One of the commonalities of sickle cell warriors is that fact that after a zillion hospital admissions and ER visits, eventually, our veins go into hiding from all the trauma. The medications that help us also help to scare the beejesus out of our veins as well as all those
Tag "Coping Strategies"
For some reason, the medical profession, especially in the US has a limited view of sickle cell. First of all, they think that people with the trait can’t have pain—THAT IS A MYTH! Just because they don’t have the full out disease, doesn’t mean that pain doesn’t exist in the
I just got my replacement bottle of Arginine in the mail today. I ran out before the replacements came and although I didn’t fall sick (which I was worried might happen), I did spend the last week being really tired and exhausted. Normally I wake up at noon, chill for
Today I was asked a question by a friend, “Which do you like better, hot or cold?” My answer was a vehement HOT! Not just because it’s so miserable being cold but mainly because when I’m cold for a period of time (like more than 20 minutes), I put myself
When I was a freshman in college, I worked part time at the Social Sciences building for this teacher, grading reports and filing her paperwork. It was my first semester, and although I had alot of friends and acquaintances, I was still operating under my former credo (Tell No one).
Okay, I’m not here just to whine and complain. So in the spirit of giving thanks, I’m listing the top 10 reasons I can think of why it’s great to be a sickle cell warrior. You get a free “get out of work” pass from school, work or home whenever
I’ve spent the last couple of days with Norion in the car driving from San Francisco to Portland, OR. He very wisely decided to break the trip in 2 segments, allowing it only to be about 4 hours for me in the car. I was really worried about travelling such
For weeks now I’ve had a weird sleeping pattern. Generally I work late evenings from 3pm to midnight, and this is actually my dream schedule….don’t have to wake up early in the morning or fight traffic getting to work. I peak in the evenings, after 7pm or so is when
My newest fetish is hitting the gym. I love going to the gym. My doc says it’s okay as long as I hydrate and don’t overdo anything. There is something about pushing my body to it’s limit that makes me feel absolutely invigorated. As the blood pumps through when I’m
Okay everyone, as you can see I’m back, alive and well. I survived both flights with only L3s on the first one (which I quickly handled with a double dose of Vicodin/Benadryl) and L2s on the return trip. I did remember to walk every hour up and down the aisle
As you know one of the precursors of an exacerbation is flying at high altitudes. Although a pressurized cabin is highly recommended—even this manages to trigger a sickle cell crises. Usually I’ve been fine flying with only minor L2s if anything but usually I didn’t live in California and have
I’m a very sexual person, so this has been one of the harder things to deal with about sickle cell. It sucks that when you are in the throes of a passionate encounter, you have a greater chance of getting and L2 or higher or even get thrown into a
Yesterday I worked with a nursing agency. I got floated to the unit where I was sick in December! It was weirdly uncomfortable as you can imagine. The first nurse I ran into said, “Your face is so familiar,” and as soon as I said my name she exclaimed, “Yeah,
Living with sickle cell means living with chronic and acute pain. I have pain every single day of my life…sometimes it’s worse than others, and sometimes it’s just minor twinges that I can will away. I actually have a very high pain thresh-hold, I go for as long as possible
One of the perks I guess of having sickle cell is that it keeps me in my ideal weight zone. My BMI never goes above 20, mainly because when I do start gaining weight…one crises has the power of taking off 10 pounds in a week. Right now I’m a