter life expectancy than the average person, but at such a young age it didn't mean anything to me, I only focused on the symptoms I experienced at that current moment of time e.g. my episodes of pain, jaundice and feelings of fatigue. I knew pretty much all the facts but it never actually hit me until that biology lesson.
After the lessons I did more research and learned that the average life expectancy for someone with sickle cell is around 40-60 years old. When I saw this number initially my heart dropped. All the plans I had in my head about what I wanted to do with my life suddenly came into question, all I could think was "will I have enough time?"
Although there are individuals living well over the average, with the oldest person currently living with sickle cell, Asiata Onikoyi-Laguda, is 90 years old, I understand that this is rare. But I know to get to that point I must always maintain good health. Through drinking water, eating correctly and taking my medication. I am personally praying like Asiata to significantly beat the odds. But knowing the facts has encouraged me to live life more purposefully. I have set so many goals that I attend on accomplishing and I don't plan on allowing sickle cell to limit my potential. My outlook on life has become more focused and I know that with the right level of consistency and endurance that only the sky is the limit for me.
Stay Healthy
Tito
Comments
However, daily reading the Holy Bible, and listening to words of God is really helping me fight this fear. I cannot die that young. I must finish the goals God have sent me to do through Christ who strengthens me.
In addition, I am more strong now. I live each day as it comes. I’m also living my dream without letting fear to be an obstacle. It doesn’t matter what we or any scientist thinks. Life belongs to God to give and take whether as a sickle cell warrior or as an individual with AA.
I refused to be limited because I am a sickler!