Her Sickled Journey

Up until recently I viewed sickle cell as a lonely condition, and to a certain extent it can be, but the reality is that that is not 100% the case. Fair enough, when it comes to maintaining your health and things like the pain, us sickle cell warriors are in the driving seat, but when I think about all the people in my life that sickle cell has affected one way or another, I realise that it is not a thing that I go through by myself. Yes, I’m affected the most but I cannot be ignorant of the fact that there is a knock on effect. I’ve noticed that in those around me, sickle cell has sometimes caused a strain…be it emotional/ physical/ financial (sometimes all three), and the majority of times I am not able to relieve the strain my condition has caused to those around me.  I try my best to put less pressure on those around me by looking after myself the best way I possibly can. However, sometimes my best is not good enough, and I have realised that I need to stop putting so ...

The love I have for travelling is like no other. Travelling is something that I am fortunate enough to do frequently and it brings me so much joy. I love immersing myself in different cultures and experiencing different ways of living. However as someone living with sickle cell, travelling can be a completely different experience, for me it’s definitely a more stressful one. I’m writing this on a plane, Nigeria bound to spend the Christmas holiday with my family, and while preparing for this trip I was reminded about the worst crisis that I’ve ever experienced in this my 21 years of living. This crisis was on a plane and I was extremely underprepared for it, so to prevent this unpreparedness for anyone else I’ve listed a few things below that, as an individual with sickle cell, have to be considered while travelling: beforehand, during and while you’re abroad. (btw I’ll talk about my worst crisis in another post). First Things First   Pack for Every Situation - Tito a...