Regular Memorial Visits Help Samantha to Live Life with Sickle Cell Disease

Feeling fine one moment and in excruciating pain the next, Samantha said she lived with pain from sickle cell disease all of her life before coming to Memorial.

She regularly visits Memorial’s sickle cell day hospital for pain treatments, hydration and care to avoid a sickle cell crisis.

“We connect patients with the resources they need through a health coaching system,” says Todra Anderson-Rhodes, MD, inpatient leader, Memorial Sickle Cell Task Force.

“Now, I have everything in order,” Samantha said. “They take your whole life into consideration. Memorial is great for just the support, the compassion and the love.”

Sickle cell is a genetic disease named for the shape of the affected red blood cells, explains Jennifer Goldman, DO, chief, Memorial Primary Care. Instead of being round, plump and able to carry a lot of oxygen to tissues, the cells are shaped like small sickles that cause pain when they stick to blood vessel walls and block oxygen flow.