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Own Your Crohn's

Empowering the Chronically Ill & Disabled to Lead Fuller Lives

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  • advocacy,  autoimmune disease,  Crohn's,  Diet,  immunocompromised,  invisible illness,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Traveling with IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis

    How to Own Your Crohn’s & Ostomy While Traveling to India

    February 18, 2025

    By Tina Aswani-Omprakash As IBD warriors, it’s always nerve-wracking to travel with our conditions and/or an ostomy. For me, it’s been 7 years of me traveling all over the U.S. and Europe for patient advocacy work. And even though I’ve spoken many times virtually for events in India and Pakistan, I hadn’t traveled to the region to speak given the pandemic. Now that we are out of the pandemic and back at in-person conferences, it was fantastic to be invited to speak about my experiences as an IBD patient & ostomate at Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin’s (GAPIO’s) conference in Mysuru, Karnataka, India. Plus, traveling to Karnataka meant…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    September 23, 2020

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    November 8, 2018

    When Diagnoses Accumulate – My Endometriosis Journey

    August 28, 2023
  • autoimmune disease,  Crohn's,  Diet,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Minority Health,  Nutrition,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Key Takeaways from Crohn’s & Colitis Congress 2023

    February 24, 2023

    The Crohn’s & Colitis Congress 2023 took place last month in Denver, Colorado, bringing together more than 1,300 healthcare professionals and researchers from across the globe to share the latest advancements in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To summarize some of my key takeaways: **Goal is to improve patient care by halting progression of disease** So, own your Crohn’s, own your ulcerative colitis, and stay abreast of the latest and greatest research in the IBD space to advocate for your own best care! To read more about Crohn’s & Colitis Congress 2023, please visit the full blog post on the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s IBDVisible Blog. As a patient advocate myself, I…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    February 18, 2025

    Demi’s Journey: Coming Out with Ulcerative Colitis as a Filipino Woman

    May 3, 2021

    Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine as a Patient with Several Autoimmune Conditions

    March 22, 2021
  • Caregiving,  Crohn's,  Cultural Stigma,  Family Planning,  IBD Parenthood Project,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Motherhood,  Nutrition,  Patient Voice,  Pregnancy in IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    ~OYC Trailblazers~ Tanya’s Pregnancy Journey Living with Crohn’s Disease in India

    November 5, 2022

    Written by Tanya Manohar My name is Tanya, and I live in Chennai, India. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 1999, a time when little was known about IBD in India. This means that I have segments of intestinal narrowing and scarring throughout my small intestine known as strictures caued by Crohn’s. I had one small bowel resection in 2009. A treatment regimen, comprising Azathioprine and Mesalamine, was the cocktail my Gastroenterologist Dr. Ashok Chacko prescribed to treat my Crohn’s. In combination with a restricted and closely monitored low-fiber diet, this regimen has kept me fairly stable. It has allowed me to live alone in a foreign country, pursue…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    September 23, 2020

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    The Other Side of Crohn’s: Caregiving

    December 9, 2019
  • Crohn's,  Digital Healthcare Innovations,  Disability Justice,  invisible illness,  Irritable Bowel Syndrome,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  patient rights,  Ulcerative Colitis

    My Feature in The New York Times!

    June 22, 2022

    In conjunction with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s new We Can’t Wait App, nonprofit partner South Asian IBD Alliance’s Co-Founder & President Tina Aswani-Omprakash was interviewed and featured in the Metropolitan section of the Sunday’s edition of The New York Times on 19 June 2022!!! Read the article in-print below or online here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/nyregion/public-bathrooms-nyc-tiktok.html Check out the We Can’t Wait App to find the restroom nearest to you in the U.S. Available now for download in Apple Store and Google Play: https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/wecantwait

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    June 22, 2020

    Tips for Telehealth and Managing Your IBD Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    April 18, 2020

    My Feature in Suffering the Silence’s Photo Series Campaign

    October 6, 2019
  • 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…

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

    February 16, 2022

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

    September 18, 2021

    Pain and Fatigue in IBD: Provider and Patient Perspectives

    December 5, 2020
  • advocacy,  autoimmune disease,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  Gastroparesis,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Minority Health,  National Minority Health Month,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Bachatera with a Bag: Theodora Shattering Ostomy Stigma Through Dance

