Personal Narrative: My Sickle Cell Disease

Identity is an asset that makes one unique. Our identity is what makes us all special in our own way and also apprise us on who we are as an individual and human being on this Earth. My identity makes me who I am. My Sickle Cell Disease is my identity. It has shaped and molded me into the young man I am today. Sickle Cell Disease is a disorder that has been in the history of African Americans and Africans for decades. It is a disorder of the blood caused by an inherited abnormal hemoglobin. The abnormal hemoglobin causes sickle shaped red blood cells. The sickled red blood cells are fragile and often can rupture. The irregular sickled cells can can lead to blood clots, or in other words a Sickle Cell Crisis. Blocked blood vessels can cause …show more content…
The pain given by this disease always brought me back to reality. The pain taught me to be grateful. I was never grateful for the things I had as a child. I would break my toys, disrespect my parents, and was unfocused about my education. This aspect of my life helped me change for the better. The pain caused me to reflect on who I am and my life. At a young age I started to become afraid of dying. I know Sickle Cell is a vicious disease and can end anyone’s life who has it no matter how young or old they are. I became even more frightened because I knew a person who had Sickle Cell Disease and died from it due to organ failure and the excruciating pain. This very fact made me even more grateful for my life and many other things. Gratefulness goes a long way in society nowadays. The people that you see that are successful and significant in their careers and personal life are the ones who are grateful about their life and the aspects that helped them become who they …show more content…
Even though this disease was very dramatic and painful, I learned much from it. As a child I did not really understand this disease, I would not notice I had it until I would have a Sickle Cell Crisis. These crises would be very painful. As a child I went through a lot with this disease. Being in and out of the hospital, it made it hard for me to focus in school. I struggled with grades in elementary school and had to attend tutoring. One thing as a child that this disease took from me was my ability to play sports. Sports was something I loved and always wanted to be apart of in school, but because of my disease I could not. A door towards something I loved may have closed, another was