They say love conquers all! But when it comes to Sickle Cell, does love really conquer?

When you Consider the emotional and financial strain that comes with having children with Sickle Cell Anaemia, is it still worth it?

(THREAD) #Tweet4SickleCell
They tell us to marry someone we love. If the said partner has been verified to be a faithful believer and a true love, Is it still a valid reason for 2 people who are not genotype compatible go ahead and get married?

#Tweet4SickleCell
In as much as we know that considering our future partners’ religious beliefs and morals are important factor, the health aspect cannot be neglected. Some choices you make can mar your relationships no matter how strong it is.

#Tweet4SickleCell
I am an advocate for "marry the one you love" but is love really all it takes? Is love really enough? when clap enter dance will your love be strong enough to hold?

Do you know that Genotype compatibility is an important factor too?
#Tweet4SickleCell
Someone who claims to love you today would bail on you at the slightest provocation. I know a man who claimed to love his wife unconditionally, she contracted Hepatitis C from a hospital procedure and their lives changed forever

#Tweet4SickleCell
Dude became aggressive and retracted. To cut the long story short their marriage didn't survive it. He couldn't deal with it and he left her miserable. One would begin to wonder where did love go?

“ijuom num onye kam ga aju kwanu?”

#Tweet4SickleCell
I digress!

Sickle Cell Anaemia, Sickle Cell Disorders...

Do you know that they are 100% preventible?

How? GENOTYPE TESTING and breaking the sickle cycle by ensuring you and your partner are genotype compatible before making babies
#Tweet4SickleCell
What are Sickle Cell disorders?

They are a group of disorders characterized by presence of abnormal Red Blood Cells. The abnormal hemoglobin is inherited from the mother or father or both.

#Tweet4SickleCell
It cannot occur later in life.You can only be born with it.

Can prayers change your genotype? NO

Follow this conversation and i ll enlighten you more!

If you have a contrary opinion, kindly share too

#Tweet4SickleCell
Red blood cells contain a molecule called hemoglobin which carries oxygen throughout the body. In a person without the disorder, hemoglobin is smooth, round, and flexible allowing red blood cells to glide easily through your bloodstream.
#Tweet4SickleCell
but in a person with Sickle Cell, It means that your reb blood cells have a sickle shape.

It forms rods that clump together and cause red blood cells to become rigid and curved. The odd-shaped cells block blood flow and cause severe pains #Tweet4SickleCell
Before i continue let me differentiate between Sickle Cell Anaemia and Sickle cell trait

Trait; E.g AS;
The person has only one abnormal gene (S) and one normal (A)

They do not display any severe symptoms #Tweet4SickleCell
Sickle Cell Anaemia E.g SS
The person has only 2 abnormal genes(S) (S)

They displays severe symptoms of the disease.

Symptoms include
Painful crisis
Chest infections
Shortage of blood
Painful swelling of hands and feet, etc
#Tweet4SickleCell
Apart from the day to day crisis that Sickle Cell Warriors have to go through, there are life threatening complications too
-blindness
-stroke
-Acute chest syndrome
-prispism
-chronic leg injuries(Ulcers)

Even death😭 #Tweet4SickleCell
For guys, having an erection is a good feeling! But whatever goes up must surely come down abi!

Now imagine how it feels to have erection without any sexual arousal for longer than 4hours 😭

“priapism” -what some of the males go through #Tweet4SickleCell
If a person with the trait AS maries some with 2 normal genes (AS + AA) there is a 50% chance the child will be (AS) and a 50% chance for AA

They cannot have a child with SS.

See, A Sickle cell is broken. Marry Right! #Tweet4SickleCell
Are you following the conversation?

Lemme ask?

Do you know your Genotype?

Mine is AA, what is yours?

#Tweet4SickleCell
Ok! Let’s do this

Reply this thread with your picture and genotype! Your future bae may be here ❤️❤️❤️❤️

AA (Taken sha)🙈

#Tweet4SickleCell #WorldSickleCellDay2018
As we were saying!

Today is #WorldSickleCellDay2018 and we are joining the rest of the world to create awareness about this disorder and to plead with those who have the traits to break the cycle by marrying right

#Tweet4SickleCell
We are also encouraging the sickle Cell Warriors to stay strong, pay attention to their health so as to live a better, healthier, happier and more fulfilled life.

