About IBD Podcast Episode 160 - Parenting With IBD - With Alison McGauley

Parenting With IBD – About IBD Podcast Episode 160 With Alison McGauley

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Amber interviews Alison McGauley, a teacher and author of “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” a children’s book about a girl whose mother lives with chronic illness. Alison shares her journey with ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and ankylosing spondylitis, and how her hospitalization impacted her two daughters. She emphasizes the importance of talking about illness with children to help them process their emotions. Alison’s book, set to release in March 2025, aims to provide a narrative for families dealing with chronic illness. Pre-orders are available, with proceeds donated to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada and the Arthritis Society.

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Buy Alison’s book: https://www.alisonmcgauley.com/books/my-books

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Transcript

[Music: IBD Dance Party]

Amber Tresca  00:04

I’m Amber Tresca, and this is About IBD.

Amber Tresca  00:07

I’m a medical writer and patient educator who lives with a J pouch due to ulcerative colitis. It’s my mission to educate people living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis about their disease and to bring awareness to the patient journey.

Amber Tresca  00:19

Welcome to Episode 160.

Amber Tresca  00:21

Living with a chronic illness isn’t uncommon, but it’s also not something that’s well represented in popular culture. All parents need community and support, but parents who live with chronic illnesses have challenges that are different from many of their peers.

Amber Tresca  00:34

That brings me to my guest, Alison McAuley. Alison was diagnosed first with ulcerative colitis, but also discovered that some of her symptoms were due to irritable bowel syndrome. Later, she developed a form of arthritis that can be related to IBD, called ankylosing spondylitis. When Alison was hospitalized to treat her ulcerative colitis, it had a significant impact on her two young girls. She learned, through some trial and error that her kids needed to talk over their emotions in order to better cope with them. That led her to write her first children’s book, “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” which is about a girl whose mother lives with chronic illness. In the story, Kenzie learns how to manage the emotions and worries she has about her mother’s health. Alison hopes that Kenzie’s story will provide a narrative that children can relate to and will help give families a way to start important conversations.

Amber Tresca  01:24

Alison, thank you so much for coming on about IBD.

Alison McGauley  01:28

Thanks for having me, Amber. I love listening to you about IBD, and I’m excited to be here as a guest today.

Amber Tresca  01:33

Oh, perfect. I love to hear when people listen to the show. So thank you so much for for doing that. It does make it a little bit easier to have you as a guest, because you know how things go around here, which is perfect for our listeners, not you and I know each other. We’ve been chatting. We’ve been putting together this show, this episode, but our listeners don’t know you yet, so I’d like to get an introduction. Would you tell us a little bit about yourself for sure?

Alison McGauley  02:00

Hi everyone. I’m Alison McGauley. I’ve been an elementary teacher for almost 20 years, and I’m currently a part time Special Education Resource Teacher. I live in Ontario, Canada with my partner, two daughters and our Ragdoll Cat. I have ulcerative colitis. It was diagnosed in 2008

Alison McGauley  02:18

and I also have ankylosing spondylitis, which is an inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine. I’ve always loved books, and a few years ago, started my journey toward publication, and I’m thrilled that my first picture about “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” illustrated by Emilie Leduc, will be published next March with Orca Book Publishers. In the story, Kenzie and her family plant a fragile little tree in their yardoOne summer day, and she promises to keep it safe only when fall and winter weather flare along with mom’s chronic illness, Kenzie worries that her promise will be broken. “Kenzie’s Little Tree” reminds us that, though the world is constantly changing and oftentimes difficult, we can be bold and strong, just like the little tree. I’m super excited for it to be out in the world and in the hands of kids.

Amber Tresca  03:04

Perfect. Thank you so much for that. I’m really looking forward to this book as well, and you absolutely get to talking about “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” which is super beautiful. I’ve been able to see some of the illustrations from it. But first, Alison, because this is About IBD, I want to understand more about your journey with ulcerative colitis, I wonder if you would tell me how your symptoms started and then about your diagnosis journey.

Alison McGauley  03:29

Definitely. In my late 20s, I got sick with the stomach flu, and the symptoms just kind of kept on going. Eventually it turned into blood and mucus in the stool, and I went to find my family doctor, he tried medication for hemorrhoids, spoiler alert, that didn’t work, and then I was referred to a GI doctor who did a scope and diagnosed ulcerative colitis. When I first found out, I remember trying to make it to my car before crying. So I just couldn’t believe that I had this incurable disease.

