**Originally published in Health Central on April 10th, 2019** CHAPTER 1 Crashing Down When I first began having inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms in 2005, I had just graduated college, started my first job, and I gotten out of a difficult relationship. And...
I still remember when the racy Bollywood song, “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai?” (Hindi: What’s Behind the Saree Blouse?), teased South Asian household television sets and AM/FM radios (yes, those used to be a thing). I was barely 10 years old and even though I couldn’t get...
By Natasha Weinstein My name is Natasha and I have Crohn’s Disease. I was diagnosed at the age of 11 after years of mild disease activity and extraintestinal manifestations (joint pains, random fevers and stunted growth). It was only when my disease became severe with...
And February’s OYC Trailblazer is…wait for it…Melissa “Mush” Willner! This month marks one year since Melissa had her ostomy reversed and her j-pouch became fully functional. So what better time than now to have Melissa share her story? Here goes nothing… ...
This year I’m starting a new series called Own Your Crohn’s (OYC) TrailBlazers in which I share stories of other chronic illness warriors and their experiences. And who better to begin this series than my father, a long-time veteran of Crohn’s...