I have Beta Thalassemia Major - AMA
Yep! It's in the title! Don't be afraid to ask anything, but if you're wondering if there's an Alpha, yes there is, I just don't know much about it. But you can ask me anything about Beta Thalassemia :D
Do you feel about the present state of awarness ofBeta Thalassemia Major?
What was it like growing up withBeta Thalassemia Major?
How has living withBeta Thalassemia Major shapped you perspective?
1. If you mean how do I feel, then I'd say usually people only know about it if a relative or a friend has it. It's classified as anaemia and most people think that being anaemic means that you're iron deficient, but not many know that BTMajor is actually the opposite. It would be good if people's perspective on that was changed.
I feel that more awareness could be spread especially since there is a high demand for blood for blood transfusions.
2&3. I'll be 17 this year and growing up with BTMajor had it's share of phrases like "Why me?" and "My life sucks," and I hated having to go through my iron chelation therapy every day and missing school one day every month for my transfusion. But then as I grew and matured (somewhat) those phrases came up less and I found myself realizing that a lot of people have it worse.
I admit, I do still have those times where I wish this didn't happen to me but then I think about it for a while and I'm glad that no one of my friends or my family has to go through all that I do. So you could say that when I feel demotivated and start questioning, I'm glad that I suffer instead of my loved ones. It's tough to cope with sometimes but I personally feel it's made me stronger!
I hope I've answered your questions right :) thanks for asking them!
This just appeared in the chronic illnesses affecting men section recently, even though it's old.
Does this tend to affect men more often than women?