Alison McGauley 03:57

And I was young, and no one in my family, my immediate family anyway, had it at that point. I rarely took medication, so I was really hesitant to start anything. So I did the whole gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, soy free, everything free for a full year, flavor free, yeah, which is really difficult. And that was before, like the whole gluten free time.

Alison McGauley 04:19

And it was, it was difficult to find ingredients at that point, so I basically spent my weekend sourcing out, you know, gluten free, oats, good quality, stevia, all those fun things I still get teased from one friend about my brownies that were too dry to swallow. He loves my everything free brownies. So after all that, the diet didn’t significantly help my symptoms, so I started a five ASA drug that worked pretty well, up and down for a while.

Alison McGauley 04:49

While my girls were little, my IBD was up and down, and I also had some arthritis symptoms, like a flare of my thumb. That one was really hard because it left me unable to take care of my newborn. For a few days, which is really devastating. And then I had one big gut flare that was eventually diagnosed as IBS, which apparently you can also have. So then I got some medication for that, an IBS medication that really helped.

Alison McGauley 05:16

About five years ago, I had a terrible flare that was the closest I came to having surgery. Prednisone at first worked so well for me, but then it stopped working at that point. So that’s when I went to the hospital. We tried Remicade as a last resort before surgery. Luckily, that worked well. So that was the start of my biologics journey. And a few years after that, my SI, SI joint pain and back pain hit a new level, and so I had some MRIs done, and that was when they diagnosed the ankylosing spondylitis.

Alison McGauley 05:47

So at this moment, I’m taking biologic that covers both the IBD and the as I’m considered in remission. But anyone who is an IBD or as warrior knows that that doesn’t mean that the body is as it was before.

Amber Tresca  06:01

Right 100% thank you for sharing that with me. Do you remember how long was it between when your symptoms started and then when you were, you know, referred and got that colonoscopy and were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis?

Alison McGauley  06:16

I feel like it wasn’t too long. I think I was lucky after hearing from some other people that take years to get diagnosed. But yeah, yeah. Because, as I said, I went to the doctor. Well, at first I thought it was just the flu, so that probably went on for like a month or so. Then I went to the doctor who thought it was hemorrhoids. So I tried different things for that for a few months, and then, and then I got the diet, the referral, okay, so, and I’m in Canada, so referrals can take quite a while, so that probably took a few months at that point to get in. And then the doctor originally thought I had ulcerative colitis, but it wasn’t, you know, we had to wait for the colonoscopy to give the full on diagnosis, but Right? So maybe six to 12 months, I’d say.

Amber Tresca  07:02

Okay, it still feels like a long time. Does it to be walking around with symptoms, yeah? And to be treated, not that you didn’t have hemorrhoids you may have, but, but the Treatment For Hemorrhoids is not going to do anything.

Alison McGauley  07:18

Yeah. I guess it was pretty long, yeah.

Amber Tresca  07:22

Um, another thing that you said that I want to hit on really quickly, though, was that you said nobody in your immediate family had ulcerative colitis or a form of IBD. It sounds like did you have any knowledge of IBD beforehand? You have extended family members that live with it?

Alison McGauley  07:36

Um, I have a my mom’s first cousin, so I’m not sure if that’s my second cousin or, like a first cousin once removed or something. I’m not sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she had, as well, ulcerative colitis that she got in her 20s, but I didn’t know her that well or much about her, her her journey, yeah, but that was the only sort of genetic link, other than I had one of my grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis. Okay, that was the only sort of autoimmune in my immediate family, yeah.

Amber Tresca 08:13

So, like a lot of people, it definitely came from nowhere, pretty much. Yeah, we’re dealing with this, yeah…

Alison McGauley 08:15

Yeah, it was. It was quite a shock.

Amber Tresca  08:18

Yeah, quite a shock. Okay. Well, as you mentioned, you are a mom. You have two girls, and like, it’s not easy for anyone to become a parent, okay? And everyone has a different journey. It’s especially true though, I think with these chronic illnesses kind of in the mix, getting in the way, sometimes, can you tell me about your path to becoming a mom and what that was like for you? Definitely, and

Alison McGauley  08:45

I really agree with that. However, I’ve read that it’s not harder to conceive when you have IBD.

