‘Sickle cell needs more funding’: An 18-year-old patient advocate calls on Washington to improve children’s health care

Sydney McLeod left her college dorm in New York to rush to the emergency room, hoping to get treatment for the blinding pain she felt in her legs and chest and the swelling in her ankles.

But this wasn’t the hospital back home, where she’s been receiving treatment for sickle cell disease for over a decade. These weren’t the doctors who knew her case. So 18-year-old McLeod found herself taking charge — detailing to the doctors and nurses what kind of medication she needed, the dosage, even checking to make sure the staff was keeping her hydrated.

“The doctor didn’t really