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Own Your Crohn's

Empowering the Chronically Ill & Disabled to Lead Fuller Lives

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  • acceptance,  advocacy,  chronic illness,  chronic pain,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  endometriosis,  extraintestinal manifestations,  Irritable Bowel Syndrome,  Mental Health,  Pelvic Floor Dysfunction,  Pelvic pain,  PTSD,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    When Diagnoses Accumulate – My Endometriosis Journey

    August 28, 2023

    Last spring, just when I had thought I had turned a corner and had many of my conditions better controlled, I developed a ton of crippling pelvic pain. Within a couple of days, I started bleeding a lot, which made no sense because I had been on hormones for years to stop my periods. Hormonal therapy was presented to me as a treatment option by Mayo Clinic’s gynecology team because I had many peritoneal inclusion cysts (scar tissue filled with fluid in my pelvis) that were wreaking havoc on my bladder before and after major surgeries done to remove my j-pouch. So, it was either hormonal suppression of ovulation or a hysterectomy at age…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Ostomy Awareness Day: Empowering Ostomates to Live Fuller Lives

    November 22, 2019

    Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week: Minorities, Mental Health & IBD

    December 9, 2018

    Being Brown and Coming Out of the IBD Closet: The Chronic Illness Experience

    August 7, 2018
  • chronic pain,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  fatigue,  Pelvic pain,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Pain and Fatigue in IBD: Provider and Patient Perspectives

    December 5, 2020

    Raise your hand if you’ve dealt with chronic pain and fatigue living with IBD. Pain and fatigue are two common complaints amongst Crohn’s & ulcerative colitis patients whether disease is active or in remission. And oftentimes, it’s the least addressed or acknowledged. Many of us patients live with different types of chronic pain from abdominal pain and cramping related to disease flare-ups to post-surgical pain and pelvic pain. Some of us also tend to have pain from extraintestinal manifestations including severe joint pain and pain from dermatological manifestations (erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum, etc.). And fatigue appears to be a staple living with IBD where even if we have relief from…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    When Diagnoses Accumulate – My Endometriosis Journey

    August 28, 2023
  • awareness,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  Irritable Bowel Syndrome,  living with IBD,  Pelvic Floor Dysfunction,  Pelvic pain,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Pelvic Pain in IBD: An Overlooked Complication

    August 9, 2019

    By Tina Aswani Omprakash, Medically Reviewed by Jenny Blair, MD Originally Published by Oshi Health, Inc., on August 8th, 2019 A complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that often goes unaddressed and misdiagnosed is chronic pelvic pain (CPP). CPP is often defined as pain in the pelvic area that isn’t cyclic and isn’t related to pregnancy and that lasts for three to six months. It may affect from 6% to 25% of reproductive-age women, depending on how it’s defined, as well as men and older women. The condition can arise from a variety of causes. How I’ve Experienced Pelvic Pain So how does CPP apply to us as IBD patients?…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    ~OYC Trailblazers~ Michelle’s Story on the Intersection of Crohn’s & an LGBTQIA+ Identity

    June 22, 2020

    Disability Awareness in the Midst of Coronavirus

    March 12, 2020

    An IBS Journey: Tina

    April 21, 2019
  • 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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    As a Chronically-Ill Brown Woman, Here’s Why I Share My Survival Story

    May 16, 2019

    Basmah’s Journey: The Cultural Impacts of Being an Egyptian Crohnie

    April 18, 2021

    12 News to Your Health IBD Segment

    June 23, 2018
  • advocacy,  awareness,  colorectal cancer,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Mindfulness,  Ostomy,  Pelvic pain

    My Feature in Everyday Health as #EverydayWoman

    February 22, 2019

    From Everyday Health’s Instagram: “Meet Tina Aswani Omprakash — the #IBD warrior and chronic illness advocate behind @ownyourcrohns. Tina was diagnosed with #Crohns disease 13 years ago and has since undergone over 20 surgeries, including a permanent #ostomy, four near-death experiences, and countless IBD-related manifestations and diagnoses. Tina is our #EverydayWoman today and everyday because despite her hardships with Crohn’s disease, she is passionate about leading a full and happy life and inspires others to do the same. Tina is an active leader in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and often writes on her blog about living with an ostomy and other IBD-related issues. Her mantra is to celebrate life,…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    6 Myths About IBD in Minority Patients, Busted

    December 20, 2018

    My Feature During Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week

    November 8, 2018

    Day on the Hill 2019: The Faces of IBD Legislation

    May 11, 2019
  • colorectal cancer,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  Gratitude,  living with IBD,  Mindfulness,  Ostomy,  Pelvic pain,  stigma,  Traveling with IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Valentine's Day

    7 IBD-Inspired Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day

    February 14, 2019

    By Tina Aswani Omprakash February 13, 2019 One woman living with Crohn’s shares thoughtful Valentine’s gift ideas for the IBD warrior in your life. Valentine’s Day can be an anxiety-inducing holiday for many people. Especially for those of us living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). If we’re single, our minds might run wild about when we might meet that special someone. And if we’re in a relationship, we might worry about experiencing symptoms during a romantic moment. But it’s important to remember that Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day for us to fret over romance. It’s a day for us to celebrate all kinds of love: love for significant others, family, and…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    My Feature in Everyday Health as #EverydayWoman

    February 22, 2019

    The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide

    October 17, 2019

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

    September 24, 2018
  • 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…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    World PTSD Day 2019: The Faceless Woman

    June 27, 2019

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

    April 30, 2019

    Honoring My Late Father

    June 17, 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…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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

    January 28, 2021

    12 News to Your Health IBD Segment

    June 23, 2018

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

    September 24, 2018

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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