Blog – Page 3 – Own Your Crohn's

advocacy, autoimmune disease, coping with flares, Crohn's, IgG4, immunocompromised, living with IBD, Mental Health, Minority Health, Sjogren's

When Diagnoses Accumulate: My Sjögren’s Story

April 13, 2022

April marks Sjögren’s Syndrome Awareness Month, so I thought it was high time I shared my Sjögren’s diagnosis journey now that I’m finally getting answers and treatment to deal with a condition that has been plaguing me for years. It all started in November after my laparotomy surgery. The gastroenterologist presiding over my care in Pittsburgh had noticed how much Restatis (cyclosporine for the eyes) and other eye drops I was using for dry eye and observed how often I was needing ice chips for dry mouth while I was NPO from the obstructions, the surgery and the post-op ileus. The skin on my arms and legs was also flaking…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

12 News to Your Health IBD Segment
June 23, 2018

OYC Trailblazers: Celebrating Melissa’s J-Pouch-versary
February 25, 2019

TINA ASWANI OMPRAKASH | 2018 NYC ADULT HONORED HERO
April 20, 2018
advocacy, autoimmune disease, COVID-19, Crohn's, immunocompromised, living with IBD, Ulcerative Colitis

Dropping Mask Mandates: A Time of Anxiety or Joy?

March 15, 2022

Last week I went back to school in-person for the first time in 2 years. There was a part of me that was excited, yes, but the other part of me was nervous as all heck. Meeting professors and students I had gotten to know virtually over the semesters felt like there was a human connection again outside of Zoom! And I have to admit that I really enjoyed going to class and being around like-minded people before this pandemic started. It was definitely a loss to go virtual but at the same time, going virtual meant people with disabilities like us could take care of our health while being…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

I am NOT a Burden: A South Asian Perspective
July 1, 2020

Don’t Forget Your Flu Shot This Fall
October 21, 2018

OstomyConnection SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Harikesh Buch works to shatter stigma and improve post-surgery care for ostomates in India.
January 24, 2019
Clinical Trials, Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, Diet, J-Pouch, living with IBD, Mental Health, Nutrition, Ulcerative Colitis

Key Takeaways from IBD Insider 2022: Patient Updates from the Crohn’s & Colitis Congress®

February 16, 2022

Originally Published by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on their IBDVisible Blog on February 14th, 2022 By: Tina Aswani Omprakash The third annual IBD Insider was, as always, a great culmination of the events from the 2022 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress®. As patients, we often have many questions about what goes on at these medical conferences and how to understand the research in bite-sized, digestible pieces (yes, pun intended). IBD Insider does just that by bringing to us the newest research updates in IBD for us to stay abreast of the latest and greatest, but also to enable us to make the best shared decisions with our physicians in our care. The…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

A Gutsy Feeling: Advocating for the Best Care Possible as IBD Patients
September 18, 2021

How a clinical trial helped this Crohn’s advocate finally reach remission
November 24, 2019

What I Learned From Joining a Clinical Trial for Crohn’s
June 13, 2020
Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, Gastroparesis, invisible illness, living with IBD, medical trauma, Mental Health, Ostomy, PTSD, Ulcerative Colitis

Real Talk About Recovery

December 16, 2021

Recovery…it’s not something we talk about enough. Surgery, like the classic Bollywood love story, takes precedence but the moment the couple gets together, they live happily ever and we never hear about the rest. Same thing with the rush and excitement of surgery. We hear all about it but the reality is we never hear about how arduous the recovery is. Today marked a month since my surgery. It was quite an emotional day for me. For those of you just tuning in, I had an emergency laparotomy due to multiple bowel obstructions from previous surgical stapling and complications caused by scar tissue and a hernia strangulating my bowel and…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

All of these exceptional women have won awards this year for their public advocacy efforts
October 16, 2018

The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide
October 17, 2019

~OYC Trailblazers~ Brandi’s Journey into Motherhood with a Redone J-Pouch
May 12, 2019
autoimmune disease, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Crohn's, immunocompromised, living with IBD, Ulcerative Colitis, Vaccinations

What the IBD Community Needs to Know About Getting a COVID-19 Booster

December 11, 2021

Patient advocate Tina Aswani Omprakash spoke with gastro experts to get the booster answers for people with inflammatory bowel disease. Originally published in Everyday Health on December 1st, 2021 By Tina Aswani Omprakash For Health Answers Medically Reviewed by Kareem Sassi, MD Reviewed: December 1, 2021 Now that many of us with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are several months out from receiving two doses of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for all adults 18 and up who received a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Bachatera with a Bag: Theodora Shattering Ostomy Stigma Through Dance
April 27, 2021

