Review of Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier
Posted: 28 Oct 2024, 14:26
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier" by Louise Rachael Mwape Miller.]
Have you ever heard of sickle cell anemia? I remember it was first taught to us in eighth grade. Sickle cell anemia means that the red blood cells are sickle-shaped instead of their regular biconcave shapes. They cannot go everywhere like normal red blood cells do. Because of this, oxygen cannot go everywhere. It is a recessive trait. So, those who are sickle cell dominant supposedly die in the womb. We were told that those who inherit the recessive sickle cell trait live a normal life. However, Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier, a book that challenged my previous beliefs, made me realize that there's more to this condition than meets the eye. This book has significant implications for our understanding of sickle cell anemia, particularly in challenging the traditional view of the disease.
The book, written by Louise Rachael Mwape Miller, starts with an explanation of sickle cell anemia. It further talks about the author's personal journey, her struggles with the disease, and the dismissals she faced from medical professionals. This personal touch makes the book more relatable and engaging. The book also sheds light on the author's perspective on the medical professionals' dismissal, providing a balanced view of the healthcare system's treatment of sickle cell anemia patients.
This book was like a wake-up call. Yes, we were taught about how carriers of this disease might have problems with their babies. However, I somehow did not associate it with real people. Seeing the author having such pain with her miscarriage broke my heart. The second pregnancy, especially, was very bad. As a woman myself, I would be absolutely broken if I had to go through this. I liked the author’s resolution and willpower. Was she successful in giving birth to the baby? Or will the fate of the first pregnancy repeat for the second time? I was very curious to find out.
Whenever I thought I could not be more horrified, the author kept proving me wrong. The medical negligence by healthcare workers was enormous. It is hard to believe that this happened in this century and not five to six centuries ago. Also, my mind constantly kept going to one detail: the medical bills. The good thing is that the author is based in the UK, giving her a way to survive without having debts. However, the terrible service she received was also because she was based in the UK.
Miller is a fighter through and through. She fights the disease in her body, the people around her, and the doctors who treat her, and she still tries to live a normal life, working jobs and all. I admire this spirit, and she talks about how praying has helped her throughout her life so that she can fight. This book is about faith, willpower, and general ignorance about sickle cell carriers in the medical community.
Another thing I did not find in this book is profanity or any sexual scene. However, there were a lot of disturbing scenes involved. One such scene was how her hospital bathroom’s commode had filled up with blood and stools and how it was leaking out of the bathroom and entering the hospital room. I also found a racial slur in the book. Someone had called the author that term.
My critique lies in the first chapter. I feel like she could have gone into more detail, talking about genes, dominant genes, recessive genes, and so on. However, she did include pictures of the diagrams. Those were very helpful. I do realize that this is not a medicinal book. However, directly talking about genes without explaining these terms just seems wrong.
The author has been through a lot. She wrote this book so that healthcare workers would become more aware and won’t treat other patients of the trait the way they treated her. Editing of this book was good too. This is why I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
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Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Have you ever heard of sickle cell anemia? I remember it was first taught to us in eighth grade. Sickle cell anemia means that the red blood cells are sickle-shaped instead of their regular biconcave shapes. They cannot go everywhere like normal red blood cells do. Because of this, oxygen cannot go everywhere. It is a recessive trait. So, those who are sickle cell dominant supposedly die in the womb. We were told that those who inherit the recessive sickle cell trait live a normal life. However, Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier, a book that challenged my previous beliefs, made me realize that there's more to this condition than meets the eye. This book has significant implications for our understanding of sickle cell anemia, particularly in challenging the traditional view of the disease.
The book, written by Louise Rachael Mwape Miller, starts with an explanation of sickle cell anemia. It further talks about the author's personal journey, her struggles with the disease, and the dismissals she faced from medical professionals. This personal touch makes the book more relatable and engaging. The book also sheds light on the author's perspective on the medical professionals' dismissal, providing a balanced view of the healthcare system's treatment of sickle cell anemia patients.
This book was like a wake-up call. Yes, we were taught about how carriers of this disease might have problems with their babies. However, I somehow did not associate it with real people. Seeing the author having such pain with her miscarriage broke my heart. The second pregnancy, especially, was very bad. As a woman myself, I would be absolutely broken if I had to go through this. I liked the author’s resolution and willpower. Was she successful in giving birth to the baby? Or will the fate of the first pregnancy repeat for the second time? I was very curious to find out.
Whenever I thought I could not be more horrified, the author kept proving me wrong. The medical negligence by healthcare workers was enormous. It is hard to believe that this happened in this century and not five to six centuries ago. Also, my mind constantly kept going to one detail: the medical bills. The good thing is that the author is based in the UK, giving her a way to survive without having debts. However, the terrible service she received was also because she was based in the UK.
Miller is a fighter through and through. She fights the disease in her body, the people around her, and the doctors who treat her, and she still tries to live a normal life, working jobs and all. I admire this spirit, and she talks about how praying has helped her throughout her life so that she can fight. This book is about faith, willpower, and general ignorance about sickle cell carriers in the medical community.
Another thing I did not find in this book is profanity or any sexual scene. However, there were a lot of disturbing scenes involved. One such scene was how her hospital bathroom’s commode had filled up with blood and stools and how it was leaking out of the bathroom and entering the hospital room. I also found a racial slur in the book. Someone had called the author that term.
My critique lies in the first chapter. I feel like she could have gone into more detail, talking about genes, dominant genes, recessive genes, and so on. However, she did include pictures of the diagrams. Those were very helpful. I do realize that this is not a medicinal book. However, directly talking about genes without explaining these terms just seems wrong.
The author has been through a lot. She wrote this book so that healthcare workers would become more aware and won’t treat other patients of the trait the way they treated her. Editing of this book was good too. This is why I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
******
Symptomatic: Life of A Sickle Cell Carrier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
