Rewired & Desired Podcast: Where Intimacy, Mindset and Disability Intersect

Many people with disabilities, chronic illness, or life-changing surgeries eventually ask the same question: Who am I now? When your body changes, your career changes, your relationships change, or your abilities change, it can feel like your entire identity disappears. In this episode of Rewired and Desired, we explore how values, character, self-love, and personal growth can help you rebuild a s...

If you've ever been sent home after surgery with pain medication and little guidance, this conversation is for you. In this episode, Nicole and Trina share their personal experiences with post-surgical pain medication, physical dependence, withdrawal, chronic pain, and the emotional toll of trying to get help when medical professionals don't seem to understand what you're experienci...

What if the hardest part of disability is that nobody can see it? In this episode, we talk honestly about ostomy life, invisible disability, chronic illness, medical trauma, and the exhausting pressure to prove you are really struggling. Today on Rewired and Desired , Trina Ricketts and Nicole Richards discuss whether having an ostomy can be considered a disability, why the answer is not the same...

Porn. Fantasy. Desire. Addiction. Emotional intimacy. This episode goes way deeper than “porn bad” takes. In this honest conversation, Trina Ricketts and Nicole Richards unpack how porn culture may be shaping real-life intimacy, relationships, attraction, confidence, and expectations around sex, especially for people navigating disability, ostomies, surgery, body image, and emotional vulnerability...

She hasn’t dated in years… and now everything feels intense. Connection, nerves, trauma, attraction… and the fear of messing it up. In this episode of Rewired and Desired , we unpack what it really looks like to step back into dating after time away, past trauma, and living with an ostomy. This isn’t surface-level advice. This is real conversation about: ●      Feeling attraction again after years...

What if you could remove fear before it ever takes over your life? In this episode of Rewired and Desired , we dive into the real-world power of visualization—not as a vague “positive thinking” tool, but as a structured, repeatable process that can shift your mindset fast. Trina shares her personal experience preparing for ostomy surgery, facing overwhelming fear around intimacy, body image, and i...

Why Hard Lives Create Deeper Love  What if the hardest moments of your life didn’t break you… but rewired how you love? In this episode of Rewired and Desired , we go beyond surface-level advice and talk about the real, lived lessons that come from illness, caregiving, heartbreak, and rebuilding your life from nothing. From losing everything… to redefining what actually matters… to learning how to...

Looking good with an ostomy isn’t about perfection… it’s about perspective. This episode is our honest take on what actually helps you feel attractive again—after your body has changed. We’re not here to tell you what you should do. We’re sharing what’s worked for us, what didn’t, and the small shifts that made the biggest difference in how we show up in our bodies. Because confidence doesn’t come...

Mental health does not exist in a separate room from disability, trauma, chronic illness, or intimacy. In this episode of Rewired and Desired , Trina Ricketts and Nicole Richards have an honest conversation about anxiety, depression, PTSD, emotional triggers, healing tools, and what it takes to rebuild yourself when life has cracked you wide open. Nicole shares parts of her story she has never spo...

What happens when you’re the strong one for everyone else, but your body, emotions, and nervous system are running on fumes? In this episode of Rewired and Desired, Trina and Nicole talk honestly about burnout, feminine energy, chronic illness, motherhood, entrepreneurship, dating, and the pressure of holding everything together. In this raw follow-up conversation, Trina opens up about what it fee...

They saved your life. But they didn’t tell you this . From gray mucus to blockages, withdrawal symptoms to smell shame… this is the conversation we wish we’d heard before surgery. In this episode of Rewired and Desired , Trina Ricketts and Nicole Richards share the real, unfiltered truths about what they were not told before, during, or after ostomy surgery. We cover: ●      The mental health impa...

Parenting while chronically ill isn’t “hard.” It’s a whole different planet. In this episode, Trina and Nicole get real about what it’s like raising kids through Crohn’s, ostomy life, disability, hospital stays, shame, and the emotional aftermath. We talk about the stuff nobody posts: the guilt, the survival-mode parenting, the “technology babysitter,” and what happens when your kids see you in pa...

In this Rewired and Desired episode, Trina Ricketts and Nicole Richards swap real, unfiltered ostomy stories: loud bag noises in quiet rooms, near-miss leaks on dates, a grocery store blowout, and the weird places people have had to do emergency changes. We also share the practical stuff that actually helps: what to avoid before conferences, how compression layers can muffle sound, why leaks happe...

Dating with an ostomy doesn’t mean dating with shame. Let’s talk when to disclose, how to filter faster, and how to keep your standards intact. In this episode of Rewired and Desired , Nicole Richards and Trina Ricketts get real about dating with an ostomy: when to tell someone, what actually matters, how to spot red flags early, and why your mindset walking into a date changes everything. We also...

Your body can change overnight. So can your relationship to meaning, faith, and “why me.” Two ostomates share how medical crisis cracked open a spiritual awakening, without preaching. In this episode, we talk about how our health journeys (Crohn’s, ostomy surgery, medical trauma) reshaped our spirituality, our sense of purpose, and the way we interpret “signs,” connection, and healing. Trina share...

What if confidence isn’t about how your body looks… but how you see yourself? In this episode of Rewired and Desired , we dismantle unrealistic beauty standards and explore how confidence, mindset, and authenticity shape attraction—especially for people living with disability, ostomies, scars, and medical devices. We talk honestly about: ●      How beauty standards are manufactured (and who benefi...

Intimacy after disability or an ostomy isn’t just “physical”… it’s mindset, shame, confidence, and real-life logistics.  In this episode, we talk leaks, bag noises, body shame, proctectomy changes, and how to build desire without pressure. Welcome back to Rewired and Desired , where intimacy, mindset, and disability intersect . Nicole Richards and Trina Ricketts get honest (and PG-creative) about...

Your self-talk isn’t “just thoughts.” It’s programming. In this episode of Rewired and Desired (where intimacy, mindset, and disability intersect), Nicole Richards and Trina Ricketts unpack how subconscious beliefs shape confidence, relationships, healing, and the way we handle hard seasons. We talk about the spiral, the reframe, and the real-life tools that help you stop living in the same painfu...

When your body has been through hell, how do you ever feel soft and safe again? In this episode of Rewired & Desired: Where intimacy, mindset & disability intersect, Trina Ricketts opens up about something she’s never really talked about publicly:  living in survival mode, feeling like she had to be “the strong one” for everyone, and how medical trauma and single motherhood pushed her deep...

What do you do when you haven’t had sex in years, you’re living with an ostomy, and suddenly a gorgeous, wealthy, semi-famous man starts giving you serious attention? In this episode of Rewired & Desired, Trina Ricketts (The Intimate Ostomate) walks co-host Nicole Richards through a live intimacy coaching session about: dating with an ostomy self-worth and “why would he want me?” thoughts fear...

Welcome to the very first episode of Rewired & Desired — a podcast where intimacy, mindset, and disability meet real talk, real healing, and real empowerment. In this premiere episode, your hosts Trina Ricketts (The Intimate Ostomate) and Nicole Richards [Ostomy Innovations] pull back the curtain and share who we are, how we got here, and why this podcast had to exist. We talk about: our perso...