What does it mean to live? To REALLY LIVE? In today’s episode of Silent Podcast Christina and Ijeoma talk with Carla Lewis, CEO & founder of an organization called Kids Conquering Sickle Cell Disease Foundation based in Orlando, Florida.

This conversation will make you laugh, bring you to tears, and leave your heart feeling warm.

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

We are still celebrating Sickle Cell Awareness Month, and in this BONUS episode of Silent Podcast, Ijeoma and Christina connect with Maya Bloomberg, a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She specializes in hematology and is passionate about the sickle cell patients she treats. The trio discusses advocacy, patient rights and care, and how racial disparities play a role in this life-altering disease. Not only is this episode super inspiring, it's a wealth of information for sickle cell patients and advocates alike. In our opinion, there is no better way to end sickle cell awareness month than with this episode of Silent Podcast. You can connect with Maya Bloomberg on Instagram at @thehemenp.  

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

You check out this episode of SILENT Podcast on YouTube at https://youtu.be/70T-8pAnpLE.

When you let genuine love into your life, you are never alone. In Episode 9 of SILENT Podcast, Ijeoma and Christina connect with Dr. Kristyl Smith, organizational psychologist who shares how her sickle cell journey has been transformed by shifting her mindset, by getting in tune with her body, and most importantly, by having a tribe of loved ones surrounding her. The trio shares some awesome stories, some laughs, and some tears. You can find Dr. Kristyl at @drkayjai on Instagram. 

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

You check out this episode of SILENT Podcast on YouTube at https://youtu.be/VYcAjqqPO3w.

In this one year anniversary episode of Silent Podcast, released on June 19th - Word Sickle Cell Awareness Day, Christina and Ijeoma speak with Emerald and Tolu Adeyemi who share the importance of knowing your sickle cell status, and they also share how their journey of love has been solidified through raising a child with sickle cell. The conversation is full of laughs, love, and learning. It is not to be missed!

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org or follow us at @therubyball on Instagram.  

You can check out this episode of SILENT Podcast on YouTube at https://youtu.be/1Vrr8fyex-w.

If your passion propels you even when all of the odds are stacked against you, that's when you know it's real. For Dr. Lynn Mendonḉa, her diagnosis of sickle cell did not stop her from living out her dream as a critical care physician - even when it meant risking her own life in a pandemic to treat the nation's most ill COVID-19 patients. In this BONUS episode of SILENT Podcast, Christina and Ijeoma explore the journey of COVID-19 one year since it began. With Dr. Lynn, they talk about some of the most critical impacts of COVID over the past year and even the glimmers of light that they have all seen despite the pandemic. 

As shared on this episode, you can connect with Ijeoma's event-planning services on Instagram at @ijeomaezinnecollective and visit her website at www.loveezinne.com.

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org or follow us at @therubyball on Instagram.  You can check out this episode of SILENT Podcast on YouTube at https://youtu.be/5jA1FyNgqsc.

Imagine having a twin sister who has the perfect antidote to cure your life-threatening disease. For twins Abi and Vivi, this is the story of that very journey! In this episode of SILENT Podcast, Ijeoma and Christina speak to Lady Laide, sickle cell advocate and mother to twins Abigail (Abi) and Valerie (Vivi).  Lady Laide shares the journey of her daughter Abi, who has recently received a stem cell transplant to cure her sickle cell disease. She shares her own courageous journey of faith and favor. Most importantly, she shares information for an upcoming blood and stem cell drive. 

If you are in the DMV (DC, Maryland, or Virginia) area, please consider participating in the upcoming blood and stem cell drive on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at Restoration Center, 119 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770 from 10:00am - 3:00 pm by visiting https://bit.ly/3aKtwEa. Walk-ins are available for the stem cell registry. If you are out of state, you can still participate by joining the stem cell registry at https://join.bethematch.org/abivivi.

Through Lady Laide, listeners can learn how someone's pain can become their passion and ultimately their purpose. You can follow Lady Laide at @ladylaide on Instagram. You can watch this episode on Youtube at https://youtu.be/Kcd0bNGYTPk.

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

They're baaaackkk! Christina and Ijeoma return to SILENT podcast welcoming in a new year and starting things off a little different. In Episode 5 of SILENT, Ijeoma and Christina connect with The Ruby Ball Foundation Board members and Advisors, Irene Okeke, Damilola Okuboyejo, and Ashley Smith. The ladies introduce themselves, reminisce on their personal highlights of the Ruby Ball Gala, and debate hot topics including the COVID-19 vaccination. The episode ends with an optimistic outlook of what is to come for The Ruby Ball Foundation in 2021 and beyond.

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

What does it take to be a voice to those who are often silenced?  In Episode 4 of SILENT, Ijeoma and Christina connect with Dr. Ify Osunkwo, a professor and medical doctor at Atrium Health who has dedicated her life to sickle cell advocacy.  Dr. Ify talks of her first encounter with sickle cell disease as a child living in Nigeria, and how that first encounter served as a launch pad to her current work. Dr. Ify teaches listeners about the nuances of sickle cell disease, how it affects individuals, and what people can do to be advocates themselves.  This is an episode not to be missed!

Dr. Ify can be found on LinkedIn and on Twitter and Instagram at @ifyosunkwomd. 

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

A mother's love spans across generations.  In episode 3, Ijeoma and Christina sit down with Desiree, Christina's sister. They learn about her journey as a woman and mom living with sickle cell disease. Desiree courageously shares some of the obstacles that she has had to overcome and what ultimately keeps her going in her journey with sickle cell.  As a bonus, we have an opportunity to hear from Elijah, Desiree's son, about what it is like growing up having a parent who has sickle cell and he also shares what keeps him going. As we learn through Episode 3, a mother's love seems to always be at the heart of the matter. 

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.

We often see that there are societal pressures for men to appear to be "strong."  What are the ways that the need to be strong can be either helpful or harmful to us? And is this just a dilemma that men face?  Christina and Ijeoma explore some of these questions with their guest, Obinna, who is also Ijeoma's twin brother! Obinna, who also has sickle cell disease, shares some of his toughest moments, how they have affected him and his family, and how he has persisted through each of them. Obinna, Ijeoma, and Christina celebrate a special day while starting one of the conversations that has been long overdue for the family. 

You can connect with Obinna on Instagram at @_beans83.

Silent Podcast is sponsored by The Ruby Ball Foundation where our goal is to create a voice in the silence by promoting awareness while empowering and improving the quality of life for individuals living with sickle cell disease around the world! For more information, visit www.therubyball.org.