“It’s something that I wake up and think about every day. First thing in the morning, of course I pray to God. I thank Him for giving me this disease. I know that’s a surprise to most people, but it forces me to live differently and appreciate life more, and of course, not tolerate any nonsense. But in a sense, I wake up and just hydrate my body, move my body around. I think about the clothes that I wear when I get up and go to work. I think about what I’m going to eat for lunch. So everything that I do, I definitely have sickle cell under consideration and try to be as healthy as possible.”
What are your self-care regimens?
“Every Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I like to go to the gym. I wake up very early. I wake up around 5:30 AM to go to the gym. I start off on the treadmill. I move my body, I try to get the blood flowing. And then after that, I go and stretch my body before my workout. Now, my workout regimen consists of lower weights, higher reps, so I’ll get a lower weight, of course, and do as much reps as possible. I try to be as low as impacted on my joints as possible. And then after my workouts, I’ll do about three to four workouts, after that, I’ll go back to the center of the gym and I’ll stretch my body again. And then of course, during my entire workout, I’m always drinking some spring water or something that has electrolytes in it to keep myself as hydrated as possible.”