A Note on Sickle Cell: A Portion of Humanity — A need to be treated with decency

We help again,

I have got a resounding response with my open letter about health and sickle cell and questions. I am thankful for the response to dose of optimism (If you haven’t read it already please do) its appreciated and I want to continue good word just helping people more informed.

With that, a response to the questions I got because people’s main response is ‘would never have guessed you have Sickle Cell.’

Life put a set of challenges in front of me us all. With me I had to grow and learn to solve those problems like an adult early on. I took time out to treat my body with a sense of dignity I’m not awarded in most places.

During my life I’ve had a really big problem with not being treated like a human when I have told people about my condition, doctors who are just in training getting along and had a 20 minute lecture on my condition that I’ve lived with for 20 years. I’ve had to become the master of my own body because if it’s left in someone else’s hands to take care of there’s a big chance it will be done without humanity.

Studies show that Sickle Cell patients get treated like drug addicts and are made to wait longer and have to go through more tests because the hospitals do not believe them

Studies from one hospital show , in a wait to get pain medication – Sickle Cell patients wait 60% longer than other patients who report suffering from less pain – 60%. Just in knowing the basics of the condition you will know that if I or somebody else attends the hospital due to a crisis, we have EXHAUSTED ALL RESOURCES at our disposal and the hospital is our last line of defence.

Some people just like me dress up to go to the hospital, not to keep warm to just look more presentable so that when a doctor or nurse will see us they don’t make a snap judgment past our condition.

Some women even believe that it’s their duty to even wear a full face of makeup to give that extra step of presentability.

It is know and a study on Junior doctors shared that they think Black People can handle pain more than any other race therefore we are put in a position to wait that little bit longer by people in the medical field especially black women

As Sickle Cell patients we are made to think steps ahead to ensure we are treated humanely in the stead of people that are supposed to treat us like humans no matter what.

I along with many other of my brothers and sisters despise not being treated like a human so we with will do whatever we’re told to not be put into the position of feeling less than that. We become our own doctors physicians and nutritionists to ensure we don’t have to make that dreaded hospital visit where we’re put in front of someone with only general knowledge in health and no specialised knowledge in haematology.

For all those that want to know where I got my information from here are some links that can help you in your own educational journey.

extra reading:‘Every time it’s a battle’: In excruciating pain, sickle cell patients are shunted aside

further reading: Sickle cell patients face a ‘fight for everything’ — even attention

Further Reading: Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites.

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