In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are sickle shaped and pass with difficulty through tiny blood vessels. They can become stuck, clogging up capillaries so necessary oxygen can't get to all the parts of the body. This blockage is very painful and also damaging to the tissue, and it can occur anywhere in the body. She was pale yellow. Mrs. Bradley explained that a child with sickle cell disease has to be hospitalized every time she gets a fever because it can be a sign of something very serious.
Dehydration resulting from a fever causes the cells to sickle even more.
Jonee needed hydration every time she got a fever, and they were constantly going to the hospital for the next two years. Last November, when Jonee was four, she had her first stroke, because the sickle cells had gotten trapped in her head, stopping the proper oxygen supply to the brain. Cherise Bradley was in the living room, where Jonee was playing on the computer. She couldn't move her whole right side. When she came out she had to go to rehabilitation for six weeks to learn how to use that whole side again.