Tag Archives: writing

Chronic Illness and the Language of War

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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About IBD Podcast Episode 97 – Wine, Biscuits, and Drinking Water With Author Kathleen Nicholls

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Life with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) brings challenges and many life changes but it can also sometimes bring unexpected opportunities.

Kathleen Nicholls, author of “Go Your Crohn Way: A Gutsy Guide to Living with Crohn’s Disease” and “My Flare Lady: a handbook for today’s (diseased) dame” was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in her 20s. She started a blog as a way to process her disease journey. She was stunned when people started reading it and when publishers became interested. Two books later, she shares the lessons she learned along the way.

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How to Create Your IBD Elevator Speech

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An elevator speech or elevator pitch is a quick summary of a topic that can be given in about under a minute: just enough time to take an elevator ride. It’s usually thought of in a business sense, like a sales pitch or an idea you have that you present to someone in management upon a chance meeting (such as in the elevator). The use has been expanded to mean any prepared and rehearsed speech that you can give quickly on a moment’s notice. The purpose of this article is to guide you on crafting your elevator speech about your inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

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Why World IBD Day Isn’t For You

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If you have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or you love someone who does, you don’t need an awareness day to tell you the impact it has on your daily life. People living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis and their caregivers already have a vast education on IBD that can only be gained through experience. World IBD Day isn’t really for you.

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5 Keys to Uncovering Poor IBD Information Online

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Just as not all healthcare professionals provide the same level of care, not all health websites are equally trustworthy. Most people know by now not to believe everything published on the Internet. However, it can be difficult at times to determine whether or not a health website is giving out accurate and credible information. In the journey to learn more about inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it is vital to use critical thinking and become a savvy information consumer, as these skills will help in sifting through websites to find the ones that can be trusted.

How can anyone tell the difference between an IBD website that is worth coming back to and one that should be passed over? There are several different clues that help in understanding if the author of a website or an article is providing quality information that is useful in understanding IBD and in coping with the challenges of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or indeterminate colitis. Continue reading →

Do I Ever Run Out Of Ideas?

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Everyone has their routine, right? So, I don’t do this each and every time I sit down to write, but it’s a pretty fair description of how most days go. I have to clean my desk off and I have to get coffee, but other things are subject to change.

Frank Garufi Jr of The Crohn’s Colitis Effect asked me a question that I actually get asked all the time, so I felt it was worthwhile to answer in writing.

“Don’t you run out of ideas to write about?’

And actually, no, I don’t. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t topics that I drag my feet on writing, or that I don’t have the resources to write at a particular time. But I never actually run out of ideas.

There are times I’m tired of writing. There are times that a particular topic is so personal that I can’t seem to get it out of my brain and into my computer. There are times when I just can’t find enough sources to write about a topic intelligently. But there are never times that I don’t actually have any ideas.

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My High School Teachers And My IBD

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Graduation day! That’s me and my dad, who passed away in 1998. Helloooo prednisone moon face on me.

After my first colonoscopy and my diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, I spent about 40 days in the hospital. I was a junior in high school, so that whole situation had to be dealt with. Thankfully I was a good student, and when it was time to deal with homework and missing class, I was able to cope with much of it.

I had great teachers in high school — for the most part. Continue reading →