I've been very open about living with this disease because I feel like someone has to be. Someone needs to speak up so people can understand what we as Sickle Cell patients go through. I could just send a post about Sickle Cell Anemia and leave it at that but putting a face, a life in the forefront will make a much better impact on people hearts and encourage them to learn more and more about Sickle Cell Anemia. Sorry this paragraph was a bit of a side note but a much needed one.

Though I've handled the chemo well there has been some affects like: 102 fever, a metallic taste in my Mouth, and weakness. I know it seems like a lot but what I mean by I'm handling it well is that, I've not let it weigh me down, I'm walking around the Bone-Marrow Unit (BMT) unit, my spirits are up and I'm holding my food down so far. As a result of the fever I have I've been put on I.V. antibiotics as a precaution to possibly having bacteria. They took some blood cultures to determine whether or not I do have bacteria or something else. The results so far came back negative but it is monitored over a couple of days so I hope that the first go around -->being negative is a sign for the next 'round of results.

The chemotherapy is what brought my white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets down in order to undergo the transplant. Throughout the chemotherapy the nurses have to watch out that my White Count goes to zero, my hemoglobin stays above 10 and my platelets stay above 20. By the time the transplant comes my white count will be zero, my hemoglobin 10, and platelets 20. If my hemoglobin goes below 10 I get a blood transfusion (of which I've had two) , and if my platelet goes below 20 I get a platelet transfusion (of which I basically end up getting every day due to the effect of the chemotherapy).