For many of us who live with a form of IBD, being a performer seems like it would be impossible. Some of the problems include needing a job that provides health insurance, the stress of auditions, and being healthy enough to perform onstage. Justin Baker, however,  has found a way to make it work for him as he lives with Crohn’s disease and ankylosing spondylitis (a form of degenerative arthritis that’s associated with IBD). Justin is an actor, a photographer, and a clown. He tells me how he manages stress, how empathy informs his work and his life, and how not having health insurance led to emergency surgery for his Crohn’s disease.