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Empowering the Chronically Ill & Disabled to Lead Fuller Lives

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  • advocacy,  awareness,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Emerging Therapies,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Fistulas: What You Need to Know About a Common Side Effect of Crohn’s

    May 17, 2019

    By Padma Nagappan Medically Reviewed by Kareem Sassi, MD Originally published by Everyday Health on May 14th, 2019: https://www.everydayhealth.com/crohns-disease/symptoms/fistulas-common-crohns-side-effect-you-should-aware/ Fistulas are an abnormal connection between two body parts. In Crohn’s patients they form as tunnels within the walls of the intestine and connect to other organs or tissue, causing pain and infection. After years of living in intense pain and going through several misdiagnoses, Tina Aswani Omprakash, found out she had Crohn’s disease. Her condition was so severe that she needed emergency proctocolectomy surgery (removal of the colon and rectum), and she was put on biologics. “I knew Crohn’s was an intense disease, but I did not realize what it takes to really, truly fight…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Clinical Trials: The Next Frontier for Diverse Populations of IBD Patients

    July 31, 2019

    MC Capital T Reppin’ from the BK Walk!

    June 25, 2018

    My Ostomy, My Lifesaver

    October 3, 2019
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Crohn's,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Minority Health,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    As a Chronically-Ill Brown Woman, Here’s Why I Share My Survival Story

    May 16, 2019

    I had the honor of attending the 2019 HealtheVoices conference in Dallas, TX, as a patient advocate who was selected to attend from a group of 400+ applicants. Here are my impressions of the conference theme for this year, “A Little Heart Can Do Big Things” from the perspective of a chronically-ill brown patient advocate: https://www.oshihealth.com/my-survival-story/. Originally published by Oshi Health, Inc., on April 29th, 2019. Written by Tina Aswani Omprakash Please feel free to leave comments and feedback. I would love to hear your thoughts as always.

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Metamorphosis

    August 13, 2018

    World PTSD Day 2019: The Faceless Woman

    June 27, 2019

    Coping with IBD & Stress & Anxiety Around COVID-19

    April 1, 2020
  • Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  IBD Parenthood Project,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Mother's Day,  Ostomy,  Pregnancy in IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    ~OYC Trailblazers~ Brandi’s Journey into Motherhood with a Redone J-Pouch

    May 12, 2019

    By Brandi Fliegel I was 22 years old when I went to the emergency room for the first time. I had extreme stomach pain and couldn’t stop going to the bathroom. They told me I had a stomach virus and sent me home with some Imodium. Then the bleeding started. I went to a different hospital and after further testing, they diagnosed me with ulcerative colitis. I didn’t really understand the disease at the time. I just knew I had to take medications to combat inflammation in the gut everyday. Then the flare-ups began and I would end up back in the hospital. I would go on steroids and then…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Pain and Fatigue in IBD: Provider and Patient Perspectives

    December 5, 2020

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

    December 1, 2018

    In the Name of Science & Research

    June 25, 2019
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Crohn's,  living with IBD,  patient rights,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Day on the Hill 2019: The Faces of IBD Legislation

    May 11, 2019

    Last year, I had the honor of attending my first Day on the Hill (DOH) organized by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (http://ownyourcrohns.com/dayonthehill/). After such a rewarding and empowering experience, I’m thankful to have been invited back with 100+ other advocates to represent my fellow inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) warriors on the Hill again this year. LEGISLATIVE TRAINING This past week we kicked off DOH at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C., with a panel on Patient Advocacy & Empowerment moderated by Advocacy Committee Chair of the National Council of College Leaders (NCCL), Bianca Hernandez. The panelists involved were Dr. Thomas Ullman, Chief of Gastroenterology at Montefiore Medical Center; Natalie…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide

    October 17, 2019

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

    September 27, 2019

    How a clinical trial helped this Crohn’s advocate finally reach remission

    November 24, 2019
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Diet,  living with IBD,  Minority Health,  Nutrition,  Women's Health

    Brown Girl with Guts: Tina’s Journey with Crohn’s Disease

    April 30, 2019

    Originally Published by Girls with Guts on April 30th, 2019: https://www.girlswithguts.org/blog/2019/4/30/brown-girl-with-guts-tinas-journey-with-crohns-disease As a woman of color, I’ve struggled from the very beginning with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The diagnosis was hard enough to wrap my head around but add the elements of loss of career, loss of personality and ultimately, loss of cultural identity played into a lot of my struggles with managing my brand of IBD. To backtrack, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2006. Now, this was by no means a surprising diagnosis for me. My father had died of a virulent form of Crohn’s that became colorectal cancer when I was 8 years old here in…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    My 9/11 Story: Paying Kindness Forward

