Jessica was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease just after she was born, before she and her parents left the hospital. At two years old came the first bouts with pain caused by this rare genetic disease. The pain could occur anywhere blood circulates and triggered by any stress including climbing a flight of stairs. The […]
Chinonso (Nonso) was born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder affecting red blood cells that leaves those afflicted in cycles of pain and in-and-out of hospitals. A documentary film sparked Nonso’s path to life-changing treatment: she watched the “The G Word with Adam Conover” episode ‘Disease’ that featured the NIH and the breakthrough procedure for Sickle Cell Disease developed at NIH. A bone marrow transplant could be a cure.
With the help of the Friends of Patients of the NIH, Jennifer Nsenkyire and her mother, Rose, currently live in a fully furnished apartment in Bethesda, MD, while NIH treats and observes her following a second transplant. Jennifer, originally from Ghana, has suffered from sickle cell anemia from birth. She moved to the United States […]
Hello Friends, “I think we can safely say Dixon is cured,” Dr. John Tisdale recently told Dixon’s father, Leonard. What amazing words for a parent to hear from his son’s doctor! 17-year-old Dixon is one the young brave patients, treated in an experimental study at the National Institutes of Health, that Friends of Patients at […]
From Nov 2017 Newsletter… It was a party with a mission at Friends of Patients at the NIH’s recent annual Gala in Bethesda. Patients and researchers were the guests of honor. Seventeen-year-old Dixon, who has Sickle Cell Disease, and his father, Leonard, both from Uganda, were featured in a video describing how his illness can […]
“Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) causes immense suffering in patients. When you see a patient in (sickle cell) crisis, you just want to do something.” John Tisdale, M.D. is a physician scientist who has spent his career working with Sickle Cell Disease. Rather than simply focus on seeing patients, Dr. Tisdale splits his time between the lab and seeing patients. […]
Friends at NIH Helps Deliver Hope Anthony P. is a postal carrier. So he knows that old saying -“neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night” – as well as anyone. Unfortunately, Anthony has an illness that can painfully keep him from his appointed rounds and put his life on hold. Anthony has Sickle Cell […]
