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by Wunmi Bakare for Health Union Last year, I launched a web project titled The Diary of a #SickleCellProdigy – a content series that gives audiences a closer look at a patient's life with and without sickle cell disease. 2022 marks the second installment of the series, and for the month of January, my first guest was my stem cell donor and older brother, Dapo Bakare. Far too often, we hear stories from researchers, transplant recipients, and caregivers. I wanted to sit down

by Wunmi Bakare for Health Union The moment I was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia , my parents, specifically my father, knew the presumed fate of his 18-month-old baby, Wunmi. Sickle cell disease (SCD) was not a foreign concept to my dad as he had played the role of a sibling caregiver for many years. What people may not know is that Nigeria is the epicenter zone for sickle cell anemia. In Nigeria, 150,000 newborns with sickle cell are born annually (approximately 33% of t

by Wunmi Bakare for Health Union The Immediate Changes For the first 12 months, I'll be completely honest and say that I still experienced chronic pain , particularly in my joints, often triggered by drastic changes in temperatures/stress, which Seattle is known for. After speaking with other transplant survivors and eagerly wanting to get off opioids, I did a 3-day water fast so I could find out what food items exacerbate my pain since my blood is not actively sickling. I di

by Wunmi Bakare for Essence Magazine September is   Sickle Cell Awareness Month — 30 days of raising awareness for a global health condition that affects millions of people. This annual observance is an opportunity to increase public knowledge and understanding of sickle cell disease worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 6.4 million people live with sickle cell disease  globally, with the sickle cell gene primarily affecting people of African descent.