Artistry in action: Riley patients raise sickle cell awareness 

At Riley Children’s Hospital, patients are channeling their experiences with sickle cell disease into a powerful art therapy project. Through this expression, they learn how sickle cells can be a tool for self-love and spread awareness.The project allows patients, caregivers and families to write how sickle cell disease has affected them and their life on a sickle cell-shaped leaf which is then placed on a large painting of a tree. The painting was displayed in the lobby of Riley for the month of September in honor of Sickle Cell Awareness Month. For patients and families, seeing how others have grown from the disease can foster a sense of community for a painful disease. Sickle cell disease is a group of red blood cell disorders that affects at least 100,000 people in the United States, according to Dr. Julia LaMotte, pediatric psychologist at Riley.As LaMotte explains, a normal red blood cell is round and can easily move throughout the body. With sickle cells, the genetic mutation turns the blood cell into a sickle shape, causing them to get stuck at certain points in the body. Patients can experience severe pain as a result.“While we think that about 1 in 400 African...