If you're living with sickle cell disease, you need expert treatment to help you manage the condition and avoid pain. At the University Health Sickle Cell Center, we can give you the care, knowledge and support you need to stay well and live your life to the fullest.
Our sickle cell expertise
At our highly specialized center, sickle cell disease is our main focus. Our sickle cell experts have many collective years of experience working with people who have this rare disorder. In fact, hematologists (doctors who specialize in blood disorders like sickle cell) often collaborate with our team.
Our staff includes internal medicine doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and social workers. They attend medical conferences and network with other sickle cell experts locally and around the nation. Our center also participates in research as part of the Heartland/Southwest Sickle Cell Disease Network.
Our sickle cell services
We provide complete care for adults who have sickle cell disease, emphasizing health maintenance and prevention.
Starting with your very first visit, our specialists will take the time to learn what's important to you. Then we'll create a care plan based on your individual needs and the latest treatment recommendations from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Our services include:
Sickle cell management. We'll help you take good care of your health so that you may have fewer pain episodes and long-term complications, like organ problems or sickle cell anemia.
For instance, we'll help you stay healthy by ensuring you:
- Get recommended immunizations.
- Get screening tests to detect early sickle cell complications.
- Understand the disease and your sickle cell pain triggers, such as dehydration, stress, fatigue or temperature changes.
In addition to meeting one on one with a specialist, you can also choose to participate in a shared medical visit with other healthcare providers and patients. Many of our patients enjoy this opportunity to interact with and support one another.
Medication therapies. We may prescribe medicines to help control sickle cell disease and reduce or improve complications like sickle cell anemia. These include Hydrea and newer drug options Oxbryta, Adakveo and Endari.
Help through a pain crisis. As a patient at our center, we'll teach you things you can do to manage pain at home. But if you experience a severe acute pain crisis, we can help right away. All it takes is a phone call to our center. We'll talk through your symptoms on the phone so that we are ready to start treatment soon after you arrive at the clinic. During treatment, you can rest quietly in our center, with its soothing colors, artwork and pleasant staff. This may help counter stress, which worsens a pain crisis.
Mental health and emotional support. Our holistic approach addresses all aspects of your well-being—not just your physical health. We can also connect you to a sickle cell disease support group. We host meetings every month.
Transitions to adult care. As they get older, children who have sickle cell disease will transition to adult care. We help make the transition as easy as possible. If your child will be transitioning to adult care, we'd love to provide a tour of our clinic. Together you and your child can meet our providers and start building a caring relationship.
Sickle cell trait testing and counseling. Testing can help patients and their partners find out if their baby would also have sickle cell disease.
We can be your primary care provider
Our experts are also skilled primary care providers. In addition to treating sickle cell disease, they can take care of your other routine healthcare needs—from sore throat care to checkups. This means you can get your specialty care and your primary care all at one location.
What’s more, we can even be the primary care provider for your family caregivers!
Schedule an appointment at the Sickle Cell Center
Would you like to learn more about the Sickle Cell Center or schedule an appointment? Please call 816.404.4290 Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm.