DISCLAIMER
The information and materials accessed through or made available for use on any of our Sites, including, any information about diseases, conditions, treatments, or medicines, are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and your participation on our Sites does not create a healthcare professional-patient relationship. You should consult a doctor or other qualified health care professional regarding any questions you have about your health or before making any decisions related to your health or wellness. Call your doctor or 911 immediately if you think you may have a medical emergency.compose your message
message sent
email sent successfully
Trusted Resources: Community Center
Online groups, photo galleries and blogs
Living With Sickle Cell: ‘I Don’t Know What It Means to Be Without Pain’
Once a month, she undergoes a grueling process called hemapheresis. All of the blood is removed from her body, the platelets and plasma are separated out and returned to her, and then Peterson is given eight to 12 units of packed red blood cells. This helps to mitigate the pain she lives with every day.
“I don’t know what it means to be without pain. I have nothing to compare it to,” Peterson tells The Root from her bed at Doctors Community Hospital in Greenbelt, Md. “I have what I call my normal pain, and my pain where I need to be in the hospital. They always ask what your pain scale is from 1 to 10. I function on a normal person’s 7 to 8. It’s like my 2.”
Related Content
-
education & researchCold Weather Halloween Safety TipsIn Winnipeg, Halloween can be cold. Some...
-
videos & visualsSickle Cell Emergency Room Care: From Patients to Providershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...
-
Community CenterLiving With Sickle Cell Disease: One Person’s Story of Pain and Prejudice and Their Hopes for a Stem Cell TherapyMy name is Marissa Cors, I have sickle c...
-
education & researchMuscle Structural, Functional and Energetic Benefits of Endurance Exercise Training in Sickle Cell DiseaseSickle cell disease (SCD) patients displ...
-
Community CenterToday’s Faces of Sickle Cell Disease: Jennelle StephensonJennelle Stephenson was diagnosed with S...
-
news & eventsThe impact of rare disease on family caregiversFindings from a first-of-its-kind nation...
-
Community CenterLiving With Unpredictable Pain: A Sickle Cell Disease StoryGrowing up, Vismel Marquez wanted to joi...
send a message
To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.