Own Your Crohn’s

Empowering the Chronically Ill & Disabled to Lead Fuller Lives

Love Knows No Disability

Love Knows No Disability

Nine years ago today, the love of my life, Anand, and I were married in a beautiful Hindu temple with several of our relatives and friends in attendance from all over the world. It was a momentous occasion for me not just in a traditional sense but because of how...
Happy World IBD Day from Digestive Disease Week (DDW)!

Happy World IBD Day from Digestive Disease Week (DDW)!

Last weekend, a number of us celebrated World IBD Day from DDW in San Diego, CA. We advocates sat in sessions and conferences brainstorming the best ways in which to address the gaps in IBD care and bring those ideas forward to doctors leading the quest to improve our...
OYC Trailblazers: Celebrating Melissa’s J-Pouch-versary

OYC Trailblazers: Celebrating Melissa’s J-Pouch-versary

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… ...
Caregivers: The Greatest Blessing of All

Caregivers: The Greatest Blessing of All

As we wrap up Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week, I reflect on the greatest blessing of all in my IBD journey: my caregivers, my dear mother and husband. From the constant rides into the city for doctors’ visits to packing wounds and changing PICC line dressings...
Honoring My Late Father

Honoring My Late Father

(Daddy at his Doctoral Commencement at Columbia University in the ’70s.)This Father’s Day I honor all fathers. I especially honor my father who devoted his life to the sciences and to his family. He toiled endlessly until the very last minute working until...