She may have been named Tionne Watkins at birth but the world only knows her as ‘T-Boz’. Since the 1990s, that stage name has marked her as the ‘T’ from the famous girl group, TLC. Though the group was tremendously successful, it eventually went on hiatus in 2007 – 5 years after the accidental death of one of its other members, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes. Despite that, though, Tionne continued to be active on the entertainment scene.
Apart from releasing solo music, she worked with other artists on their songs and had multiple acting roles. She also released a book of poetry called ‘Thoughts’ in November 1999.
While the focus has always been on her music, however, the public was always aware that she battled a chronic illness. Tionne was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was 7 years old and was hospitalized several times during her time with the group.
Over the years, Tionne has been open about her difficulties with the disease. For example, when she had her daughter, she slipped into a coma after breastfeeding.
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Most recently, she shared with Future of Personal Health all the precautions she has to take when traveling to cities at high altitudes as well as how her self-care has changed.
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What Is Sickle Cell Anemia?
Sickle cell anemia is a chronic disease in which your red blood cells are malformed. These cells are sickle-shaped and cannot carry oxygen well. The illness also causes the cells to stick together so people with sickle cell anemia often have issues with blockages that can interfere with blood flow.
People dealing with sickle cell disease are likely to experience varying degrees of pain, swelling in their extremities, bouts of anemia, frequent infections, and vision problems. Of course, the severity of these symptoms will depend on the type of sickle cell disease you’re dealing with.
The characteristic anemia that comes with this disease can be attributed to how quickly
