So there’s this Greek guy who happens to be suffering with frequent bouts of pain and fatigue as a result of living with sickle cell anemia (SCA).
And when he has emergencies—and oh boy, does he!—he has a terrible time trying to convince the ER nurses and doctors that he’s not jonesing for pain pills like a junkie.
SCA is so misunderstood by the general public. This chronic illness doesn’t discriminate exclusively to people of African descent. It’s rare, but cases of SCA are also seen in Hispanic Americans, Indians, people from the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
But back to the Greek guy, who’s living with SCA, he not only battles people thinking he’s a junkie in need of a fix, medical professionals also question his diagnosis because he doesn’t look “black.” It’s gotta be really tough to deal with this each and every time he winds up in the hospital—especially the ER because it could make a difference between life and death.
But rather than just whining and playing the victim and being angry at the world, he had an epiphany! Drumroll: SCA bracelet.
Basically, it would be similar to bracelets that diabetics wear, and hospitals would have to buy into the registry concept, but what a fantastic idea! You can read more about it here. And think about it. Insulin used to be the only treatment for people with diabetes. Now, there are several types of treatment for people with diabetes – thanks to awareness campaigns and the American public who are waking up to the seriousness of Type ll diabetes. I’m not comparing SCA and diabetes, just emphasizing what can happen when people join together to help raise awareness! Yeah!
Whatcha think?