Amber Tresca  08:51

It’s not, yeah, actually, it’s it for anyone who thinks so, I’m gonna put on my medical writer hat for just a second here, um, for anyone who’s heard that, because you live with an IBD, that your ability to conceive is decreased. It actually is not, unless you’re currently flaring, then that might have an effect on it, and then surgeries is a whole other thing.

Amber Tresca  09:15

So I know there’s people out there that think, Well, I’ve been told I probably can’t get pregnant because I live with an IBD. No you can. And in fertility rate, I should say infertility rates are the same in the IBD population as they are in the general population. So a lot of people don’t know that, but that doesn’t mean that, you know IBD didn’t get in your way. So all right, I’m gonna let you talk now.

Alison McGauley  09:37

All right, well, it certainly did get in my way. So, yeah, so as saying that, yes, it’s not a factor, but for me, because I tried getting pregnant, as you said when I was first diagnosed, and figuring out how to manage the inflammation that you know, I’m sure is why? Because my body was too sick at that point, I was underweight and anemic and stressed and had a lot of inflammation.

Alison McGauley  10:00

So yeah, things did not go smoothly. It was a month after month of disappointment. It was a really emotional time because, you know, I had just been diagnosed, so it was grieving my diagnosis while simultaneously feeling terrified that the illness would also take away my dream of becoming a mom, yeah. So, yeah, I don’t recommend that. So yeah, we tried acupuncture and herbs and fertility treatments and all the things. And finally, after three years, we got our positive test. And then with my second daughter, as you often hear about, I got pregnant easily right after, it’s actually right after finishing around a prednisone for a bad flare. So I was so grateful that that one was easy.

Amber Tresca  10:44

So let me ask you, did you get pregnant with your first daughter while you were in the dairy free, gluten free, taste free of your journey?

Alison McGauley  10:52

No. So that was right at the beginning of being diagnosed. Okay, that was the first year. And then I did start taking medication after that, because basically the fertility doctor said, Well, if you have a lot of inflammation in your body, it’s unlikely you’re going to get pregnant. So right. I did start taking and also the diet wasn’t as I said. It wasn’t very effective for me, unfortunately. So I knew I needed to to do something else.

Amber Tresca  11:20

Right. How long did you wait before you ramped it up and went and saw a fertility specialist?

Alison McGauley  11:28

Probably about a year? Yeah, I think that that’s generally recommended for couples that don’t have anything else going on. That after a year, you should see people with IBD. I think they say, why don’t you maybe think about it a little bit sooner, just because you like, there could be something else going on there that to deal with. All right, so thank you for answering those questions and being so transparent about our journey to motherhood. I think a lot of times, look, I dealt with infertility as well. It is so emotional to speak about, even today, and my kids are 14 and 17, so but I think getting it out there and telling our stories a little bit is helpful to let other people and couples dealing with infertility that they’re not alone, and that there’s help out there, and that we have healthy kids today.

Alison McGauley  12:18

Yeah. And I think, like for me, I wish I had just, you know, in looking back, it’s like, I know I should have just got things under control and then try to get pregnant. But I like to, you know, hit the ground running. And, you know, I was ready, you I was ready. I was ready to be a mom. And I was like, Okay, I’m doing this thing. But, you know, it just, yeah, it’s just one of those things where all the things happen at once and but yeah, I would advise just getting your body healthy first, and then that will be a lot easier. Hopefully.

Amber Tresca  12:53

Yeah, co sign that 100 percent. So thank you for saying that.

[MUSIC: About IBD Piano Transition]

Amber Tresca  13:00

Coming up. Alison has advice for parents living with chronic illness.

Amber Tresca  13:16

All right, let’s move into your children’s book, “Kenzie’s Little Tree”. So the story, as you already outlined, is of a little girl and her tree that she plants, and then her mother, who also lives with a chronic illness. What spurred you to write “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” Alison.

Alison McGauley  13:36

Of course. Well, my daughters were four and seven when I was suddenly hospitalized in a different city. Then there’s also been lots of times when my girls have wanted me to do activities like you go sledding, go tobogganing with them, or eat certain foods at celebrations or whatnot, when I’m in a flare, and it’s made them sad when I can’t though I have pointed out that, you know, most moms don’t actually sled down the Tobogganing Hill. That so all this has been hard for them.

