New Sickle Cell Sanctuary brings holistic treatment options to Atlanta [Video]

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A new center is open in Southwest Atlanta offering holistic treatment options to those with sickle cell disease.

The center is called the Sickle Cell Sanctuary and provides a spa-like setting. Tabatha McGee, the executive director of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, described the center as a safe space for those with the disease.

“I feel like we have finally accomplished some good work and it’s been a journey,” she said. “So many of them have been mistreated for so long and they’ve been looked upon as drug seekers, they’ve been looked upon as you’re really not in that much pain because you look totally fine.”

But McGee knows and understands the blood disorder and how it impacts those with it. In a person with sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are sickle-shaped. According to the Centers for Disease Control, those cells …