Yesterday at 12noon, mum went out and left me all my myself and I cried my eyes sore till I developed an headache. Mum had to go to the market to shop for items to prepare lunch for Emeka, Nonso and Ujunwa my beloved siblings who had gone to school as early as 7:00 amidst sleepy eye.
I had bothered everyone with my cries of ‘mummy my leg, my back dey pain me. ‘Nonso, please press my hand; Ujunwa, won’t you pray to God for me? Ask him what I did wrong; tell him to forgive me, I will never do it again’.
This is how it has always been since I turned six. I realized that I would go to school two days out of five and that most times, I’ll happily walk with Emeka, Nonso and Ujunwa to school happily as their big sister holding their hands while we looked forward to a good day. Like a withering flower I would see myself being rushed to the school bay and frantic calls made to my mummy who would in less than no time be in school to take me back to the private hospital close to my house where I would be hospitalized for days and my class mates would come see me.
I was a known face at the hospital; I had a card at the General hospital for when my condition becomes critical; I had a card at the Federal Medical Center where mummy and I would always go for awareness sessions. Mummy knows almost every drug and pharmaceutical company there is; a section of our house was turned into a mini pharmacy where every pain relief drug could be found. If Mummy were to be learned, she would be a Professor of Medicine; that was the experiences my being sick on and off gifted mummy with.
Mummy had been unable to leave my bedside all morning but she has to fix a meal for me so I could eat and take my mid day drugs. She’s been gone for just fifteen minutes and I had cried the roof down and had the whole neighborhood running into our house to know what is wrong. This is how I always cry and wail at the top of my voice; I hate that I make mummy and my siblings lose nights of sleep; mummy has not opened her shop for three days in a row now because this pain has refused to let me be.
Fast forward to eight years later, I’m in my final year at the University, I’m supposed to be writing my final examination in two days time, Mummy had to rushed down to school having been informed of how much pains I’m in coupled with the fact that my exams is in two days. Mummy ensures I get the best medications, eat well and rest well; she literally did the whole chores including feeding and bathing me; A FOUR HUNDRED LEVEL STUDENT who would soon be a graduate in less than two weeks. I wrote that examination going to and fro the school clinic with an IV hanging down my left hand. This is how it has been all my life.
I almost made Mummy develop an high BP when I was rushed home from the school some 2000 kilometers away in the school’s ambulance because I couldn’t sit on a car seat; she thought I had died and it was my cadaver that was being returned to her. She cried that day and vow that the one and only marriage criteria she would never compromise on with her future sons and daughters in laws would be GENOTYPE COMPATIBILITY.
This post isn’t about mom, but about the pains and heartaches SICKLE CELL DISEASE can cause. It wasn’t mum’s or daddy’s fault because they weren’t enlightened about genotype compatibility before they got married but today, more than 50 percent of the world’s populace have heard or knows an SCD victim.
Yesterday was World Sickle Cell day, I couldn’t lift a hand to do a thing because I was in pains. Sadly I’m above twenty today but like twelve ago, I still feel like a blossoming on some days and at others, I feel like a withering tree.
The pains, the financial stress, the emotional and psychological stress are not worth the ‘but I love him/her and We are in Love’. Know your genotype and ensure it is compatible with your partner before you marry. SCD is terminal but also preventable!
SCD affects not only the victims but also family and friends. SCD treatment is expensive but preventable!!!
Know your genotype; that’s the first step towards prevention.
MEDICAL GENOTYPE CHART FOR INTENDING COUPLE
AA+AA can marry
AA+AS. can marry
AA+SS. can marry
AA+CC. can marry
AA+SC. can marry
AS+AS. CANNOT MARRY
SS+SS. CANNOT MARRY
SC+SS. CANNOT MARRY
AS+CC. CANNOT MARRY
AS+SC. CANNOT MARRY
Long live SCD warriors!
Long live SCD advocates!!
Long Live SCD caregivers!!!
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