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…
- 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
- Clinical Trials, Crohn's, Emerging Therapies, living with IBD, medical trauma, Mental Health, PTSD, Ulcerative Colitis
Research Highlights from Digestive Disease Week 2022 for the IBD Community
Originally Published by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on their IBDVisible Blog on June 8th, 2022 By: Madhura Balasubramaniam & Tina Aswani-Omprakash After two years of virtual programming due to COVID-19, Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2022 came back with a bang in San Diego, CA last month. There was a lot of research presented about various gastrointestinal and liver conditions and it was exhilarating to see and hear about all the latest developments in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) space. From emerging therapies to better understanding of psychosocial aspects of IBD in addition to the role of antibiotics in IBD as well as growing up with pets and the development of IBD,…
- Colorectal Surgery, Crohn's, Gastroparesis, invisible illness, living with IBD, medical trauma, Mental Health, Ostomy, PTSD, Ulcerative Colitis
Real Talk About Recovery
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…
- 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
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…
- acceptance, awareness, Colorectal Surgery, coping with flares, Crohn's, living with IBD, Mental Health, PTSD, Stigma, Ulcerative Colitis, Women's Health
World PTSD Day 2019: The Faceless Woman
In honor of World PTSD Day today, I release a poem I wrote some weeks ago surrounding the medical trauma I’ve faced as a Crohn’s patient. This poem is not for the faint of heart so I will not be offended if you cannot read it. Post-traumatic stress is a term that’s often thrown around lightly but it has serious implications for people who have been in battle for their country, for their lives and against chronic illnesses. Everyday is a minefield with an array of flashbacks and memories that keep us from living our best lives. I urge you all to learn more and to respond to those who…