Alison McGauley  14:05

So I wrote Kenzie little tree, in big part for that, for my girls and for all children who are impacted by illness or disability, so they can feel seen and represented, and to remind them that even though Life can be tough, they are strong. When I was at the hospital that time that I mentioned, my little one spent a lot of time playing alone in her room. Apparently, she didn’t want to talk much. She was only four.

Alison McGauley  14:26

My older one understood a little bit more, but the kids at school were asking her, like, because normally I’d pick her up at the end of the day. So they were, you know, some of her friends were like, where’s your mom? And one actually, one student actually asked her, like, did your mom die? Which was obviously, like, super distressing for her, yeah, and because I was in a different city, they weren’t able to visit me much, so they did come once, but it was just so upsetting because them see me with the IV in my arm, and then, you know, the worst part was when it was time to go home, and I had to stay there. And, you know, they couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just come with them. So that was, that was really hard.

Alison McGauley  15:05

And then after I returned home, we didn’t talk about my hospital stay much. My husband and I thought, well, you know, it’s probably easier if we just, you know, don’t really talk about it. Move on. Forget about it. But what happened was the girls were so anxious. Like, every time I’d go out, they’d be like, Oh, are you going to go to the hospital anytime I wasn’t like, any little sign of me not feeling well, they assumed that, you know, I had to go to the hospital again. We talked to a family therapist, and we found out that having repeated conversations about traumatic experiences can help children to better process their emotions. So we started having conversations about that time, and we did find that it helped.

Alison McGauley  15:46

So throughout the years, we we actually still sometimes bring up that time, and sometimes the girls do still wonder, like, if I’ll have to go to the hospital again, if you know I’m heading into a flare, but reflecting back on it and talking about our feelings does seem to be calming for them, so learning about the importance of talking with kids and their experiences and thoughts and feelings was another huge reason why I wrote “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” because I hope that when reading it, it’ll be a way for families to start a dialog.

Alison McGauley  16:15

And I’ve actually been collaborating with a psychologist here to write some family discussion questions for the book, so I’m hoping that That’ll also help to start conversations. These days, publishers are putting out a lot more diverse books that represent all different realities and experiences, which is amazing, and I want to add to this conversation to represent kids like Kenzie, and also kids who have chronic illness themselves.

Alison McGauley  16:38

Because in my book, it’s, you know, the mom that has the chronic illness. But what’s really hard about representing people with IBD or arthritis is that they’re invisible illnesses. So it’s like not things we can show in pictures easily, right? Like a limb difference or something you could show in a book. So it’s difficult with pictures, especially IBD, right?

Alison McGauley  16:56

So it’s sometimes tricky to have this representation, but my aim here is to bring kids a narrative story that’s engaging and relatable. I’m also working on some other manuscripts that feature children with chronic illness, so I’m hoping that someday these will be out in the world too, because it’s so powerful for a child to see a character in a book who’s going through a similar experience to them.

Amber Tresca  17:17

Thank you for that. I have to say, I it never even occurred to me when I was going through, especially the early days, of trying to get pregnant and then having infants and then small children, to look for a representation of what my family experience was in a book. I wouldn’t have expected to see it anywhere, and never even thought to maybe ask a librarian or somebody else, is there something that might help my children better understand why mom sometimes has days, and I’m not saying that these were bad days, and I’m sure that my children enjoyed these days as well, but the days when were cuddled up watching a movie because mom can’t get off the couch.

Alison McGauley  18:00

Right? I know.

Amber Tresca  18:02

And, yeah, there aren’t a lot out especially, you know, 10-15, years ago, I think so,

Alison McGauley  18:08

Yeah.

Amber Tresca  18:09

And I’m sure there’s somebody out there that says I wrote a book at that time. I’m sorry if it was out there. I’m sorry I didn’t find it or think to look for it, but I’m so glad to be bringing this in front of the community today, and that you’re doing this work and discussion questions. Ah, I could not love that more. I could not love that more because your point about talking about experiences and airing them out. I think most people feel as though, if you don’t talk about something, that that is the way to handle it. You don’t want to bring it up and upset people.

Amber Tresca  18:44

But, as you said, and I just want to repeat it and reinforce it with these kinds of things. You do need to talk about that, because that helps prevent, you know, the post-traumatic stress that can set in. That wasn’t something that I understood until I had some mental health professionals, like, literally, on this show that explained that concept to me, and then you did something which was amazing and so wonderful and caring and loving for your children and your family, was that you engaged a professional to help you with that experience. And it sounds like it made all the difference.

