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A mouse who can’t eat cheese and an owl who loves her anyway—sometimes the simplest stories hold the biggest truths. We welcome author MB Mooney to share how The Mouse Who Couldn’t Eat Cheese grew from the life and legacy of Alex, a bright, owl‑loving kid who lived with Crohn’s disease and inspired a foundation, Beautiful Beyond the Pain. Instead of a medical explainer, MB wrote a friendship-first tale that helps children understand invisible illness, practice empathy, and see vulnerability as a path to connection.

We open up the creative process behind writing for kids and parents at once: crafting a title that hooks curiosity, choosing scenes that feel honest, and striking a tone that respects young readers without sanding down the hard parts. MB explains why children’s books are tougher than they look, how early readers—many without any IBD connection—found universal meaning in the story, and what it takes to put your heart on the page when criticism is part of the job. For aspiring authors in the chronic illness community, he shares a practical roadmap: draft freely, revise with audience in mind, find a writing group for accountability and critique, and build resilience for the inevitable one‑star review.

We also look ahead to future volumes featuring Alex the Owl, including a potential ADHD story drawn from MB’s family experience. Along the way we talk about making invisible illness visible, helping kids self‑advocate, and why every community benefits when friends learn to meet each other’s needs with flexibility and care. If you’re a parent, patient, educator, or creator looking for stories that heal and tools that help, this conversation is a warm, grounded guide.

If the episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your support helps more listeners find thoughtful conversations like this one.

Links:

• MB Mooney's website
• The Mouse Who Couldn't Eat Cheese
• Camp Oasis- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USA
• A longer interview with MB about his book- Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors podcast

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What if the decision you feared most was the one that finally set you free? We sit with Gaylyn Henderson—writer, model, and founder of Gutless and Glamorous—to trace her path from a swift, severe Crohn’s diagnosis at fourteen to an ostomy that gave her health, energy, and a voice loud enough to change minds.

Gaylynn opens up about the early years when prednisone and 6MP were the only options and hospital stays collided with high school milestones. She explains how stigma around surgery—echoed by culture and sometimes even clinicians—kept her in pain despite worsening Crohn's with fistulas. The turning point came with a loop ileostomy and near-instant relief: weight returned, pain lifted, and daily life felt possible again. That contrast fuels her mission to push back on misinformation, normalize ostomies, and help others avoid years of needless suffering.

We explore how a personal blog became a movement. Gaylyn shares the moment she hit “send,” the flood of messages from people who finally felt seen, and how modeling with Aerie made ostomy visibility mainstream. Her nonprofit, Gutless and Glamorous, builds community through modern, welcoming spaces that don’t feel like traditional support groups, connecting patients who can check in when symptoms surge and silence sets in.

Mental health takes center stage as Gaylyn unpacks the myth of “I should be able to handle this,” and we discuss why therapy and tools like EMDR can help after the crisis has passed. Chronic illness can be isolating; community is part of care. Expect candid talk about advocacy, ostomy life, body image, and the courage to redefine normal on your own terms.

If this conversation resonates, tap follow, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review—your voice helps more people find the support they deserve.

Links:

• Gutless and Glamorous website
• Gaylyn on Instagram
• More of Gaylyn's story in Elle magazine
• Gaylyn in The Mighty

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What does great IBD care look like when the system won’t make it easy? We sit down with Dr. Adam Ehrlich, Section Chief of Gastroenterology at Temple Health and GI fellowship program director, to explore how he builds patient-centered care in an underserved setting—where insurance denials, missing records, and real-life logistics collide with complex disease.

We talk about health literacy, trust, and the conversations that actually change outcomes. Adam explains how he frames risks and benefits with clarity, why the “risks of doing nothing” deserve equal airtime, and how he balances mode of therapy—IV, subcutaneous, or oral—against lifestyle, trauma history, pregnancy plans, and coverage rules. We dig into prison medicine’s constraints, from medication access to policy barriers around scheduling, and the creative problem-solving required to keep patients safe and informed. He shares why being honest about uncertainty builds credibility, and how an early investment in patient education pays off with better monitoring and shared targets for remission.

The episode also gets practical about personalization. We discuss drug levels with infliximab when severe colitis “loses” medication into the stool, when it’s wise to de-escalate dosing, and how habits from flare days can persist after inflammation settles. Adam offers tools to retrain routines, navigate IBS overlap, and align care with quality of life goals like driving, work travel, and showing up at a kid’s soccer game without anxiety. As a fellowship director, he reveals how he equips new gastroenterologists to handle today’s broader therapy menu, think beyond flowcharts, and advocate through insurance barriers with persistence and purpose.

