Calling In Sick

This week on Calling in Sick, I'm sitting down with Dr. Natalie Crawford, fertility specialist, reproductive endocrinologist, and someone who gets it on a whole different level because she's been on her own chronic illness fertility journey too. We're diving into: 🍼 The fear of getting pregnant with chronic illness 💊 Medications, flares & fertility 🔬 Mythbusting fertility misconceptions for wom...

In this week’s episode of Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, accessibility consultant Ashton and I are diving deep into the world of inclusive beauty and why the industry needs a major shake-up. We cover: 💄The reality of "performative" marketing 🛠️ Accessible at-home beauty hacks 🤝 Finding community online 🧴 Rapid-fire assessments on the most viral beauty trends True inclusion means having disabled vo...

This week on Calling in Sick, we're talking about something that affects 1 in 6 people... but somehow, the beauty industry still hasn't gotten the memo. I'm sitting down with Ashton McGrady, disabled beauty creator, accessibility consultant, and co-founder of Wishing Well Collective, to talk about why the beauty industry keeps ignoring disabled consumers, what it actually looks like to design for...

This week on Calling in Sick, buckle up… because a LOT happened. After insurance delayed my IVIG (again), a big ‘ol flare hit. I ended up hospitalized, and experienced what became the worst hospital stay I've EVER had. And I've had a lot of hospital stays. I'm walking you through the whole thing: the ER, the inpatient stay, the moment a doctor stood outside my room and said what he said (our bigge...

In this Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, Jenna Gestetner and I are answering your questions about navigating the real-life-isms of chronic illness. We cover: 👚 Our favorite adaptive and chronic illness–friendly fashion brands 💬 How to talk about the ebbs and flows of chronic illness without feeling like you’re trauma dumping 🧠 Why you don’t owe anyone your full health story (and how to share boundar...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by content creator Jenna Gestetner (@jennaxhealth) to talk about what wellness actually looks like when your body is chronically sick and absolutely unpredictable. Jenna shares her journey living with MCAS, POTS, dysautonomia, and autoimmune conditions, from having random symptoms since childhood to finally getting answers after years of being labeled “sens...

In this Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, I am answering all your mental-health related questions about navigating life and illness. I cover: ❤️‍🩹 How to keep going when heartbreak and chronic illness hit at the same time 🧠 How to interrupt negative thought spirals when your brain turns against you 💊 Managing depression and anxiety with chronic illness (with and without medication) 🍎 Lifestyle habit...

This week on Calling in Sick, I got to sit down with comedian and author Gary Gulman to talk about depression, creativity, recovery, and the surprising things that actually help people get through dark seasons of life. In this episode, we dive into: ⭐ What depression actually feels like 🎭 What performing stand-up was like during depressive episodes 🏥 The truth about psychiatric hospitalization...

In this Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, Dr. Preston Roche is BACK!!! This time, we’re decoding the language patients and providers use that leave us scratching our heads, or feeling misunderstood.  We cover things like: 🩺 What doctors really mean when they say a patient is “non-compliant” 📋 Why leaving the hospital “AMA” (against medical advice) isn’t always what it sounds like 🧠 The complicated mo...

By popular demand, Dr. Preston Roche is Calling in Sick again. Last time we unpacked the psychiatry of pain… but this time, we went somewhere even more uncomfortable: What really happens when healthcare gets it wrong. We talk openly about medical mistakes, disclosure, ego in medicine, and the quiet tension between patients and providers when something feels “off.” In this episode, we dive into: 🫣...

In this Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, Coop and I are answering your real-life questions about navigating starting a family, while managing my chronic illnesses. We cover: 💸 How we are paying for IVF while managing chronic illness medical bills 💊 The reality of tapering off medications safely before pregnancy 🧬 Navigating TTC with autoimmune disease ❤️‍🩹 What it actually feels like emotionally to...

This week on Calling in Sick, Coop and I are sitting down for one of the most vulnerable conversations we’ve had yet. We’re talking about the reality of trying to have a baby while living with chronic illness: the planning, the fear, the logistics, the IVF part, and the emotional nuance that doesn’t always make it to Instagram. In this episode, we dive into: • Why we chose IVF instead of trying to...

