A letter from Sharmane
Hello my name is Sharmane and I live with Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell Disease is a red blood disorder. The red blood cells die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells and can block blood flow causing pain which is called a “sickle cell pain crisis”. For many years I was able to live a life with minimal pain until the age of 20. Over the past 5 years my health has worsened. Over these past five years, I have experienced intense pain almost everyday of my life. I went from hanging out with friends, driving my own car, and living a healthy life to being at home in pain.
In April of this year my hematologist came to me and presented the topic of having a consultation to recieve the Stem Cell Transplant. Initially, I was nervous because I always manifested that I would one day receive the transplant but I did not know the day would actually come. After discussing it with my family I decided that I wanted to embark on this journey of receiving the stem cell transplant. Over the last few months I went from being hopeful and excited that I would find a donor to fearful that my dreams would never come true after receiving so many “no matches'’. I am asking that you would do me the honor of swabbing for me today. I was once a college student like you, planning my future and dedicating my life to my studies in hopes of being successful one day. Your decision to swab today could potentially give me my life back so I can one day share this story with my family, friends, and community on how I went from a Sickle Cell Warrior to a Survivor!
Thank you!
Peace and Love,
~Sharmane