Alison McGauley  19:19

Thank you. Yeah, it, it really did. I mean, same, yeah, exactly same thing. We thought that, you know, we’ll just kind of sweep this under the rug, and they’re young like they’re resilient, they’ll forget.

Alison McGauley  19:30

But really, no, they’re just their anxiety was so heightened by, you know, mom’s, you know, When’s she gonna leave? Because I had to leave. I wasn’t planning on staying at the hospital. I was just planning to go get a scope so that they could see the level of inflammation, and my GI doctor’s in different cities, so I had to go to the hospital where he works. So, you know, we were, I was just going for half a day, and then all of a sudden it turned into 10 days.

Alison McGauley  19:54

So it was just really for a child, so unfair that, you know, I was just taken away. And, you know, no warning. So yeah, so it really was traumatic for them in that instance, and yeah, totally agreed that just talking about it, that’s the that’s the only way to get past those feelings and move on. So I’m just so grateful that we did talk to a professional and find that out, because that’s just really helped us and have a lot of conversations over the years.

Amber Tresca  20:22

Alison, I so for myself, raising kids while living with a chronic illness has taught me so many things that I didn’t expect, and I think for me, the chief amongst those is that the value of community and relying on my community, especially my local community and also my IBD community to help me through the twists and turns of being a mom. So I’m wondering, Alison, what has surprised you most about raising kids while living with a chronic illness?

Alison McGauley  20:53

Yeah, I can totally appreciate the value of community. Does take a village of Yeah, you’re right, especially when there’s chronic illness involved. For me. Well, when my children were tiny, caring for them was physically difficult, between the IBD flares, joint pain and then, of course, the constant appointments. You’re constantly having to go for these appointments. I didn’t believe that there was anything good about parenting with chronic illness, but as they got older, I did start noticing some upsides. My girls have seen instances where I’ve needed care over the years.

Alison McGauley  21:24

Of course, when I faced flares and whatnot, and I feel like that’s really helped them develop their skills and caring and empathy. They’re very quick to offer, help, share with others, and they’re really mindful about inclusion. I mean, even to this day, like they still will mask at school sometimes because, you know, they’re very aware that, you know, they don’t want to bring things home for me, and, you know, so things like that, um, some of the things that I do to care for myself are teaching part time instead of full time, using some physical accommodations.

Alison McGauley  21:55

I do a lot of walking, some strength training and eating healthfully. And I’m just really happy that my girls are starting to show some good self-care habits as well from observing that. And as we know, life with chronic illness means that often our plans have to change when illness flares. So my kids, like all others, are disappointed when activities are canceled or changed.

Alison McGauley  22:16

But I think it’s just really helpful for them that these times do provide them with a lot of practice in being flexible and resilient, because these sorts of things that happen all the time in life, where things are changed. So I think that’s just given them a lot of good practice while they’re young with those skills.

Amber Tresca  22:33

I agree. I always say, like, I want my kids to experience, like, not a significant amount of adversity, but, you know, like a little bit of adversity, because it does teach you resilience and problem solving and all sorts of other things. And not that I want anyone to live with these stupid diseases, but at the same time, I noticed the same, my kids are incredibly empathic, and I think that that’s really going to serve them well, across the entire spectrum of their lives, personally, professionally.

Amber Tresca  23:06

And I don’t know if it’s if, if I didn’t live with an IBD, I don’t know if it’s something that I would have focused on in my parenting journey. So I was kind of, you know, trying to find those silver linings. I think, yeah, it sounds like you’ve done as well.

Alison McGauley  23:19

Definitely.

Amber Tresca  23:21

Alison, do you have any advice for people who are starting on their parenting journey while they’re living with a chronic illness?

Alison McGauley  23:26

Yes, just as I mentioned earlier, I think that it’s important to talk with your kids about experiences and feelings, because being open will help them to better process their thoughts and emotions. Another thing is just to keep it simple, once you find out what works best for you. Like I mentioned earlier, I tried my everything free diet when I was first diagnosed, and I’ve tried a lot of alternative therapies and special diets since then as well.

Alison McGauley  23:51

But when you have a baby or young children, it’s a balancing act right with everyone’s needs, along with time, money and energy, and it is not a great time to try new things. So keep it simple. Be kind to yourself, because following a specific diet or protocol can also add its own stress and work, and this, in turn, can exacerbate your health issues. And one last thing that I wish I had done right from the start was to give myself time to cultivate a passion. Not doing anything creative for years was tough mentally, and now that I’m writing, I’m busier than ever, but I’m in a much better place, and my kids see this, and they’re also really excited about my writing.

