South Texas Blood & Tissue –A Story of Sickle Cell Disease

By South Texas Blood & Tissue

About South Texas Blood & Tissue

South Texas Blood & Tissue (STB&T) is a nonprofit community blood center that provides blood, plasma, platelets and other blood components to 100 hospitals in 48 South Texas counties. It is the largest blood supplier in our region. In addition, STB&T supports the development of advanced therapies, including those derived from donated human cells and tissues used in research and in new therapies and cures for cancers and degenerative diseases.

Breanna Morgan, who was born with sickle cell anemia, heard from an early age she could not do things healthy people can do. She has spent the last two decades proving her doctors wrong. At 27, she has found her passion in life. She is taking a new medication to help with her symptoms and she passionately wants to give hope to kids with this vicious disease.

“I just want to be a good example,” Breanna said.

Sickle cell disease affects the shape of the red blood cells, making them crescent-shaped in- stead of round. The misshapen cells can get stuck in the veins and block blood flow, causing excruciating pain, among other symptoms. The inherited disease is most commonly found in African Americans. This disease has caused Breanna to spend many months of her life in hospitals, receiving treatment (including more than a dozen blood transfusions that were given to replenish her low blood cell counts). She started advocating for blood donation with South Texas Blood & Tissue as a teenager.

“Usually when I get blood transfusions it’s a positive experience. You feel recharged, like your body’s getting better,” Breanna said.

While Breanna may look healthy, sickle cell anemia is an invisible disease that has affected every aspect of her life.

“It feels like we’re about to race with healthy humans, but for those of us with sickle cell, we have an anchor attached to our legs,” Breanna said. “Society looks especially at us with sickle cell and says, ‘You don’t look sick.’”

Breanna will always need treatment for sickle cell disease, but she hasn’t let it ruin her dreams. After looking up to medical professionals for her whole life (because of being in and out of hospitals), Breanna graduated from college planning to go into a health career.

However, one day she had the epiphany that she wanted to try out acting.

“I started having a lot of dreams about just being on set, being on stage and a lot of acting just kept coming to my mind. I didn't understand it because I don't come from that background,” Breanna said.

She took the leap and started going to acting classes and auditions. A few years later, Breanna is a part-time professional actor and has appeared in three movies.

Breanna wishes she could thank all her lifesaving blood donors and emphasize the importance of giving blood.

“One thing I think about when getting transfusions is, 'Whose blood is this?’ I want to get to know them and send a thank you card,” Breanna said. “There are a lot of people in the world who could really use that blood and I’ve been in situations before where the shortage affected me.”

Breanna has encountered situations in recent years where doctors had to make the decision of which patient should get a blood transfusion because of the low blood supply, she said. Because of her severe pain crises, Breanna has thankfully always gotten the blood she needs.