Emergen☾ Appointment
Abstract
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. While normal red blood cells are round in shape, which allows them to carry oxygen safely through the bloodstream, Sickle Cell Disease is characterized by a crescent shaped red blood cell. These “sickled” red blood cells often die quickly or get stuck in small blood vessels, causing clogs in the blood flow. SCD is a common illness amongst people of color, especially people of African descent and as a result, there is not much known in America about the symptoms patients have. What little detail is known about symptoms is that patients experience “pain crises” in which they feel pain that can range from throbbing to stabbing in different parts of the body. Pain crises can occur out of the blue and last for hours, even days. There is no official cure for SCD and although there are short term cures, such as pain killers, even that may not be able to help in an extreme pain crisis.
In the following spoken word composition, titled Emergen☾ Appointment for the characteristic crescent shaped blood cell, I will highlight a fictional experience of a patient who goes to the hospital while in the middle of a pain crisis. This fictional piece is inspired by my sister who has recounted some of her experiences with having sickle cell and her treatment in the hospital by the personnel. While I am, by no means, attempting to generalize the experience of people with sickle cell, I hope this work can bring awareness to some of the shared experiences they have. I have utilized sources such as Campbell’s Eleventh Edition Biology Textbook to emphasize the generalizing nature people tend to have when examining sickle cell patients. Additionally, I use sources such as Kaiser Health News, Consumer Reports, and the Journal of the National Medical Association to outline the unique experiences of patients and to stress the fact that these people are not just pages in books.
References
D’Anna, Laura Hoyt, Marissa Hansen, Brittney Mull, Carol Canjura, Esther Lee, and Stephanie Sumstine. “Social Discrimination and Health Care: A Multidimensional Framework of Experiences among a Low-Income Multiethnic Sample.” Social Work in Public Health. 2018. Accessed November 10, 2020.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6464629/.
Gold, Jenny. “Sickle Cell Patients Suffer Discrimination, Poor Care – And Shorter Lives.” Kaiser Health News. November 6, 2017. Accessed November 13, 2020. https://khn.org/news/sickle-cell-patients-suffer-discrimination-poor-care-and-shorter-lives/.
Jenerette, Coretta M., and Cheryl Brewer. “Health-related Stigma in Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease.” Journal of the National Medical Association. November 2010. Accessed October 20, 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3119340/.
Reports, Consumer. “Is Bias Keeping Female, Minority Patients from Getting Proper Care for Their Pain?” The Washington Post. July 29, 2019. Accessed October 4, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/is-bias-keeping-female-minority-patients-from-getting-proper-care-for-their-pain/2019/07/26/9d1b3a78-a810-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_sTory.html.
Urry, Lisa A., Michael L. Cain, Steven Alexander Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, and Jane B. Reece. Campbell Biology. New York, NY: Pearson Education, 2017.
Welty, Leah J., Anna J. Harrison, Nicole D. Olson, David A. Aaby, Kathleen P. McCoy, Jason J. Washburn, and Linda A. Teplin. “The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA) Publications.” American Public Health Association (APHA) Publications. April 6, 2016. Accessed November 12, 2020. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2015.303032.Pasricha Sant-Rayn. “How Our Red Blood Cells Keep
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Evolving To Fight Malaria.” The Conversation. July 13, 2020. Accessed December 11, 2020. https://theconversation.com/how-our-red-blood-cells-keep-evolving-to-fight-malaria-96117.