Welcome to our blog

This week we spoke to Michele Rubin! Michele is an advanced practice nurse and is the Associate APN Director of the IBD Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. She specializes in surgery for IBD and has helped to create a J-Pouch specific clinic. We talked to...

This week we talked to Ashley Mann! Ashley was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when she was 20 years old but she had been experiencing symptoms when she was in high school. We talked to her about what it was like being a competitive cheerleader with active disease. We...

This week we had the pleasure of talking with Bianca Hernandez! Bianca was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2015 and she almost immediately parlayed her diagnosis into advocacy for her community. She worked with her school system to get better access to the private...

This week we had such a great conversation with Dr. David Schwartzberg! Dr. Schwartzberg is a double-board certified colorectal surgeon at Mather Hospital and Columbia specializing in IBD, pelvic floor conditions, re-operative colorectal surgeries, J-Pouch disorders,...

This week we had the pleasure of getting to know Alex Boyd! Alex was diagnosed with UC when she was 26 years old when she thought she had caught a stomach bug that had gotten very aggressive. It was only 2 weeks after her diagnosis that she was advised to have her...

This week we spoke to Adam Finkelstein! Adam was diagnosed with UC when he was just 2 years old. We talk to him about what it was like growing up with UC and dealing with it as a child. We spoke about how his experiences with the medical system prompted his interest...

*** Warning: This episode discusses sexuality, sexual health and sexual trauma and may not be appropriate for all audiences.*** This week we spoke to Dr. Alyse Bedell! Dr. Bedell specializes in  psychogastroenterology and is a certified sexual health counselor at the...

***This episode includes discussions about suicide and suicidal ideation and may not be appropriate for some people.****  This week we had a really deep conversation with our friend Derek Dodson! Derek has been living with Crohn's disease for 40 years and so we talk...

This week we spoke to Dr. Edward L. Barnes! Dr. Barnes is a gastroenterologist and clinical investigator dedicated to improving the care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  Dr. Barnes is also the 2021...

This week we talked to Myisha Malone-King! Myisha is the brains and moderator behind the Facebook group Game of Crohn's n Chronic Illness! The goal of this group is to offer support and knowledgeable information about inflammatory bowel disease and to inspire others...

This week we spoke to Marita Kametas, MSN, APN, FNP-BC, CMSRN, COCN! Marita is an Advanced Practice Provider Leader, IBD APN, and Ostomy Specialist in the IBD Center at the University of Chicago. We talked to her about all things ostomy! We discussed how providers can...

***Warning that this episode includes an open discussion about sexuality and may not be suitable for all audiences.*** This week we talked to the lovely Julia Gaspare-Pruchnicki! Julia is a medical student that was initially diagnosed with UC when she was 9 years old....

This week we spoke to IBD and Rare Disease advocate, Aaron Blocker! Aaron lives with Crohn's disease as well as an ultra-rare disease called Hypophosphatasia. We talked to him about managing both illnesses and coordinating his care. We talked to him about how he set...

This week we had such an interesting and fun conversation with Dr. Meredith Craven! Dr. Craven is a licensed health psychologist and she's the Director of GI Health Psychology in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Stanford Health. We spent quite a bit...

This week we brought back friend of the show and former guest, Hannah Cramer! Hannah and Robin have both been using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help them with their medical trauma.  EMDR is a psychotherapeutic technique used to help people...