Sickle Cell Crises

I'm having a SC crisis. It's a new and improved version on it because of the changes I've made to my diet, and it takes me longer to recognize what is actually happening to my body. Sometimes, I just think of it as pain. Normal pain. Which is something I'd almost never experienced before my dietary changes. It's been 3 years and my life has had a complete turn around. Okay, so details. The weather on the east coast (anyone else from NYC out there reading this blog? Shout out!) has been quite funny, as it varies from being warm/hot to chilly/windy/cold in the same day. I CANNOT handle these strange weather patterns and quick changes in temperature that all happen within the same day. My body does not like extreme weather. On Tuesday (it was hot) I went shopping with a friend, and we went to two locations, a shopping center and a mall. The sun was hot in the car and the mall was cool/cold. After we'd finished at the mall, the weather had cooled down and was getting cooler towards the evening. I went out twice more after she dropped me off home, and the second time I went out, I had to wear a jacket (note all the temperature changes in one day!). The next day, I spent most of the day on Tylenol Extra Strength in bed because my body was in crisis mode. By the end of the day, I was feeling mostly better (well enough to have dinner with a friend ;) ). Today, the weather was nice. It was warm for the majority of the day and again I went out with a friend. This entailed hopping on public transportation, which blasts the AC, heading back outdoors, heading indoors where it was cold, back outdoors where it was warm, repeat, repeat, repeat... In other words, it was a recipe for disaster! Aka another SC crisis. Such is life with SC. Temperature changes such as these are the bane of my existence. The sun literally burns my arms (my most susceptible to the cold body part... they're so skinny!) when I'm in it for too long and it hurts. Even in the summertime I have to carry 1 to 2 extra layers with me, either to cover myself from the sun or to keep myself warm when facing ridiculous AC subzero temperatures. It's a difficult season to deal with. I used to think that summer was the best season because it was warm all around and I didn't have to worry about winter making my bones ache. But summer hurts just the same as winter. The main difference is that in winter I can wrap myself up more and adequately prepare for the killer cold. In the summer, it's a double-edged sword. I get hot easily AND I get cold easily. Not only do I need to dress for the heat, but I have to consider the cold as well. My body can't handle it very well either. I'm doing everything I can and yet SC still is attempting to kick my butt and keep me down. But we are warriors, aren't we? The pain doesn't keep us down for very long and as soon as we can get up we can, don't we? It's not all roses, in fact, there are quite a few thorns along the way. This is the reality of life with SC, and I am keenly aware of the fact that there are many, many others out there whose symptoms are much worse than mine, who deal with more pain than I do, often on a daily basis. I write for them as well as myself. I write because I have a new hope and I want to share that with others as much as possible, that others too might now that there are life changes that can be made to help their health. It's not easy for sure, but it's life, and life, by definition, is not easy.