Although he has suffered from Sickle Cell Disease for all of his 45 years, West Point native James Gates is hard-pressed to describe a typical day for someone with the disease.

“That’s because there isn’t a typical day,” says the pastor-turned-author. “I can’t tell you how many days I’ve prayed that God would let me have just one day of feeling like a normal man. It’s something I’ve never experienced.”

Sickle Cell disease is a hereditary, genetic defect of the red blood cells. As its name implies, the red blood cells of those with the disease are elongated, sickle-shaped instead of the normal round shape.

“I had a friend with Sickle Cell who described it the best,” Gates said. “He said, ‘Imagine your blood cells were broken glass.’ That’s what Sickle Cell is like.”

On Sunday at 3 p.m., Gates will tell his story of living with Sickle Cell Disease at Strong Hill Baptist Church, located at 471 Barton Ferry Road in West Point as part of the church’s “Sickle Cell Sunday” program.

It affects millions of people world-wide and while not limited to the black population, it is most common in the U.S. in the black population, where an estimated one in 400 are diagnosed with the disease.

The shape of the red blood cells of those with the disease makes it difficult for the blood to move through blood vessels, robbing the body’s organs of the necessary oxygen the red blood cells contain.

Because it is a disease of the circulatory system, Sickle Cell Disease can have a broad range of health consequences, among them shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness or coldness in the hands and feet, headaches and potential failure of organs that are deprived of their oxygen-rich blood supply.

By far, the most common symptoms are pain throughout the body and fatigue.

It was the latter that forced Gates to give up his career as a pastor after 24 years serving at churches in Starkville, Columbus, West Point and Atlanta.

It was in Atlanta that Gates suffered his most severe effects.

“I remember sitting in Sunday School one day when I heard God say, ‘If you keep on doing this you’ll die.’ I didn’t understand what that meant. But I went to a Sickle Cell clinic there in Atlanta and the next thing I know, I’m in surgery having my spleen removed. The surgeon said so much blood had been trapped in my spleen that it was the biggest spleen he had ever seen, many times larger than the normal healthy spleen.”

Gates said it took years before he was able to grasp the full implications of life with Sickle Cell Disease.

“When I was a little boy, all I knew is that I had to take this really nasty-tasting medicine,” he says. “Then, when I was about 10 or 11, I heard the name of the disease. All I knew is that I would get sick sometimes and I didn’t have the energy and stamina that the other kids had.”

Gates says there are two symptoms that are almost always a routine part of life. The first is pain. The second is fatigue.

For Gates, the fatigue is the most difficult aspect of the disease to accept.

“People don’t understand it. You could be talking to me and you would think to yourself, ‘Wow, he’s doing great.’ But 10 minutes, a half-hour later, I could be laid out in a hospital bed. It’s totally unpredictable.”

Unable to maintain the busy schedule that goes with the life of a pastor, Gates said he sought a means of maintaining his ministry. He turned to writing, and has self-published several books.

His next book, due out next month, is about life with Sickle Cell Disease. He hopes the book, titled “The Essence of Sickle Cell,” will be an encouragement to those in the Golden Triangle who are suffering from the disease.

“I know about a dozen people in the immediate area, but I’m sure there are more than that if you consider the statistics,” Gates said.

Faith is what he hopes to relay during his sermon Sunday. Gates calls his message, “The Infinity of Hope: Praising, Praying and Teaching.”

“Hope, I’ve come to realize is the key,” Gates said. “Not only is Sickle Cell Disease the most painful disease, it’s also the most perplexing. I want to give anyone with the disease a sense of hope and encouragement.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].