    September 11, 2019

    Indian Ostomate Podcast Show: Episode 1 with Tina Aswani Omprakash

    July 23, 2020

    Honoring My Late Father

    June 17, 2018
  • advocacy,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Diet,  Emerging Therapies,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Minority Health,  Ostomy,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    The Impact of IBD on Racial & Ethnic Minorities

    April 24, 2019

    On Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019, in honor of National Minority Health Month, Dr. Aline Charabaty (Director of Johns Hopkins IBD Center), Brooke Abbott (Patient Advocate, Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles) & I (Patient Advocate, Own Your Crohn’s) had the honor of speaking with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on the very important topic of “The Impact of IBD on Racial & Ethnic Minorities.” Please view the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s video below: If you are a man or woman of color living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), please know you are NOT alone. We are all here to support you through your journey. More is and will be done to tend…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    The Value of Support Groups

    August 26, 2018

    My Pelvic Pain Story

    October 26, 2018

    Step in Our Shoes: A Discussion on Being an Ally to the Black Community

    June 20, 2020
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Crohn's,  Irritable Bowel Syndrome,  stigma

    An IBS Journey: Tina

    April 21, 2019

    Originally published in The Gut Gazette by Megan Marsiglio on April 15, 2019: https://thegutgazette.com/an-ibs-journey-tina/ If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you are NOT alone. To do our part in helping spread further awareness about IBS during April’s IBS Awareness Month, we are sharing different stories of various individuals who have IBS. Name: Tina Aswani-Omprakash, Patient AdvocateLocation: New York, NYWebsite: ownyourcrohns.comFB/Twitter/Instagram: @ownyourcrohns What symptoms do you experience with IBS? I have something called post-surgical IBS that I developed after many surgeries to bring my Crohn’s Disease under control. Symptoms include: bloating, nausea, abdominal cramping, chronic constipation (but if I take laxatives, then intense diarrhea). What has been the hardest challenge with IBS? Dealing with…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Real Talk About Fistulae

    January 19, 2019

    When Diagnoses Accumulate: My Gastroparesis Story

    August 29, 2019

    The Value of Support Groups

    August 26, 2018
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ostomy,  Pelvic pain,  Self-image,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    My Health Became My Top Priority

    April 16, 2019

    **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 then, to top it off, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC). I was at the top of my game, and everything just came crashing down in the blink of an eye. I had also just started my master’s in financial management, but, after the diagnosis, I couldn’t complete it. With a new career on Wall Street, I took a break from my graduate education to focus on…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    World PTSD Day 2019: The Faceless Woman

    June 27, 2019

    My Feature During Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week

    November 8, 2018

    Brown Girl with Guts: Tina’s Journey with Crohn’s Disease

    April 30, 2019
  • advocacy,  awareness,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Minority Health,  Ostomy,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    About IBD Podcast #40 – Tina Aswani Omprakash’s Story: What Are People Going to Think?

    April 10, 2019

    Listen to About IBD’s Podcast #40: What Are People Going to Think? Shared via Amber Tresca’s podcast and blog, About IBD   People who live with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis experience stigma because of their inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The taboo topic of bowel disease can permeate all aspects of a person’s life, especially when there are cultural influences also at play. Tina Aswani Omprakash, who lives with Crohn’s disease and a permanent ileostomy, shares her story of personal empowerment and how she is working to help other people with IBD live their lives with confidence. Tina describes how IBD has profoundly affected her family as well as why…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Bachatera with a Bag: Theodora Shattering Ostomy Stigma Through Dance

    April 27, 2021

    MC Capital T Reppin’ from the BK Walk!

    June 25, 2018

    12 News to Your Health IBD Segment

    June 23, 2018
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Body Positivity,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ostomy,  Self-image,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Lilly Singh’s ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai?’: My Anthem for Body Positivity

    April 1, 2019

    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 enough of the song’s hypnotic beat, I felt tingling shame every time I heard its lyrics. So when Lilly Singh (a/k/a iiSuperwomanii), Punjabi-Canadian LGBTQ YouTube star and soon-to-be late-night TV show host, released her rap remake of “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai?” last week, I nearly fell off my chair. She didn’t just remake a Bollywood classic; she recreated a spectacle made for…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    October 3, 2019

    When Diagnoses Accumulate – My Endometriosis Journey

    August 28, 2023

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

    February 25, 2019
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Recent Posts

  • Feb 18, 2025 How to Own Your Crohn’s & Ostomy While Traveling to India
  • Jan 05, 2025 Key Takeaways from Advances in IBD (AIBD) 2024
  • Dec 05, 2024 Navigating Mental Health in Crohn’s Disease 
  • Dec 04, 2024 Highlights from ACG 2024: SAIA’s IBDesis’ Patient Experience
  • Nov 18, 2024 SAIA is proud to announce Tina Aswani-Omprakash, MPH as our full-time CEO!

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