If this conversation resonates, tap follow, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a quick review. Your support helps more people find practical, human-centered IBD care.

Links and organizations to follow!

• Color of Gastrointestinal Illness (COGI)- mission to improve quality of life for BIPOC who are affected by IBD and other GI issues.
• The Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation - mission to eliminate health disparities and improve outcomes for individuals and communities affected by Inflammatory Bowel Diseases through comprehensive support services, with priority given to underserved populations facing the greatest barriers to healthcare.
• Strategic Alliance for Intercultural Advocacy in GI (SAIA)- mission to create culturally sensitive resources, research, and education for patients, caregivers and healthcare providers managing chronic GI conditions in order to minimize delays, dispel stigma, promote early diagnosis, and improve access to treatment for all.

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The hardest part isn’t always the pain; it’s the fog—those days when the labels keep changing, the meds blur together, and the bills are louder than your body. That’s where Stephanie A. Wynn stepped in, transforming her Crohn’s journey into a movement for clarity, access, and equity.

We sit down with Stephanie—author, podcaster, and founder of the Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation—to unpack how a misdiagnosis spiral, two heartbreaking pregnancy losses, and a sixth GI finally led to answers and action. She walks us through the IBD Patient Navigator Program she built to connect people with the care team they actually need: GI, primary care, mental health, dietitian, pelvic floor therapist, and, when needed, a colorectal surgeon. We talk about practical tools that change outcomes—recording appointments, coming with three priority questions, tracking symptoms and meals, and learning your labs so they can become signals instead of mysteries.

Stephanie also opens up her book Navigating IBD: A Six-Week Blueprint for Better Gut Health which she designed to slow overwhelm and teach the language of care including treatment decisions, and what “knowing your numbers” truly means. We dig into clinical trials—why she calls it clinical research, how to qualify, what to ask about aftercare, and ways to participate through labs or tissue samples to boost representation. We tackle health disparities and social determinants of health head-on: transportation, refrigeration for meds, school support, and why trust is built by showing up with real solutions.

This is a conversation about agency and community for anyone living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. You’ll leave with a sharper checklist, a stronger voice, and a reminder that you are not alone—and that the right tools and team can change everything.

If this helped you, follow the show, leave a quick review, and share it with someone who needs a clear path forward today.

Links:

• Link to Stephanie's IBD book
• The Stephanie A. Wynn Foundation
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Medical Advancements and Technologies- Kaiser Family Foundation

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Welcome to episode 1 of our series- IBD Can Eat Me guest hosted by Stacey Collins, IBD RD. In this series, Stacey will interview other Dietitians who also specialize in IBD. This week we welcomed Venus Kalami- board-certified pediatric Dietitian Nutritionist!

What if the strict diet you’re told to follow does more harm than good? We sit down with pediatric dietitian Venus to unpack how nutrition in IBD can support health without sacrificing joy, culture, or family life. From Stanford Children’s IBD and celiac center to medical affairs and public education, Venus brings a rare mix of clinical depth and human warmth—and she doesn’t shy away from hard truths.

We dig into the pressure families feel to “do everything,” the overuse of restrictive therapeutic diets, and the real risks that come with them: malnutrition, ARFID, pediatric feeding disorders, and lasting food trauma. Venus shares a clear way to tell the difference between a transient food reaction and an inflammatory flare, helping patients step off the rollercoaster of fear and over-correction. She also shows how to make care culturally inclusive with simple, powerful questions: What do you like? What do you cook? What feels doable at home? It’s a move from generic handouts to plans that honor heritage foods and real life.

You’ll hear a vivid case study where a patient referred for low FODMAP improved dramatically without elimination—just lactase with dairy, spreading fruit across the day, and changing other patterns developed from past food trauma. We talk about involving mental health early, “asking around the ask” when supplements come up, and borrowing pediatric best practices for adults who shouldn’t have to navigate IBD alone. The theme running through it all: patients deserve permission to dream beyond survival. Biomarkers matter, but so do birthdays, travel, and the comfort foods that make you feel at home.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a gentler path, and leave a review to help more people find evidence-based, humane IBD care. Your feedback shapes future episodes—what question should we tackle next?

• Nutrition Pearls podcast with Venus
• Venus on X
• Solid Starts app
• "Offering Nutritional Therapies to Patients with IBD: Even If You're Not An Expert"- Video from Nutritional Therapy for IBD

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Want a clear, human guide to modern IBD care without the jargon? We’re joined by Janette Villalon, a physician assistant at UC Irvine’s IBD Center, who brings a front-line view of what truly helps patients: personalized therapy choices, honest safety talk, and practical plans that fit real life. She traces the evolution from a handful of anti-TNFs to a wider toolkit—anti-integrins, IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, and S1P modulators—and explains how we match treatments to goals like fast relief, fewer side effects, and coverage of extraintestinal issues such as arthritis, uveitis, and psoriasis.

