Well, I found out very early in age that I had sickle cell, but it really didn’t resonate with me until later on in life. And I’ll have to give that to about like maybe 11, 12 years old. I had gotten sick one time shoveling the snow. I always knew I wasn’t average or normal when I would go outside to shovel snow. I would get really cold really quick. And my brothers, who were the strongest guys I know, they would get out there, they would shovel that snow and they would walk blocks and miles and make money, and I could never do such things.
And so one day, I really had to have a heart-to-heart talk with my mom, because I wanted to be so normal. I remember crying and telling her, “You know, mom, why can’t I go outside?”And she explained it to me like, “You’ll get sick,” because when you get sick, a lot of times it hits you in so many different areas that it’s hard to pick you up, it’s hard to get you to walk and things like that. So that’s when I understood I had my limitations, then that’s when I started trying to do other things like stay indoors, dress warmer, live healthier, try to eat right. I work out. I walk every day. And I run every other day.
I don’t know what happened, but back in December (2019) I started having sickle cell pain crisis, and it just kept coming back to back. January, February, March, all of these admissions in the hospital. And I just said, “Maybe it’s because it’s a little cold, and I need to get into the weather a little bit more.” So that’s what I started doing..trying to adapt to the weather. And after that, I started feeling fine again. So I’m hoping I can keep this stride up where I’m not admitted in the hospital so much, because it’s been a long time since I’ve been sick as much as I am now.
If I feel a pain crisis coming on, the first steps I’ll take are…I will get into a hot tub of water, throw some bubbles in there, baby oil or eucalyptus oil. You know, whatever these things are that can strengthen your body while you are doing what you do. So I’ll get in the tub, I’ll relax. While I’m relaxing, I have some classical music on, and I just sit there and I soak a little bit. You just never know, it could be stress-related from work, it could be stress-related from family, or even just the tension of being sick. It can be really hard and painful so what I like to do is meditate and concentrate on the area that is hurting the most. Because if you’re not careful it will spread.
–Maurice, Sickle Cell Warrior,