Bowel Moments

Send us Fan Mail This week we met Victorien Madsen! Victorien lives in The Netherlands and was diagnosed with UC after the birth of her 2nd child. We talked to her about navigating this new disease while parenting young children. Trying to find the right treatment option and finally finding the Specific Carbohydrate Diet before the internet was really even a thing. We talked to her about how she i...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had such a great conversation with Kate Scarlata, MPH, RD ! Kate is a Boston-based registered dietitian and New York Times best selling author with 30+ years of digestive health experience. Kate is a world-renowned low FODMAP diet expert and invited speaker on the role of food intolerance in GI disorders at numerous international and national gastrointestinal health c...

Send us Fan Mail This week we spoke to Rocio Castrillon- better known for her popular Instagram account @VoiceforIBD ! She shared her story of being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and how a lack of information caused her to suffer in silence with fistulizing disease. We talked to her about finally getting involved with Team Challenge with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation in the USA a...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had a great conversation with Mason Milne! Mason is the host of the Crohn's and Autism Awareness Advocate podcast! We talked to him about being diagnosed with Crohn's when he was 17 years old and a bit about the health system in the UK where he lives. We talked about what it's been like navigating the healthcare system with autism and advocating for his...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had a great time getting to know Dr. Kim S. Beall! Kim is a Doctor of Pharmacy whose son was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when he was 13 years old. After she and her son discussed his treatment options with his healthcare team and they did some research he decided to try Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) to get his Crohn's in remission. We discussed how Ki...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had such a great conversation with Dr. Megan Riehl ! Dr. Riehl is a GI Psychologist, Assistant Professor of Medicine and the Director of GI Behavioral Health at the University of Michigan . We talked to her about all things IBD and mental health and how she helped to establish and incorporate GI behavioral health into the IBD center at the University of Michigan. We a...

Send us Fan Mail This week we talked to Abigail VanHoose- otherwise known as Abigail Marie the Check with IBD!  Abigail was diagnosed with UC after a bad car accident and after she finished culinary school. Her disease journey was definitely rocky and very impacted by substandard medical care. Like may people living with IBD, she was told that "diet doesn't matter" but after dealing...

Send us Fan Mail This week we talk to Kim Braly, RD ! Kim is a Registered Dietitian that specializes in IBD, consults on nutrition and IBD-related research studies, has expertise on IBD nutrition program development and educates practitioners on nutrition therapies for IBD. She is currently in private practice seeing adults and kids living with IBD virtually across the country. Previous to this sh...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had such a great conversation with Courtney Walls! Like several of our guests, Courtney had a pretty dramatic introduction to the IBD community including needing urgent surgeries, C-diff infections, fistulizing disease, and she's now living with an ostomy (happily).  We talked to her about going through all of that while also living with anxiety and how she'...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had a great conversation with Stephanie Brenner! Stephanie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Chronic Illness Psychotherapy in Evanston, IL who has 13 years of experience working with clients with chronic illnesses. Through her journey as an IBD patient and clinician, she has developed a passion for helping people with health challenges live their lives to the fu...

Send us Fan Mail ***Warning that this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and medical trauma.***  This week we spoke with Dr. Jordan Shapiro ! Dr. Shapiro is a GI Hospitalist at Peak Gastroenterology Associates in Colorado as well as a private practice GI at Gentle GI in Houston, TX (starting April 1, 2024). Dr. Shapiro also is a yoga instructor and enthusiastic practitioner and...

Send us Fan Mail This week Alicia was joined by guest host and past guest, Derek Dodson! They interviewed Jordan B. McConnell! Jordan is a Air Force veteran, IT professional, father and husband who also lives with Crohn's disease! We talked to him about being diagnosed as a young teen and how his disease was presented to his family and how he was able to join the military and how that affecte...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had the absolute pleasure to talk to Dr. David Binion! Dr. Binion is a physician-scientist who is also living with Crohn's disease. He is Co-Director of the IBD Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He was diagnosed with Crohn's when he was a teenager- before the information age and also before there were many treatment for IBD. He has d...

Send us Fan Mail This week we talked to Registered Dietitian, Amalia Karlin ! Amalia experienced symptoms very similar to UC but she struggled to get a diagnosis.  Eventually her symptoms got to be so severe she had to have a colectomy and now lives with an ostomy. After that she decided that she as going to devote her career to helping other people living with ostomies to maximize their nutrition...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to our 100th episode! This week we talked to the renowned Dr. David T. Rubin ! Dr. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Pathology, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and the Co-Director of the Digestive Diseases Center at The University of Chicago Medicine.  He also currently serves as an associate facult...

Send us Fan Mail This week we spoke to Liam Robertson ! Liam was diagnosed with UC when he was a young adult but the process was lengthy and filled with times when he was not believed. We talked about what that was like to navigate the health system and his feelings on it. We discussed how he got so involved in social media, how that's helped him cope with flares and complications, and the im...

Send us Fan Mail 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 her about surgery part of the treatment options, J-Pouches and what to expect in recovery, and how she works with pat...

Send us Fan Mail 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 talked to hear about what she describes as trying "every medication on the market" and navigating co...

Send us Fan Mail 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 bathroom at her school and rallied and inspired other students affected by IBD to advocate for this in their sc...

Send us Fan Mail This week we had such a great conversation with Dr. David Schwartzber g! 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, and minimally invasive surgical techniques. We talked to him about his passion for colorectal surgery and how he s...

Send us Fan Mail 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 colon removed and to start her J-Pouch surgery process. We talked to her about the dramatic way that she was introduce...

Send us Fan Mail 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 in writing a children's book for other kids with IBD called "Up and Adam: A Patient's Experience on W...

Send us Fan Mail *** 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 sexual health counselor at the University of Chicago IBD Center. She has specialized training and knowledge in how stress, anxiety and depression can affec...

Send us Fan Mail ***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 to him about what it was like to live with Crohn's before there were any good treatment options, what it w...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Sherman Emerging Leader Prize Recipient. He has a particular interest in improving outcomes for patients with inflamm...