    April 27, 2021

    Elegance, beauty, confidence, and rhythm: these are some words used to describe a female Latin dancer. Chemistry, passion, sensuality: these often come to mind when describing or watching a Latin dance couple. Each genre of dance comes with its own culture. Dance shoes, music and certain beats accompany each genre and of course, that exists within bachata, a form of dance I love to practice. Nationally and internationally, people congregate to study, perform and/or socially dance the bachata together and there is absolutely nothing quite like it! Being a bachatera (a female bachata dancer), and 50% of a bachata dance partnership with my husband Marcos, I am fortunate to experience…

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    My Health Became My Top Priority

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    The Impact of IBD on Racial & Ethnic Minorities

    April 24, 2019
  • Ableism,  advocacy,  Coronavirus,  COVID-19,  Crohn's,  disability accommodations,  Disability Justice,  Gastroparesis,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ulcerative Colitis

    University Accommodations in the COVID-19 Era

    September 7, 2020

    The last few weeks have felt daunting and overwhelming as I’ve been battling intense floods of illness and considering whether or not to resume graduate school part-time again this fall. You see, even contemplating a graduate program was a huge undertaking for me a couple years ago when I was accepted into a Certificate of Public Health program. As I slowly mustered up the courage to transfer into the Master’s in Public Health program, I felt scared yet hopeful all at once. And in between it all, I’ve had to take a trimester off to tend to my health.  But all that aside, now we are in the midst of a…

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    What IBD Awareness Means to a South Asian American Woman with Crohn’s

    June 17, 2020

    My Feature in Suffering the Silence’s Photo Series Campaign

    October 6, 2019
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  fistula,  Gastroparesis,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ostomy,  PTSD,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Talking Gut Podcast Episode 20: Tina Aswani Omprakash on Resilience & GRITT

    May 30, 2020

    As May, a month of several health initiatives, comes to a close, I wanted to highlight Mental Health Awareness Month, World IBD Day and World Digestive Disease Day by talking about all three in my latest podcast interview with Dr. Jim Kantidakis, Clinical Psychologist & Gut-Directed Hypnotherapist, at the Gut Centre in Australia. In his podcast titled Talking Gut, I discuss the power of resilience, that so-called grit that living with Crohn’s Disease, multiple fistulae, a permanent ileostomy, gastroparesis, IBS and SIBO have given me over the years. Dr. Kantidakis asks me how I got through all my hospitalizations and faced all the medical PTSD and I would have to…

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  • Ableism,  advocacy,  awareness,  Colorectal Surgery,  Coronavirus,  COVID-19,  Crohn's,  Disability Justice,  immunocompromised,  invisible illness,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Inspire’s #KeepUsAllSafe COVID-19 Campaign

    April 12, 2020

    Last week, Inspire released a short video we made virtually on why living with Crohn’s Disease and being immunocompromised during COVID-19 is downright terrifying for patients like myself who are chronically and invisibly ill. Please take a moment to watch this video and share to help raise awareness. And don’t forget – every life is valuable! So please #KeepUsAll safe by practicing social distancing and staying home as much as possible! Be well & best wishes always!

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    An Interview with News 12 NJ: How Does Coronavirus Affect YOU?

    April 6, 2020

    Earlier today, News 12 NJ journalist Prashanthi Musapet interviewed IBD patient advocate Tina Aswani Omprakash of OwnYourCrohns.com on Instagram LIVE on her experience as an immunocompromised patient living with Crohn’s Disease in the midst of the #COVID19 pandemic. To watch the interview, view the video below. In the video, you will hear Tina’s thoughts and experiences about being #HighRiskCOVID19 and how critical social distancing and taking responsibility for public welfare is during this outbreak to save lives like hers. I hope you found this interview informative and I especially hope that speaking up about being immunocompromised during #Coronavirus helps to create awareness and education in the able-bodied world about chronic…

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 Older Posts

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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