When I was a child sickle cell didn’t really affect my life. I would rarely go into crisis and trips to the hospital were far and few between. As a child I was told I was healthy despite my sickle cell. I honestly felt healthy and ‘normal’ because sickle cell rarely affected my life. I didn’t really talk about it or share that information with many people. I also didn’t fully understand my sickle cell and the complications that can occur. My doctor would explain my sickle cell to me by saying “imagine we’re all donuts and your filling is apricot and everyone else’s is raspberry”.

That right there is where my complex of being different and abnormal came from, because that I understood, I was different from everyone else. I believe that doctors sometimes don’t think before they speak and how their words can affect young children because words stay with you. This is the same doctor who told me I wouldn’t be able to model.

Yes I understand that there are things that are different about me but I’m a human first, who has feelings and emotions I am not just sickle cell, I am a person who has sickle cell.

To my #sicklecellfamily take what doctors have to say with a grain of salt and never let them make you feel like you can’t do something or allow them to influence how you live your life and continue to keep #slayingsicklecell one day at a time. I continue to pray for your health happiness hope and strength Alhumdulilah 🙏🏾💚 #aliyasthoughtsscd

Aliya

You can find Aliya on Instagram here: @stylemealiya