In this Calling in Sick x Ask Alex, I’m answering your real-life questions about navigating international travel with chronic illness… after just getting back from a very impromptu trip to London myself! We cover: ✈️ The best food I had while abroad 🥜 How to travel safely with food allergies (grocery store hacks, translation cards, and what I always pack) 🧦 If I think compression stockings actua...

This week on Calling in Sick, we’re debriefing my very impromptu trip to London… which happened one week after I was hospitalized. Yes. That hospitalization. The one with the worst IVIG hangover I’ve had in a long time. And somehow… we still made it to London. So in this episode, I’m sharing exactly how we made that possible, and what I learned along the way. In this week’s episode, you’ll hear al...

It’s finally happening... Calling in Sick is officially launching a SECOND episode every week!!!!!! Y’all’s response to the first Ask Alex episode was so overwhelmingly positive that we had to open it up to everyone. We listened, and we’re officially launching a weekly Q&A episode 🥹 And if you want even more (because who doesn’t?) head over to our Substack, where subscribers get access to additio...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by Caroline Cray, a content creator and healthcare recruiter living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), dysautonomia, and multiple severe allergies, to talk about what life looks like when food isn’t safe. In this episode, we cover: What MCAS is (in plain English) and how it affects daily life Nutrition with MCAS, bioindividuality, and why “one-size-...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m sharing a very real life update. I talk through my chronic illness thoughts on: getting Botox (including my TMJ) with a chronic illness starting to prep for IVF and embryo implantation: emotionally, logistically, and medically IVIG insurance nonsense, navigating hospitalizations, and why advocating for yourself matters (even when you’re exhausted) traveling intern...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by Dr. Sula Windgassen, a health psychologist, researcher, author of It’s All in Your Body, and fellow chronic illness patient. Dr. Windgassen brings a rare and deeply validating perspective to chronic illness care, one that explains why symptoms often worsen when we feel dismissed, blamed, or unsafe, and how psychology can biologically influence pain and i...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by Dr. Tracy Shevell — a physician, high-risk OBGYN, women’s health advocate, and chronic illness patient. Dr. Shevell brings a rare dual perspective: what it’s like to move through the medical system as both the provider and the patient. In this episode, we explore: ✨ How to navigate Western medicine with a chronic illness and why becoming your own “healt...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by actor, content creator, and disability rights advocate Tara Rule for an honest, existential conversation about what happens when you come face-to-face with your own mortality… and decide to stop waiting for permission to live. Tara and I talk about how chronic illness forces so many of us to grow up early, reckon with uncertainty, and hit emotional rock...

Happy New Year my lovies!!! In honor of the new year, I’m officially launching a new podcast segment… Ask Alex!  Every week (yes, even during guest episodes!), we’ll post the upcoming podcast topic (and guest) to our Substack and ask our subscribers to submit questions. I’ll answer a handful of these on the podcast each week, and the rest of the Q&A will live exclusively on Substack. For this firs...

This week on Calling in Sick, we’re talking about the terrifying and liberating shift from hiding your illness to letting the world see it. I’m joined by the incredible Sara Levitt, a Crohn’s warrior, Ostomy advocate, model, and creator who lived privately with her Ostomy for 15 years… before deciding that invisibility wasn’t serving her anymore. Today, she takes up space… in fashion shows, brand...

This week on Calling in Sick, I’m joined by @Samantha Duran, a chronic illness and pain advocate, accessible fashion designer and content creator who is radically honest about life with chronic illness. We talk about the parts of chronic pain that rarely make it into doctor’s offices or public conversations: the shame around needing relief, the reality of public judgment, and the exhausting intern...

This week on Calling in Sick I’m pulling back the curtain on the last two months of medical testing — why I said yes to a clinical study, what the actual tests were like, and how I’m handling the weird emotional whiplash of “we did all that… and we still don’t have a perfect answer.” I’m tired, I’m flaring, I had my first day of IVIG… and somehow we’re still laughing (because if we don’t laugh, we...

This week on Calling in Sick we’re talking about one of the most controversial skills you’ll ever learn with chronic illness… working smarter instead of harder. After 25+ years being the patient, I’ve learned something I WISH someone told me as a kid… healthy-person rules were never designed for us. So I’m walking you through the “rules” I break on purpose, why my body finally didn’t crash after a...