[MUSIC: About IBD Piano Transition]

Amber Tresca  24:35

Up next the food that Alison finds helpful, but which she also hates.

Amber Tresca  24:50

All right, let’s get into it with “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” because I want everybody, want everybody to know where. They can get a copy, when they can get a copy, how they can get a copy, and then you have some special things going on that you’re doing along with the release of this book. So let’s give me all the deets Alison.

Amber Tresca  25:12

All right! Yes, I do. So “Kenzie’s Little Tree” launches next March, but it’s available now for pre order anywhere you buy books. So in Canada, where I am, I’ve partnered up with two amazing independent bookstores, rookery books and the Spaniels tale bookstore, and they’re donating 10% of the proceeds for all pre orders to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada and the arthritis society, which is super generous and for American readers, if you pre order a copy of Ken’s little tree and fill in the Google form on my website, I will make a personal donation to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation, and all the details for that can be found on my website https://www.alisonmcgauley.com.

Amber Tresca  25:54

I love that the community is very supportive and warm, and I know listeners that you will go and order this book, that you will pre order it, or, if you’re listening after March 2025, that you will order it or ask for it at your local bookseller. Because that is an important thing to do as well. I love to give books to kids, once they get to be teenagers, I think probably they’re, you know, they’re not as welcoming of my choice of gifts, but I really am looking forward to including this in my rotation, especially when somebody in the IBD community is expecting a baby, because that that brings me great, great joy to see people with IBD starting or expanding their families.

Amber Tresca  26:41

So I love to have this option written by somebody who lives with an IBD so understands it in a very deep way that not everybody is is going to if they don’t. All right, I have…I want to ask you two things.

Amber Tresca  26:55

Normally at the end of the show, I ask one question that is more about my guest. Personally, I couldn’t, I couldn’t decide, Alison, so I hope we could get to two questions, because there’s two things in your Instagram, after I did my deep dive into it, that I wanted to know more about. And you brought up diet a little bit. And, you know, living through the days of trying to work through a new diagnosis, of course, exploring diet. I mean, that just makes sense, but at the same time, maybe finding it a little challenging, because it’s not the most fun. I saw that you have a sort of a contentious relationship with sauerkraut. So I just wanted to learn more of your thoughts about that.

Alison McGauley  27:49

That’s just like a love hate relationship, I guess. Yeah, well, I tried various probiotics over the years, but none really worked too well for me, and I know there’s a lot of now controversial stuff about probiotics that, you know, maybe they aren’t so good, or, you know, who knows, yeah, but I do find that because of the IBS part, like the IBS, you know, bloating and gas, I do find that align. Probiotics works well for that.

Alison McGauley  28:17

But I also then found that the sauerkraut worked well too. So, yeah, so sometimes I have, I like to have a chaser after my sauerkraut sold, you know, little sugar sauerkraut, and then, yep, something like a chocolate or, like a sweet drink, you got to have, like, the chaser at the ready, because it’s or you mix it with applesauce, just to make it a little more palatable. But it’s still pretty bad.

Amber Tresca  28:45

Oh that’s a good tip mixing it with applesauce. I have to tell you. I’m also not a fan of the sauerkraut. I don’t think I would do it. I think I’m more of like a yogurt or kefir person when it comes to the to the probiotic foods, kombucha. That’s been a, you know, a journey,

Alison McGauley  29:03

Yeah.

Amber Tresca  29:04

But I have to say up and down as well.

Alison McGauley  29:06

Yeah, it’s very bubbly.

Amber Tresca  29:08

Yeah. And it’s just, I don’t know. It’s the kind of thing that I don’t know. Maybe I’ll, maybe I’ll get there. If anybody has any tips, they’re welcome to reach out. But I think if somebody told me I had to eat sauerkraut, I think I would 100% just put it on hot dog and just give it, probably defeating the purpose.

Alison McGauley  29:28

It’s still good. I think you can get away with it. Do it.

Amber Tresca  29:33

Maybe some kind of a, of a advanced hot dog. Anyway, all right, so, all right. And then my second question that I didn’t give you, I’m really torturing you. I’m so sorry, but, um, but I have to know more about the cat. Your cat is beautiful.

