The 71-year-old sickle cell warrior has never been transfused – plans to live 100 years or more AN INTERVIEW WITH SICKLE CELL WARRIOR EBUN OLUMIDE AKINNINBOSUN EKUNWE, MBBS, MD. MPH At 71, has never received blood transfusion Worst crisis happened when outside Nigeria Local foods such as garri (cassava) can help ease out SCD Feels…
QUESTION Each time I tell prospective suitors my genotype (SS), they flee. I have lost four serious ones I this way. I have decided henceforth to keep my genotype to myself and lie about it if the issue ever comes up. Am I wrong to adopt this strategy? I am 37 and desperate to be…
Lately, André Marcel Harris, 30 has been participating in Town Hall meetings for men folk with SCD. ‘It has been refreshing to note that people are genuinely interested in the unique challenges that impact men with SCD,’ comments Andre. André was found with sickle cell anaemia in utero, a diagnosis which prompted his parents to…
A gofundme appeal is ongoing for 22 year old undergraduate Adebimpe Shenbote to undergo a hip replacement surgery. Shenbote actively participated in the recent UK-based TunMicro Sickle Cell Foundation’s free genotype/SCD awareness event at Makoko, Lagos. Addressing a crowd of children and adults at Makoko, Shenbote told of her struggles with SCD, of undergoing eight…
By Ayoola Olajide, reporting from Accra, Ghana It may sound stigmatising, but direct experience with SCD validates the avoidance of ‘S’ in others! Patricia Odwui, 58, has a simple solution to the problem of reducing or wiping out a disease she lives with and dreads like hell. ‘Don’t marry S if you have S,’ she…
A Sickle Cell Patient, Miss Onyinye Ezemaduka, has died while being detained at a hospital in Southeast Nigeria for her inability to pay her medical bills. The sad incident occurred at St Charles Borromeo Hospital Onitsha, Enugu State, where Ezemaduka was prevented from going home unless she fully paid for debts incurred when she was…
The doctor has never heard of sickle cell anaemia …how did Greg survive this episode of sickle cell crises in a foreign land? Why his father once told him, ‘marry AA or not at all!’ ’Life at the Obafemi University, unconcerned lecturers , concerned friends. On hospital bed, not recognizing caregivers, not knowing whether it…