Joshua Adekunle medical Assistant

Joshua Adekunle is a high school senior who likes to play video games, draw, craft, and learn new things. He excels in school and takes honors and advanced placement classes to constantly challenge himself. He was born with sickle cell disease (SCD), but he never lets his condition affect who he is or limit who he can become.

Joshua’s parents learned he had SCD through a newborn screening test at birth. Joshua’s dad knew he had sickle cell trait (SCT) before getting married. Joshua’s mom learned while she was pregnant that she also had SCT. SCT occurs when a person has one sickle cell gene and one normal gene. When both parents have SCT, there is a 1 in 4 (25%) chance that any child of theirs will have SCD.

Learning to Manage SCD

When Joshua was younger, he didn’t really understand what SCD was. He often had pain episodes (also known as pain crises) but thought they were just something that happened to him. As he got older, he realized he was having pain because of SCD and that it was a genetic disease that he would have to learn to manage and live with. Over time, he’s learned how to manage his SCD and who to share information with about his disease. Experience has taught him how important it is to inform his teachers and school administrators of his condition so they can help him avoid situations that might trigger pain for him.

When Joshua was a freshman in high school, SCD made it hard for him to participate in contact sports. Instead, he joined the marching band to stay active and involved. He played the cymbals and sometimes a light-weight drum called a snare because he knew his limitation in carrying heavy instruments. One winter, his school participated in his city’s Christmas parade that was held outdoors in the city’s downtown area. For the parade, he was set to play the cymbals, but on the day of the parade, some students didn’t show up and the band director asked Joshua to play the bass drums instead. The director was unaware of Joshua’s SCD at the time. Although Joshua was concerned about carrying and marching with the heavy bass drums during the parade, he decided to do it anyway. About halfway through the parade, Joshua started to experience a pain crisis. The bass drums were heavy and straining his back. He nearly collapsed on the street and had to get medical help immediately. This experience taught Joshua a valuable lesson about how sharing his condition with school staff can help him stay healthy.

SCD Complications Support and Community

As a toddler, Joshua took penicillin to help treat his SCD-related complications. When he got a little older, he started taking hydroxyurea (a medicine to help treat and prevent SCD complications). Over the years, Joshua has had many surgeries because of his SCD. He’s had to have both his left and right hips replaced because of avascular necrosis (AVN), which is when bone tissue dies from lack of blood flow. He also had his gallbladder (a small, pear-shaped organ located under the liver) removed to treat gallstones. Having numerous surgeries may not be common among other teenagers, but Joshua doesn’t think about it too much. The surgeries help him stay healthy and have allowed him to appreciate life.

Support and Community

Family has always been Joshua’s support system. Growing up, he never knew anyone else living with SCD. He thought SCD was something that no one else would be able to understand or relate to.

Joshua needs help for his surgery, please help in anyway you can, Thanks has you support Josh, God bless you