Tag Archives: podcast

About IBD Episode 68 – What It’s Like to Have IBD and COVID-19

People living with IBD who have suppressed immune systems because of medication are understandably concerned about their risks surrounding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. Jamie Horrigan, a medical student and founder of “Sweetened By Nature,” lives with Crohn’s disease and gastroparesis and was diagnosed with COVID-19. She describes her experiences with symptoms, diagnosis, isolation, and recovery. She also gives some insight on why a common complication of coronaviruses, called a cytokine storm, may be an important factor of COVID-19 for people with IBD.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 55 – You Have to Take Care of Yourself

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Being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at any time or at any age is challenging. However, the pre-biologic era was especially difficult because of the lack of treatment options and the absence of some of the legal protections that are in place today. Danielle O’Connor tells her story of being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at a young age and how she managed her career as a special education teacher through many hospitalizations and surgeries.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 49 – Summer of Activism: Attending Day on the Hill

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How does an IBD patient attend Day on the Hill events and meet with the offices of congressional representatives in Washington DC? What is it like to go to these events? In this episode I describe how I got involved in hill day meetings, why I do it, and what the process is like to attend. I also offer you my tips on how to make the best of the time spent in the capital in order to make the biggest impact on the people who can affect change in the lives of IBD patients.

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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 Episode 47 – Attending a Town Hall Meeting

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Working with our local elected officials is important to having our voices heard. But attending local town hall meetings held by state or federal congressional representatives is daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before. Shawntel Bethea of Chronically Strong describes her journey from sending an email to asking for support from her Congresswoman at a meeting in her district. She gives her tips on how you can make an impact in your community for people living with IBD.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 46 – Attending Medical Meetings as a Patient

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For this first episode of my limited series, Summer of Activism, I’m answering a question that I hear regularly: how it is that I go to medical meetings such as Digestive Disease Week, Advances in IBD, or Crohn’s and Colitis Congress. I give you the answer as well as tips on how patients, bloggers, podcasters, and vloggers can work towards attending these, and other, scientific meetings. Here’s a spoiler: it takes dedication to improving the lives of people with IBD, commitment to doing the work consistently, and some professional networking.

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About IBD Podcast Episode 45 – Where Do We Go From Here?

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What’s new in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatments and what’s next on the horizon? Dr Peter Higgins, a gastroenterologist, IBD specialist, and researcher at the University of Michigan discusses what’s new in IBD from the Crohn’s and Colitis Congress meeting in 2019. We talk fecal transplants, healing strictures in the intestines, and the feasibility of custom ostomy products. It’s a conversation about cutting edge research on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis mixed with the practicality of using these treatments in the real world.

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About IBD Podcast 41 – You Have to Do What’s Best for You

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Many young people who are undergoing ileostomy surgery to treat Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis have never met another younger person with an ostomy. Gaylyn Henderson, founder of Gutless and Glamorous, wants to make sure that people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) don’t experience the uncertainty and stigma that she encountered before her ostomy surgery. In between running a successful foundation and a support group for people with chronic illness, Gaylyn has also become a spokeswoman for people with an ostomy, proving that her ileostomy is not a barrier to success.

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About IBD Podcast 40 – What Are People Going to Think?

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People who live with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis experience stigma because of their inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The taboo topic of bowel disease can permeate all aspects of a person’s life, especially when there are cultural influences also at play. Tina Aswani Omprakash, who lives with Crohn’s disease and a permanent ileostomy, shares her story of personal empowerment and how she is working to help other people with IBD live their lives with confidence. Tina describes how IBD has profoundly affected her family as well as why she decided to become an outspoken advocate for the IBD and ostomy communities and start her blog, Own Your Crohn’s.

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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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