I’m a little tired of being “resilient,” aren’t you?
I’m told I’ve developed resiliency, and that’s how I’ve made it through the difficulties with my illnesses (ulcerative colitis and others) and their treatments, such as surgeries. I don’t really think of it that way, however. My perspective on resilience is that I don’t see how I could exist without it.
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Pregnancy can be a time of hope and excitement; it can also be fraught with fear, doubt, and complex decision-making. For women with chronic illness, it may be all of these things — and more.
Instead of offering support, evidence, and knowledge for pregnant women, the comments regarding acetaminophen (Tylenol) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and others are nothing short of confusing. This situation affects women with chronic illness disproportionately because it perpetuates the stigma around taking safe and necessary medications during pregnancy.
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Living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex journey that extends beyond physical symptoms. IBD affects us as whole people, not just digestive systems.
On The Mind-Body Connection in IBS and IBD Featuring Ali Navidi, PsyD – About IBD Podcast Episode 178, Dr. Ali Navidi, a gastropsychologist and co-founder of GI Psychology, discusses the often-overlooked mental health challenges that come with an IBD diagnosis. Patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals will all come away with a deeper understanding of the gut-brain connection and practical strategies for holistic care.
This blog post covers some of the themes and expert advice from the episode, offering in-depth guidance and actionable tips for managing the mental health aspects of IBD.
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Chronic illness can affect us at any time in our lives. The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in particular are often diagnosed in teens and young adults. This means there is so much life to live while managing a complex disease.
IBD affects every aspect of our lives. People outside the IBD community tend to focus on restroom access. This is not completely inappropriate, because during a flare-up, many people with IBD need consistent access to clean bathroom facilities.
However, zooming out from that, we can think about the ways in which not having bathroom access can affect us in tangental ways. This includes participating in sports and outdoor activities.
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After being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, Victoria felt isolated and overwhelmed. She turned to social media to connect with the IBD community.
That led her to work with others in the IBD community to create #GetYourBellyOut. Their goal was to make some noise and get attention for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis outside of the GI community.
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Managing a career while living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is hard.
I might even be underselling that. At times in my life, it was darn near impossible to manage the symptoms of ulcerative colitis and be a productive student or employee. As a matter of fact, it was the intersection of employee/nursing mother/wife/homeowner/person with a j-pouch that finally sent me into a full-time freelance career. It was much better for me (and everyone around me).
But can anyone do it?
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On About IBD Podcast Episode 170, I talk to Lisa Zawrotny, a productivity coach, founder of Positively Productive Systems, and host of the Positively Living Podcast. We talk about how people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis) or other chronic illnesses have unique challenges when it comes to productivity. Our discussion focuses on how to manage stress and clutter effectively when coping with low energy and flare-ups. Lisa shares her personal journey as a caregiver for her mother with Alzheimer’s and her experiences with chronic pain, which have profoundly influenced her approach to productivity coaching. In this post, I break down the key insights and actionable advice shared in the episode.
Continue readingIn this episode, I take you through my process, how I recruit guests, record, produce, and market about IBD. If you are curious to learn how About IBD is produced, or if you’re interested in being a guest or a sponsor, this episode should answer many of your questions.
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For those of us living with chronic illnesses, parenting comes with challenges that are different than those of our peers. On About IBD Podcast Episode 167, Jaime Holland and I share how we manage guilt and fatigue from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here are some key takeaways and practical tips from our conversation for parents with IBD who find themselves making their way through similar challenges.
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I don’t get to say how other people decide to refer to themselves. How someone defines their relationship to their disease or to themselves is none of my business. I don’t get to make decisions about language on behalf of anyone.
I do, however, get to decide how I refer to myself and to living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). I do get to be intentional about the words I use in my writing to describe these illnesses and how I see them in the context of the broader world. I do make decisions about the phrasing I choose to use in my work to create educational material for people living with digestive disease.
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