Helping Those With Blood Disorders

“I want to express the need to help other people with blood disorders: multiple myeloma, sickle cell anemia, and hemophilia.

There have been times I have been hospitalized, assessed by hematologists and researchers. There is no cure for Sickle Cell, this is the harsh truth that I’ve had to live with throughout my childhood and into my adulthood. Now, focusing on the days when I’m being hospitalized, undergoing numerous blood transfusions, and having no true solutions as I am dealing with pain, I feel deeply that no child should suffer the way that I and so many other are suffering.

 

Blood transfusions are the main form of therapy when treating Sickle Cell, and the number of treatments varies from person to person. Someone like myself may need a transfusion once a month to prevent abnormalities, such as pain crises. Pain crises take place when sickle-shaped red blood cells block blood flow within the blood vessels, hindering the spread of oxygen to the organs, muscles, and bones. Often in a pain crisis, my entire body becomes engulfed in severe pain. This can last up to several days. We take a number of different types of pharmaceuticals to counteract these issues when they arrive. There are ways these crises can be avoided; staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, dressing warmly in cold weather, etc., but pain medications are the primary sources of management and relief. I have been attempting to seek out alternative solutions and tactics to cope with pain, especially pain management therapy.

This is where I need help from you. I’d like to construct a safe haven at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for others like me. My goal is to create workshops for those with blood disorders that will properly prepare them as they transition into adulthood. These workshops will provide patients with a community of others who are there to encourage, guide, and comfort, while also arming them with resilience and hope. All donations are going towards the making, supplies, equipment, staffing, and sustaining of these workshops. You can be another person’s blessing by donating today!”

 

~Rilwan Hollis

(Creator)


*This campaign is not raising money for pain management! It is to find different support  programs for mental and emotional health as patients transfer from the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.*