Hey everyone!
For so long I wanted to tell my story with sickle cell disease. But my story is and never will be the same than another person and I want other sickle cell warriors to talk about their experiences, I wanted them to have a voice. So, I reached to some friends, acquaintances and even some complete strangers to ask them if they wanted to tell their own story. Luckily I found people that were on board to be interviewed by a total stranger, and tell their story. If I continue to find people I may do this every week (so come forward my precious), but for now this will be a monthly post.
For the VERY first “Sickle Cell Warrior of the Month”, I’ve had the pleasure to meet Dezii and this is her story.
- Jo = J
- Dezii = D
J : Welcome! Can you tell my lovely audience your name, age and where do you live.
D : Hey, my name is Dezii, I’m 26 years old and I live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
J : My first question is, have you always know you had sickle cell disease ?
D : Yes! My mother found out when I was about a month old, I was actually misdiagnosed when I was 2 weeks old, but they finally discovered what I had.
J : What type of sickle cell did they diagnose you with? SS; SC or AS ?
D : I am diagnosed with Sickle Cell SS
J : As this is a genetic disease, are you the only one in your family with Sickle Cell or do you have other family members with this disease?
D : I’m the only lucky one in my family to have it :S
J : Can relate. How does sickle ell disease affect your social life ? Do your friends and family understand it?
D : To be honest, when I was younger, my mom did everything she could for it not to affect my social life. So growing up I tried doing the same thing. But I’m grateful that my family and friends understand when I’m having a “bad day”.
J : If you do work, what kind of job do you do and has it always been what you wanted to be or did your disease put barriers on your dream job ?
D : I used to work, I was a server. That was definitely not my dream job, but the thought of going back to school stresses me out and gives me anxiety which often turns into a pain crises.
J : So when you did work, did you disclose that you were sick or did you try to hide it ?
D : No I never hid my illness when I worked, I feel like it’s a part of me, so why hide something I have to live with anyway.
J : Let’s talk about crises for a bit. What was the worst crisis you’ve ever experienced?
D : My worst crisis was when I was about 10 years old, I had pain all over my body and I immediately got admitted into the hospital for 2 weeks. I had to let the doctors and God do their magic at the time.
J : Talking about the hospital staff. What do you think about nurses and sometimes even doctors not knowing what sickle disease is? They learn about it very lightly in school except they do a specialization on blood diseases.
D : I think it’s CRAZY and definitely should be taught and learned. There’s so many of us that have SS or SC living it every single day, doctors and nurses not getting or understanding how to treat us is absurd!
J : So you obviously think there should be a change in how the medical staff takes care of us.
D : Absolutely!! More than 90% of the time we are looked at as drug addicts or drug seekers, that’s not fair.
J : What would you like people who don’t know what sickle cell disease know?
D : I would like people to know that this is real! This isn’t fake, we’re literally waking up everyday fighting with our own body, praying one of the theses days we will be pain free!
J : And lastly, what would you like to say to any person with person with sickle cell disease who may feel alone and discouraged?
D : To the person with sickle cell who may feel alone and discouraged hear me when I say, I get it and I understand. I would be lying if I said it gets better but it definitely gets easier!
I want to thank Dezii, for being my very first guest and also she didn’t mind that she was the very first person I interviewed! If you want to reach out to Dezii, you can contact her on Facebook at Dezrion Camille.
Next week we will be talking about the different types of Sickle Cell Disease! Stay safe everyone and see you next time!
Confessions of a Sickle Girl 
This is such a lovely post! I’ve heard about this disease before but haven’t really looked into it. I think this is a great way to spread awareness! Thanks for sharing.
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