''Your body can't take that stress''

    As a child I never really understood why I was so restricted. I wanted to play with children of my age,run around and do all the fun things other children did but my mom never allowed it. She would always say 'You are not like other children' 'Your body can't take that stress'. She explained it to me so many times but I was just a kid and I couldn't quite understand so I concluded she was just being wicked (How childish of me *sigh*)
    As i grew older I began to complain of pains all over my body most especially at my joints. I still did not understand the cause but I remember I always had this pain whenever I tried to do something I wasn't supposed to..it was then I realized that my mom wasn't being wicked to me she was just trying to protect me from the excruciating pain I felt whenever I had a crisis.
     I eventually got used to the pain but what I still didn't know was why I had pains whenever I did what other children did and nothing happened to them. I didn't know why I fell sick so much, at least not until a neighbor called me a sickler following which I went home to my mom to ask if the reason for my pains and illness was because I was a 'sickler' and she couldn't say anything. She was so hurt...How was she supposed to tell me that she and my dad were to blame for all the pains I had to bear and all the medications I had to take for the rest of my life. Do NOT get me wrong I have never for once blamed my parents for being an HBSS patient. During their time as opposed to now, there wasn't much awareness on the marital implication of  genotype. Infact, the hospital where my dad also had a genotype test confirmed he was AA and he never doubted it until I was diagnosed as an HBSS patient.
Thank God we are in the 21st century where there is a lot of awareness about the sickle cell disease and countless opportunities for free genotype screening. To avoid explaining to your child why he/she cannot play around with her mates, why he/she has to use so many medications or why he/she has to visit the hospital regularly...Know your Genotype!!! #Breakthesicklecycle


Yours truly,
Bimpe Shenbo

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