Sickle Cell is not a death Sentence #Tweet4SickleCell
For married couples who are genotype incompatible, there is good news!!

You can test for the genotype of your baby in the early weeks of pregnancy.

But the challenges are
1. It is very expensive

How many average nigerians can afford it

#Tweet4SickleCell
2.

If you find out the baby is SS, what do you want to do about it?

Nigerians are sensitive about discussing abortion talk more of actually taking an elective decision to terminate the pregnancy, we are we really ready for this? #Tweet4SickleCell
If you decide to keep the baby,Are you ready financially and emotionally to bring an innocent child into the world to suffer the pains of living with Sickle Cell Anaemia?

Ask a sickle cell warrior to tell you about their struggles #Tweet4SickleCell
Yes, there are treatment options. procedures like bone marrow transplant is available.

But again, how about the cost implications and challenges.

Are you ready for this?

Is prevention not cheaper/better than cure? #Tweet4SickleCell
“I was AS before but after fasting and praying my genotype changed to AA”

Me: Either the First test was wrong or the 2nd is wrong! You need a tie breaker! Get a 3rd opinion, from another lab!

#Tweet4SickleCell
A moment of silence for all the children we lost in those days that were called “Abiku” “Ogbanje” and those mothers who were shamed for birth children that refused to stay alive

Ignorance! Now we know better.

We can break the Sickle Cycle #Tweet4SickleCell
For all Sickle Cell Warriors out there, here are a few tips to help you live healthier.

Take lots of fluid. dehydration can increase your risk of a sickle crisis.
Drink more fluid if you’re exercising or live in a place with hot weather
#Tweet4SickleCell
Take your routine drugs as directed. Get vaccinated for vaccine preventible infections.

Treat infections promptly before they get complicated

Your doctor must always be a call away. Stick to doctors advice always
#Tweet4SickleCell
Avoid extreme of weathers as they can cause painful crisis.

Not too hot, not too cold!

#Tweet4SickleCell
Find more sustainable ways to relieve your pain including heating pads or physical therapy, warm baths, massage. Etc

Pain relief must not always come from a pill bottle

If it gets too bad, SEE A DOCTOR ASAP
#Tweet4SickleCell
Your mental health is important!

Get love and support from family and friends! Go out on dates, do exciting stuff, acquire a skill, listen to good music, go see a movie, etc

Take like Jeje! Enjoy life!
#Tweet4SickleCell
@threadreaderapp Boss, kindly unroll this thread

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Dr Kelechi Okoro | Ebonyi Babe

Dr Kelechi Okoro | Ebonyi Babe Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @healthertainer

Jun 22, 2018
What is your most embarrasing moment?

Me: arrested by police for having condoms in my bag 😅😅 as if say na weapon of mass destruction i carry 😅

Please, whats wrong with a female having condoms? #FPFriday @Devcoms @getittogetherNG @healthcommng LET’S TALK
It happened in Lagos sometime in 2016, i didn’t even have a boyfriend o, no ulterior motive o, i was just doing my usual advocacy and being a good friend.

Na so enter police wahala
@Devcoms
@getittogetherng
@healthcommng
#FPFriday
(THREAD)
Earlier that day, i had attended a family planning training where we were taught several methods of contraception. Part of the training was "the effective use of Condoms as a barrier method of contraception
@Devcoms
@getittogetherng
@healthcommng
#FPFriday
Read 27 tweets
Jun 14, 2018
I’ll never forget the day i and my team where up all night, not only posting all over social media but making calls to find blood donors for a patient who needed urgent transfusion.

How we ended saving 2 lives instead of one😭😭

Thread #bloodOnTheLine
“Kilishi, oya oya, we just got a call. One woman in Specialist hospital needs blood o, she was brought in pale. She has No money. No blood match in the blood bank. No one to assist.

(Erm, my mentor calls me Kilishi, Kilishi for Kelechi, lol) #BloodOnTheLine
Sleep had cleared from my eyes sef as we drove the hospital. we were already posting on onlin. calls... looking for a match upandan. We got to the hospital and the sight of the patient was so heart wrenching. She was frail and white as paper #BloodOnTheLine
Read 24 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(