treatments for the disease, there is no widely available cure, although a stem-cell transplant procedure has been developed at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and validated at UI Health.
People living with sickle cell disease produce sickle, or crescent, shaped red blood cells. This affects the immune system, and the misshapen blood cells, if caught in the blood vessels due to oxygen deprivation, can result in organ damage or extreme pain in any given area of the body. This is called Sickle Cell Crisis and factors that can trigger it include overexertion, dehydration, stress, and extreme temperature change. No, you can’t look at someone and know they’re living with it, but it is serious and living a quality life with sickle cell disease takes a lot of planning and prepping.
It’s already challenging enough to find one’s health and fitness groove, so you would think that figuring it out while living with a chronic illness would be impossible, but Sickle Cell Warriors like Candyce prove this to be false every day. It’s possible to live day-to-day without said planning and prepping, but in order to live fully and successfully, Candyce recommends forming an action plan and being intentional.
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In addition to teaching multiple fitness classes each day, Candyce also makes time for her personal fitness. With overexertion and
