Colorectal Surgery – Page 5 – Own Your Crohn's

acceptance, advocacy, awareness, colorectal cancer, Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, Father's Day, living with IBD, Ostomy, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

OYC Trailblazers: An Ode to My Father & Fellow IBD Warrior

January 30, 2019

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 Disease? Dr. Moti Aswani was born in New Delhi, India, and came to New York to study at the age of 21. And, oh, did he study! He held five degrees: a Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in Electrical Engineering and Masters degrees in Philosophy and Business Administration. He was a Senior Systems Engineer for the prestigious Bell Labs in New Jersey for many years thereafter. On paper, he was…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Honoring My Late Father
June 17, 2018

The Waiting Game
June 30, 2018

Coping with IBD & Stress & Anxiety Around COVID-19
April 1, 2020
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

OstomyConnection SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Harikesh Buch works to shatter stigma and improve post-surgery care for ostomates in India.

January 24, 2019

Dr. Harikesh G. Buch recognized the difficulties faced by homeless people in his home city of Mumbai early in his medical career. A skilled colorectal surgeon, he devoted himself to operating on those unable to pay for his services. Then something happened that changed the course of his life: At the age of 29, he was diagnosed with rectal cancer and underwent colostomy surgery, an operation that would serve as the focus of his volunteer work for many years to come. Dr. Buch recalls that he was “devastated” after the cancer diagnosis and, though it didn’t take him long to become accustomed to living with a stoma, he had initial…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Honoring My Late Father
June 17, 2018

~OYC Trailblazers~ Mollie’s Story: Living la Vida Latina with Ulcerative Colitis & an Ostomy
September 27, 2019

Brown Girl with Guts: Tina’s Journey with Crohn’s Disease
April 30, 2019
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, Fistulizing Disease, living with IBD, Mindfulness, Ostomy, patient rights, Pelvic pain, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

Real Talk About Fistulae

January 19, 2019

As I sit here today with a very heavy heart typing out this blog post, I’m not sure if the excruciatingly painful nodule I felt earlier this week is just another health scare or yet another horrifying abscess from a fistula. I hold back tears as I wonder what my next steps are and what I can do to keep spiraling anxiety in check. Now many of you might be wondering what I’m even referring to–abscess? Fistula? What the heck are those and why am I such a mess over them? Well, get ready for some real talk about the most harrowing experience I’ve faced as a Crohn’s patient. According…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

OYC Trailblazers: What Healing Means to Natasha
March 26, 2019

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

My Ostomy, My Lifesaver
October 3, 2019
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, colorectal cancer, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

IBD Awareness Week Line-Up: Diversity, Mental Health & More!

December 1, 2018

Today kicks off Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week! The lead-up to this week has included my (very exciting!) feature on the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s website for general IBD awareness and for racial and ethnic minorities. I also had the honor of sharing my IBD story with reporters from various media outlets who attended the Foundation’s briefing this past week. In discussing my story, I talked about the cultural impact of being a minority woman with Crohn’s Disease and a permanent ostomy. Being a different race, gender, sexuality and/or ethnicity adds a whole other layer of complexity to the IBD experience. I really wanted to bring to light how complicated our…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

My Feature During Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week
November 8, 2018

OYC Trailblazers: What Healing Means to Natasha
March 26, 2019

Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week: Minorities, Mental Health & IBD
December 9, 2018
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, Pelvic pain, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

My Pelvic Pain Story

October 26, 2018

…Via The Women’s Pelvic Pain Podcast… My first podcast goes live! Check out my pelvic pain story available now in iTunes. Listen to Episode 14: My Pelvic Pain Story here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-14-my-pelvic-pain-story-with-tina-of-own-your-crohns/id1379107302?i=1000422358419&mt=2 Something many folks might not realize about having IBD and IBD-related surgery is that it often comes with chronic pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, which makes walking, sitting and emptying the bladder very difficult during pelvic flare-ups. And periods feel far more painful as does intercourse. It is hard enough to talk about living with a bowel condition and/or an ostomy. Add pelvic pain to the mix and the stigma magnifies even further. My intent is to shatter…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

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

A Valentine’s Day Special: Dating & Relationships with an Ostomy
February 25, 2020

Love Knows No Disability
July 2, 2019
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, colorectal cancer, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flare, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

All of these exceptional women have won awards this year for their public advocacy efforts

