I am the first born and only one with sickle cell disease. All my siblings had seen me go through the pain. I never thought anyone in my family would give birth to a child with sickle cell disease. I thought I knew all about sickle cell disease because I have it. In 2013 my nephew Asher was born normal and had no signs of sickle cell but things turned around when he was 2 years old.
In April 2013 we were outside playing when he started complaining about headache, and I offered him paracetamol and he felt better. Late in the night things got worse and he had burning fever and we were forced to rush to the nearest clinic called St. Mary where we were told to take him to a better hospital because he was already anemic and needed blood transfusion.
We rushed to Mengo hospital and admitted at 1am that late night. He was tested for his hb and the results came back and confirmed it was 3.8. The nurse confirmed that he needed a blood transfusion. His blood group was also tested and it was A-. We were informed that the doctor had to sign before he got the blood. The doctor came in and we were told that Asher would be transfused in the morning so we had to wait till after dawn. Blood was not available in the hospital and had to wait be delivered from Nakasero Blood bank. He was put on one drip of glucose and antibiotics.
In the morning the doctor arrived with blood, it was coming now to 11 am and we had gotten tired of waiting and thinking about what would happen if blood had not been received.
After about an hour the first unit was done, the second was connected. After the transfusion Asher was now playing again, we were discharged after two nights.
On discharging him the doctors advised us to donate blood and save other lives the same way Asher was saved by blood he was transfused with.
