When You Hear The Word Angel

When you say angels most people think of pretty little fat babies with wings, when in fact they are big strong warriors. That is the premise behind the SCD Soldier Network. For far too long when people hear about the disease Sickle Cell, they think of children, when in fact we are also adults who have battled all of our lives with a disease that has no cure. I think Soldier would be a proper identifying symbol for the blood disorder. Not taking away the importance of our poster child, but its time to add a new reference to this hereditary disorder that affects 1 in 5000 people in the United States alone. According to the NIH 1 in 500 black births have Sickle Cell Disease. For those of you who are not aware of my campaign, let me introduce myself and what I am attempting to do. My name is Phyllis Zachery-Thomas and I have Sickle Cell Disease (SS). After finding out that 100 years ago the first case of the blood disorder in the United States was documented in western literature, I began to think about how far we have come since then. One of the first things that I realized is that better treatments have increased the life expectancy in those who battle the disease. The average life expectancy is 45 years and that is my age. It shook my core to think that after 100 years sickle cell is perceived to be a childhood disease. As a whole, people were not living long enough to see adulthood and that probably accounts for part of it. I believe that we are the first generation of adults to live with the disorder, but it has certainly been a battle. As a result, the organizations that were created for the education, advocacy and outreach of the disease, primarily had programs targeted towards children. 2010 is the year that Sickle Cell Disease will get it's grown-up voice. When I began in my efforts to unite adults with SCD through the formation of the SCD Soldier Network, I never knew how many amazing people I would meet. Adults with SCD are now beginning to stand up and speak out concerning their needs. That's why I was motivated to rally theses individuals together for the purpose of having a united voice. Many groups have been developed with that same mission in mind, but there was something more that I wanted to do. I wanted people to know that Sickle Cell was a daily battle and when they thought about people with the disorder, they thought about strong individuals fighting for their lives. Much like my angel theory, people approach things according to the imagery that they have. You tend to count on angels when you know that they are not babies, they are warriors fighting on your behalf. With the Soldier Network, I want to send the message out that we are not poor little babies enduring a disease that has no cure. We are Soldiers and some of us have battle scars, because we are on the front-lines. We need your support not your sympathy. Now get up and become a soldier if you support this campaign. No, you do not have to have the disease as long as you advocate for better programs and health initiatives for adults battling this disease. Stand on the front lines and become a Front-Line Soldier if you want to get your hands dirty, or become a Support Soldier if you want to help recruit and promote this movement. The level of your involvement is up to you. If you want to contribute with a financial gift you can donate through our Peers Campaign. In order to sign-up go to the Recruiting Station page of our website and fill out the information card. Someone will contact you with a schedule for the informational teleconference designed to help you decide how you fit. I wrote an anthem that is being recorded by my niece Mecca Dawn. A Ruff cut of the video is below, however we will be going to the studio in order to finalize the song in preparation of our Promotional CD. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and I look forward to meeting you on the battleground. If the video is unavailable at any time you can also view it on YouTube.