Dropping Mask Mandates: A Time of Anxiety or Joy?
March 15, 2022

How to Own Your Crohn’s & Ostomy While Traveling to India
February 18, 2025
Coming Out, Crohn's, Dating & Relationships, diversity, LGBTQ+ health, living with IBD, Minority Health, Pride, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis, Women's Health

This Love Takes Guts

October 11, 2021

Our love isn’t simple, but it’s also the easiest feeling in the world. Being a woman in the LGBTQ+ community, I assumed that I would always have to come out over and over again throughout the course of my life. But when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s at 19 and had my first surgery at 20, I realized that I would have to come out about multiple parts of who I am for the rest of my life. It wasn’t until I found Girls with Guts in 2016 that I found a group of people that I finally didn’t have to go through the process of coming out to, at…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash
Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, hydration, living with IBD, Mental Health, Minority Health, Nutrition, Ostomy, Ulcerative Colitis, World Ostomy Day

Saravanan’s Exercise Tips as a Crohnie & Ostomate

September 30, 2021

As an ostomate and IBD patient, many people often ask me if I am able to play sports. I tell them ‘YES’. Yes, we can actively participate in sport activities, but there may be some restrictions. For example, Larry Nance Jr. is an NBA star who has Crohn’s disease (CD). But his illness does not prevent him from staying active. Although I am not a professional athlete, I do play sports for fun with my friends and it helps my physical and emotional well-being. However, as an ostomate and CD fighter, I have to take extra precautions while being physically active. I used to play football, badminton and volleyball before…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Sepsis Is a Severe, Life-threatening Complication for IBD Patients
September 22, 2018

TINA ASWANI OMPRAKASH | 2018 NYC ADULT HONORED HERO
April 20, 2018

The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide
October 17, 2019
advocacy, autoimmune disease, Clinical Trials, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ulcerative Colitis

A Gutsy Feeling: Advocating for the Best Care Possible as IBD Patients

September 18, 2021

By Tina Aswani Omprakash **Supported by agutsyfeeling.org, a collaboration between Girls With Guts, Purdue University, College of Pharmacy, and the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning** In today’s day and age, there are many treatment options for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD – ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease). But given all the new medications on the horizon, how do we as patients participate in shared decision making with our IBD specialists regarding which medication might be best for us? And how do we know when we have given the medication a fair enough shot and that it might be time to move on to the next treatment option? How do we know…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

The Value of Support Groups
August 26, 2018

I’m Chronically Ill & Depressed; So What?
June 3, 2019

When Diagnoses Accumulate: My Gastroparesis Story
August 29, 2019
Caregiving, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Crohn's, immunocompromised, Mental Health

Gaurav’s Covid-19 Journey as a Crohn’s Patient in India

June 11, 2021

Greetings! I’m Gaurav Sengupta, a 32-year-old IBD patient advocate from India. I currently live in Kolkata and run a plastic manufacturing business of my own. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease back in 2015 when I was working as a Corporate Banker in the UAE. I nearly ended up in surgery back then and once again in 2019 due to stricture formation and bowel obstructions. I have been fortunate that my GI has helped to successfully control my disease during both of those flares with the help of oral steroids and immunosuppressants. I recently fell prey to the global pandemic of Covid-19 during its second wave in India. Here, I…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Taryn’s Journey: Navigating Relationships and IBD During the Pandemic
April 1, 2021

World IBD Day Panel Discussion: Experiences of Minority IBD Patients & Caregivers
May 23, 2020

The Other Side of Crohn’s: Caregiving
December 9, 2019
Crohn's, Cultural Stigma, extraintestinal manifestations, feeding tube, Healthcare Disparities, living with IBD, Minority Health, Nutrition, Stigma, Women's Health, World IBD Day

Madhura’s Journey in India: Coping with Stigma around IBD & Feeding Tubes

May 16, 2021

My name is Madhura Balasubramaniam and I live in India. I have been locked in battle with my intestines for as long as I can remember. I spent a large part of my early childhood dealing with constant spells of stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting and rashes. I struggled to meet my height and weight targets and had multiple nutritional deficiencies. When I was 10 years old, I was given a tentative diagnosis of celiac disease and I have been gluten-free since. While this diet seemed to provide pain relief, I remained underweight and anaemic. In mid-2018, I began to experience occasional bouts of watery diarrhea and fatigue. I was travelling…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Managing Ostomy Care in the Era of Covid-19
October 21, 2020

Managing Crohn’s Disease and Going Back to School
September 4, 2024

Clinical Trials: The Next Frontier for Diverse Populations of IBD Patients
July 31, 2019