Tag Archives: parenting

About IBD Episode 89 – Living With IBD and a Rare Disease

Living with one disease is bad enough, but living with two adds more than two times the complexity. As a young man, Aaron Blocker was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease after years of coping with strange and seemingly disconnected signs and symptoms. He continued to have problems which resulted in two hip replacements that were blamed on prednisone. However, after one of those hip replacements became dislocated, Aaron went looking for more answers and wound up suspecting that he also had an ultra-rare condition called hypophosphatasia.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 82 – If I Take Care of Myself, I’m Also Taking Care of You

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After hearing from my 10-year-old daughter, it’s now time to hear from my 13-year-old son. My kids are in hybrid school, and for my 8th grader, this means he goes to school in person two full days a week, with 3 days of distance learning at home. We are managing it as well as I think we can expect. However, my son brings up a small wrinkle in regards to the “return to normal” to which we are all looking forward. It is going to be challenging for us to go back to our prior pace and there will be new struggles along the way. Be sure to listen to the end to hear my son’s tips for parents on how to talk to their kids.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 77 – Back to School in a Pandemic With Dr Brad Jerson

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Back to school will be quite different for families across the United States and the world this year. There aren’t many answers to be had to our questions, yet we must make decisions with the best information that we have at this time. I speak with Dr Brad Jerson, a Pediatric Psychologist in the Division of Digestive Diseases, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Connecticut Children’s and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine about how we can prepare our kids, and ourselves, for the school year. We discuss the behaviors we can model for our children, how we can talk to young kids about mask wearing, and how to engage kids of all ages in conversation about their fears and anxieties during this time.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 71- I Evaluated What Was Really Important to Me

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How does being diagnosed with a chronic illness affect your path in life? For Mariah Leach, a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis came out of the blue and put her at a crossroads. She decided to take the road towards patient advocacy. What started as a way to process her feelings and keep family and friends updated about her condition through her writing has evolved into a calling. Today, she has become a tireless advocate for people living with rheumatoid arthritis and as a resource for parents with chronic illness. It’s Mariah’s goal to ensure no one feels alone in their parenting journey. To that end, she has developed Mamas Facing Forward to support parents and foster the connections she was missing in her first years as a mom.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 61 – Reporting from Advances in IBD 2019: Getting Out of the Bathroom

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In December 2019 I went to Advances in IBD, which is a medical meeting that’s focused entirely on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The understanding that IBD is more than a “bathroom disease” has finally hit home, and attendees (which include healthcare professionals such as nurses, dietitians, gastroenterologists, GI psychologists, and colorectal surgeons) were educated on a variety of topics. In this episode I provide some of the highlights of the meeting including sessions on diet, medication risks, and pregnancy.

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Summer of Activism: 10 Ways to Get Your Kids Involved in Advocacy

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We tend to think of politics as being for adults. But how do adults become engaged citizens who take part in their community? They start as children, learning from parents about the importance and benefit of volunteering, voting, and understanding the challenges and opportunities in their community. There’s so much that parents can do to raise children to be active community members. In addition, some of the many skills that are learned along the way, include public speaking, networking, teamwork, strategy, and communication. Continue reading →

About IBD Podcast Episode 48 – Getting Kids Involved in Advocacy

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How young is “too young” to get kids involved in activism? Gastroenterologist and activist Dr Meenakshi Bewtra started her kids on their activism journey at birth and continues by bringing them to marches, voter registration events, and postcard writing parties. Dr Bewtra shares her tips on how you can involve your kids in activism, why you should, and how it might make your life as a parent — and activist — a bit easier.

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About IBD Podcast 39 – Help for Parents With Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis

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How does IBD affect your family? Do you know about the tools and resources that are available to help you on your disease journey? On this episode of About IBD, I talk with the Director of Patient Education and Support at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Catherine Soto, who outlines the many tools the Foundation provides for anyone with IBD, including those made just for parents, kids, and teens. I also spoke with Dr Rajeev Jain, who tells me about a new, one-of-a-kind resource for women with IBD who want to be mothers, called the IBD Parenthood Project. And finally I called upon Brooke Abbott, co-founder of IBD Moms, to talk about her role as a patient in developing the IBD Parenthood Project, and she entertains me with a small rant about social media.

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About IBD Podcast 36 – We Are Only 1% Human With Dr Sarina Pasricha

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What is the microbiome, how might it be connected to IBD and other conditions, and how can it affect health when it’s pushed out of balance? Dr Sarina Pasricha of the Christiana Care Health System gives me the scoop on how the microbiome is created when we are young and how it changes with our activities and diet, as well as why we should not try fecal transplants at home, and how a little bit of dirt is good for our kids.

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About IBD Podcast 32 – Community Doesn’t Just Create Itself

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What are your traditions around Thanksgiving? What we eat and how we celebrate Thanksgiving depends on where we live, our ethnicity, and our family traditions. What matters is coming together and remembering to be thankful. Brooke Abbott of The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles and IBD Moms tells me about some of her family’s Thanksgiving traditions and how she talks about being grateful with her son. We discuss some of the ways we try to support the IBD community and what we can do better, especially during the hectic and stressful holiday season. Plus, see the end of the show notes for some of Brooke’s recipes!

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