Following a mysterious bone pains at age 8, I found out I had sickle cell anaemia,
It wasn’t easy to mange it then.
To start with,
Sickle cell is a blood disorder that is hereditary n starts from when one is born,
So what happened? Why did mine wait till I was 8 before it started?
Funny enough, my mum said I was never sick as a baby n the only problem I had was measles,
I grew curious n asked my doctor,
After a number of ‘no idea’ replies he came up with an hypoyhesis where he claimed that my healthy look n lack of crisis or sickle cell symptoms till age 8 was as a result of extensive breast feeding.
Still don’t know if his hypothesis is wrong or right.
Life as a warrior wasn’t easy but what helped me was the refusal to accept self pity in my life,
Crazy enough, I happen to belong to a class of people who are intelligent,
After coming first in exams, I kept telling myself on n on that I was better than those with normal RBCs
I believed it too n that worked for me!
I had a dream n I wanted to accomplish it irrespective of my health difference n the set backs I suffered as a sickler
I refused to receive pitied love, in fact I got disgusted when people became nicer to me just cos they found out I have sickle cell anaemia.
I refused to compromise, I dreamed like every normal person.
How did I do it all??
1. I just believed in myself
2. I took care of my health, you know, eat at the right time, avoided stuff that contained iron, avoided extremely bitter things, made sure the weather was conducive for me, drank lots of water n took fruits.
3. I never depended on the drugs
4. I set goals for myself
5. I discovered who I am n who I wanted to be
6. I gave no room to self pity or pity from others
7. I saw sickle cell anaemia as a challenge not a disease
8. I never allowed myself to get intimidated by those with normal RBCs
9. I just kept FIGHTING n NEVER GAVE UP.
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Tell you what, I don’t take folic acid everyday, I don’t take any drugs at all currently but my lifestyle has kept me away from hospital for 1year n 8months now,
If I can do it….you can do better cos we all are warriors.
To those who have loved ones who are warriors, keep encouraging,
Its not easy but its POSSIBLE!
(Punch)
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