Alison McGauley  29:48

Yes.

Amber Tresca  29:49

Oh my gosh, very beautiful. Tell me the name. Tell me what she’s like, Tell me. Tell me.

Alison McGauley  29:55

Well, her name’s Luna. She’s four years old, so we had a rag doll before. Or this is our second rag doll. We just once you have a rag doll, there’s no going back, because they’re just like the softest and just they can be. They can be like dogs, where they our first one was like a dog, where she followed us, everywhere we went. She was always around.

Alison McGauley  30:14

Luna is very much your scaredy cat, so she likes to hide out, but she’s just very loving, like she just, you know, she wants lots of cuddles when she wants it, and she’s very, very sweet. So yeah, we just, we adore her. We got her during the pandemic. So she’s like a pandemic cat, where she’s very she’s just scared of people because she was just, you know, she never, we never had anyone over when she was a kitten. So, I think maybe that’s why she’s partly why she’s so shy, but yeah, we just love her to bits, and the girls always want to try to find her, and we adore her.

Amber Tresca  30:52

Well, I’m going to make a case for more posts of Luna on Instagram. Less like I want to see more posts of this, of this beautiful not to give you, you know, not to be your content manager or anything like that, but she’s gorgeous. So, and the breed is unfamiliar to me. I’ve never had a Ragdoll Cat, so, you know, I’m interested to learn more about that well as well. So I’m going to look that up.

Alison McGauley  31:20

Yeah, they have, there’s all different colorations, similar to a Siamese, but, but, yeah, they all have blue eyes. They’re very beautiful cats. And this, like, beautiful long, like rabbit fur. It’s very soft.

Amber Tresca  31:32

Yes, although I imagine your vacuuming regimen is a little bit more advanced than…

Alison McGauley  31:38

Yeah, well, we just have, we have hardwood, so there’s just like piles in the corner, you know, tumbleweeds. So, yeah, we’re used to it.

Amber Tresca  31:49

Yeah, I’m familiar with that as well. All right. Alison, very, very last thing, I promise. But I want everyone to be able to find “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” to be able to find you. So tell me where you are on the interwebs and on the social media so that everyone can find you.

Alison McGauley  32:08

Well, I’m pretty easy to find online because everything’s under my name. So I’m on Instagram and x at Alison Magali, and my website is also Alisonmagali.com so on my website, you’ll find links to my socials, as well as all the pre order information for Ken’s little tree.

Amber Tresca  32:25

Perfect. Thank you so much for making it easy for everybody. I will also put all of that information in the show notes. Alison, it has been such a pleasure to get to know you. Your book is going to be so impactful. I’m so grateful that you wrote it. I do not love that your family is dealing with all of the you know, the disease and everything that comes along with it, but I’m grateful that you’re in the community and that you are able to use your gifts as a storyteller to help other families as well. So thank you so much for doing that, and thank you for speaking with me today.

Alison McGauley  32:59

Well, thanks, Amber. It’s been an honor and lots of fun being on the show today. And I also really appreciate you. And just starting to listen to the podcast, I’ve just heard about so many great people in the community. It’s just, you know, it’s, again, one of those silver linings where, you know, you hate to live with this illness, but there’s just so many kind people in the IBD community, and it’s amazing that way. So thank you.

[Music: IBD Dance Party]

Amber Tresca  33:25

Hey, super listener.

Amber Tresca  33:26

Thanks to Alison McGauleyfor sharing so much of her journey with IBD and parenthood. Her book, “Kenzie’s Little Tree,” is being released in March 2025. It can be found at major booksellers, or you can ask your local bookstore to order it for you. Some of the proceeds from sales will be donated to IBD and donated to IBD and arthritis patient advocacy groups.

Amber Tresca  33:45

You can get all the details at https://www.alisonmcgauley.com/.

Amber Tresca  33:48

You can also follow Alison on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Links to a written transcript, everyone’s social media handles, and more information on the topics we discussed is in the show notes and on my episode, 160 page on AboutIBD.com

Amber Tresca  34:03

Thanks for listening, and remember until next time, I want you to know more about IBD.

About IBD is a production of Mal and Tal Enterprises.

It is written, produced, and directed by me, Amber Tresca.

Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney.

Theme music is from Cooney Studio. 

Amber Tresca  34:27

Perfect, excellent. We did it

Alison McGauley  34:29

Great!

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