October 16, 2018

Winner, winner! Inspirational role models we look up to. Ostomy awareness involves advocacy, and to be effective in advocating for change we need influencers. Advocacy can be standing up and speaking out for a cause, voicing concerns about misconceptions, or connecting with individuals and organizations who need support. All of these exceptional women have won awards this year for their public advocacy efforts. Amber Wallace won a WEGO Health Award. View image on Twitter WEGO Health@wegohealth Congratulations to 2018 #WEGOHealthAwards Best Kept Secret winner Amber Wallace! @ostomydiaries Check out all the finalist & winner videos from this year’s celebration here: https://wegoh.co/2OWMWdb 4:50 PM – Oct 8, 2018 4 See WEGO Health’s other…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

~OYC Trailblazers~ Anisha Zumba-ing Her Way into 2021!
January 28, 2021

Allowing Acceptance In
November 21, 2018

~OYC Trailblazers~ Mollie’s Story: Living la Vida Latina with Ulcerative Colitis & an Ostomy
September 27, 2019
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, colorectal cancer, Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, patient rights, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

Real Talk about Ostomies

October 5, 2018

On the eve of World Ostomy Day, I write this blog post in hopes of debunking many of the myths surrounding living with an ostomy. So here goes nothing… I always get super excited when friends and family muster up the courage to ask about my ostomy. It makes me feel so connected to them and like I’m being recognized for all of me and not just the healthy-looking parts of me. I feel their concern, their love and most of all, their interest in how I live my life, chronic illness and disabilities abound. See, the thing is, living with an ostomy is often the proverbial elephant in the…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Coping with IBD & Stress & Anxiety Around COVID-19
April 1, 2020

My Ostomy, My Lifesaver
October 3, 2019

TINA ASWANI OMPRAKASH | 2018 NYC ADULT HONORED HERO
April 20, 2018
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, colorectal cancer, Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, Ostomy, stigma

No More Secrets: An enlightening film that reveals the stigma of having an ostomy in India

September 24, 2018

In a world that’s still struggling with the concept of life-saving ostomy surgery, India comes chock full of psychosocial taboos. In addition to the challenge of costly medical supplies, ostomies are widely viewed as unacceptable in this country and can even become barriers to pursuing careers and relationships. Filmmaker Anisha Vijayan recognized the need to educate the masses about living with an ostomy in India. After months of interviews and countless hours of research and production, her documentary No More Secrets was released earlier this year. She shared with OC the inspiration behind creating the film and how it’s offering encouragement to ostomates in South Asia. Read the full story on…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Disability Awareness in the Midst of Coronavirus
March 12, 2020

Step in Our Shoes: A Discussion on Being an Ally to the Black Community
June 20, 2020

“I Had an Ostomy—and It Changed My Life”
December 11, 2019
advocacy, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, living with IBD, patient rights, Ulcerative Colitis

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

September 22, 2018

It’s Sepsis Awareness Month, so I’m discussing what sepsis is and how it is often a complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal surgery. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “sepsis arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs, potentially leading to death or significant morbidity.” WHO statistics show that more than 30 million people contract sepsis each year, and 6 million die from it. But aside from all these scientific terms and statistics, what is sepsis? To me, sepsis looked and felt like the following: It all started with a 103-degree fever, a high pulse well into the 130s, low blood pressure hovering around…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

Colon Cancer & Its Devastating Impact on My Family
March 19, 2020

My Ostomy, My Lifesaver
October 3, 2019

My Feature in Everyday Health as #EverydayWoman
February 22, 2019
acceptance, advocacy, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flare, Crohn's, living with IBD, Ostomy, patient rights, stigma, Ulcerative Colitis

The Value of Support Groups

August 26, 2018

In a world where medical professionals have only a few minutes to go over a whole slew of symptoms, medication interactions, and surgical complications, it is impossible to cover the psychosocial aspects of one’s condition(s). These aspects include methods of coping with the emotional roller coaster of living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).This is where support groups come into the picture. They fill that gap between doctor-patient interactions and provide real-time support and understanding to patients caught in the rigmarole of hospital visits, health insurance, and invasive testing. But more than this, the true value of support groups lies in empowering patients by fostering lifelong friendships through a deep understanding of…

Read More

Tina Aswani Omprakash

Related Posts

My Feature in Suffering the Silence’s Photo Series Campaign
October 6, 2019

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

Day on the Hill 2019: The Faces of IBD Legislation
May 11, 2019