Aaliyah’s Journey - PART ONE

PART ONE

Aaliyah was born March 17, 1995, in Lafayette, Louisiana to LeTisa Carter and Leonard Francisco, Jr. Aaliyah was such an adorable baby and I immediately fell in love with her. We thought everything was fine until the day I received a call from the CDC in New Orleans. The lady that called wanted to inform me that the child that was asleep on my chest tested positive for Sickle Cell Anemia. I was devastated!!

I knew that I was a carrier, but we did not know that her father was a carrier until after she was born. We had to learn quickly how to take care of a child with a chronic illness. I gathered and read as much information as I could to prepare for this journey and the Sickle Cell Foundation in my hometown of Alexandria, Louisiana was a huge support and resource for our family.

Fast forward to March 2001. Aaliyah is five and in kindergarten. Up until this point Aaliyah had never been ill. Aaliyah woke up out of her sleep at about 11 pm screaming at the top of her lungs. She said her chest was hurting. I rushed her to the nearest emergency room. The medical staff were not in a hurry nor do I think they knew what to do to treat a child with Sickle Cell Disease.

My heart was breaking because her dad worked offshore, I was seven months pregnant and totally helpless. I was unable to comfort my child or to get them to move any faster to treat her. She was eventually seen and subsequently admitted. The next day her pediatrician Dr. C.V. Reddy would tell me that she had Chest Syndrome. It took Aaliyah about two weeks to recover fully. But the remainder of 2001 would give us a crash course in truly having a special needs child. In November 2001, she developed Chest Syndrome again and during her hospital stay for almost three weeks she got progressively worse.

Dr. Reddy consulted doctors at the CDC to find out what to do to help her get better. She had blood transfusions, rounds of IV antibiotics, testing that no child should have to endure, or any parent should have to witness. Aaliyah was eventually discharged; however, it took almost four months for the pneumonia to totally clear up. The school was very supportive and allowed her to return after Christmas break.