Patricia's Visit to the Hospital

The Author's Introduction: Sickle Cell Disease not only affects African-Americans, but other demographics in countries such as the Caribbean, Greece, Puerto Rico, India, Egypt and Canada. It's funny that a lot of people classify Sickle Cell Disease as a "Black-only' disease. Yes, it's true that mostly African-Americans are affected by it, but it's deeper than one race. My new children's book Patricia's Visit to the Hospital is a part of a series called Come Learn with Patricia, and I plan to write more children books within the series to educate and talk about the importance of Sickle Cell Disease. I was diagnosed with SCD at the age of one. Both of my parents are carriers of the Sickle Cell Trait. I wanted to share my story through writing a children's book because many kids may not understand what is fully going on when they may be in pain or when they are hospitalized. My first book of the series, Patricia's Guardian Angel and the new one both come from a place of experience in my childhood while I was fighting for my life with pain crises. I feel like SCD isn't talked about enough throughout the communities and I always showed interest trying to not only share my story but to continue to support it. What better way than to market this book and write this book that serves a greater cause than actually reading a children's book; this children's book to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc.? It's an educational book to educate parents, children and others about what kids living with SCD really go through. I personally suffered my most severe pain crises as a child to a point where the second pain crisis I had almost killed me in 1999 at the age of twelve. People die every day battling with Sickle Cell Disease. It's really important to become educated on it and to know more about it and why SCD should be talked about more in public schools, health fairs, churches, meetings and definitely in the communities. Just like cancer, diabetes, aids, lupus, heart disease and other diseases are talked about, SCD should be too! Don't only purchase this book and just read it, but understand it and market it and make sure you share it with other people in your community. Patrice N. Rivers