We dig into how APPs power the day-to-day of IBD clinics, from education to monitoring and rapid access, and how the GHAPP Conference and national societies elevated advanced practice training. Janette breaks down when clinical trials make sense, why strict inclusion criteria matter, and how logistics can steer decisions when someone is very sick. She demystifies biosimilars, outlining FDA standards that support confident switches when insurance demands it, and shares how she helps patients balance infusions, injections, or pills against travel, work, and adherence.

For those planning a family, Janette offers timely guidance: aim for clinical and endoscopic remission three to six months before conception, continue pregnancy-safe maintenance therapy, and discuss starting low-dose aspirin at 12 to 16 weeks to lower preeclampsia risk, coordinated with maternal-fetal medicine.

Looking ahead, we explore precision medicine and AI—predictive markers, microbiome insights, and smarter monitoring that could reduce trial-and-error and catch flares early. The throughline is empowerment: ask questions, read, return for follow-ups, and shape your care around your life. We close with community resources from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and a shout-out to Camp Oasis for young patients.

If this conversation helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what’s the one topic you want us to go deeper on next?

Links:

• Gastroenterology & Hepatology Advanced Practice Providers (GHAPP) organization
• Camp Oasis- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USA
• IBD Medication Guide- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USA
• Pregnancy & IBD video- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USA

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A boxer in training. A terrifying spiral of symptoms. A life-saving surgery that changed everything. Jose Torres joins us to share how ulcerative colitis pulled him out of the ring and propelled him into purpose—building community, advancing equity, and living well with a J‑pouch in a city that isn’t designed for urgent needs.

We trace Jose’s path from misdiagnosis in Brooklyn to specialized care in Manhattan and the brutal logistics of public transit without bathrooms. He opens up about the cultural currents in his Mexican and Puerto Rican family—why speaking up took time, why steroids raised tough questions, and how food traditions collided with new IBD realities. The story turns on resilience: a colectomy and J‑pouch, early pouchitis, iron infusions, and then a decade of medication-free stability supported by smart nutrition, consistent exercise, and honest attention to mental health.

Jose also brings us inside the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation—from literally ringing the office doorbell to roles in advancement, business development, and DEI leadership. We talk about real lived experience, research into disparities, and why culturally fluent care changes outcomes. Along the way, he shares practical tactics for managing frequency, a nudge toward pelvic floor physical therapy, and a grounded philosophy: don’t chase perfection, cultivate accountability and hope.

If stories of grit, culture, and community help you feel less alone with IBD, this one’s for you. Cheers!

Links:

• Camp Oasis- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USA
• Camp Purple- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation New Zealand
• About IBD podcast with Amber Tresca episode- "IBD in the Hispanic Community with Dr. Oriana Damas"

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Imagine being able to turn down the volume on gut pain, food fear, and medical anxiety—without white-knuckle coping or guesswork. We sit down with Dr. Ali Navidi, co-founder of GIpsychology.com and past president of the Northern Virginia Society of Clinical Hypnosis, to unpack how clinical hypnosis and gut-focused CBT help people with inflammatory bowel disease interrupt the gut-brain loop that keeps symptoms alive. No stage tricks here—just practical tools that retrain the nervous system, reduce visceral hypersensitivity, and restore a sense of control.

We explore the real differences between stage and clinical hypnosis and why trance is a natural state you already know how to access. Dr. Navidi explains how anchors—a simple conditioned cue—can trigger a calming response within seconds, whether you’re prepping for a colonoscopy, calling the insurance company, or navigating an unexpected flare. We dig into disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) that can drive symptoms even when labs look great, and why gut-focused CBT plus hypnosis outperforms one-size-fits-all mental health approaches for persistent GI distress.

Trauma and nocebo effects show up in subtle ways across the IBD journey. We get candid about medical trauma, memory reconsolidation, EMDR as a hypnotic protocol, and how conditioned food sensitivities form—like the “pizza panic” that lingers long after a flare. You’ll hear how to calm hypervigilance, rebuild trust with your body, and reintroduce foods safely. We also share details on a new eight-week telehealth group, created with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and the American College of Gastroenterology, that pairs weekly skills training with recorded hypnosis sessions for daily practice.

Ready to try tools that actually change how your system reacts? Follow, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your story might be the anchor someone else needs today.

Links:

• Information about the IBD Psychotherapy Group
• Information on Disorder of the Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI)
• Great resources from GI Psychology
• Article in the Atlantic
• Dr. Navidi on the About IBD Podcast with Amber Tresca

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