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  • 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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    World IBD Day Panel Discussion: Experiences of Minority IBD Patients & Caregivers

    May 23, 2020

    ~ OYC Trailblazers ~ Amy & Terrell: Crohn-ically Ever After

    September 23, 2020

    Gaurav’s Covid-19 Journey as a Crohn’s Patient in India

    June 11, 2021
  • Caregiving,  Coronavirus,  COVID-19,  Crohn's,  immunocompromised,  Mental Health

    Gaurav’s Covid-19 Journey as a Crohn’s Patient in India

    June 11, 2021

    Greetings! I’m Gaurav Sengupta, a 32-year-old IBD patient advocate from India. I currently live in Kolkata and run a plastic manufacturing business of my own. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease back in 2015 when I was working as a Corporate Banker in the UAE. I nearly ended up in surgery back then and once again in 2019 due to stricture formation and bowel obstructions. I have been fortunate that my GI has helped to successfully control my disease during both of those flares with the help of oral steroids and immunosuppressants.  I recently fell prey to the global pandemic of Covid-19 during its second wave in India. Here, I…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Taryn’s Journey: Navigating Relationships and IBD During the Pandemic

    April 1, 2021

    The Other Side of Crohn’s: Caregiving

    December 9, 2019

    World IBD Day Panel Discussion: Experiences of Minority IBD Patients & Caregivers

    May 23, 2020
  • autoimmune disease,  Black Lives Matter,  Caregiving,  Coronavirus,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Minority Health,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Taryn’s Journey: Navigating Relationships and IBD During the Pandemic

    April 1, 2021

    “I think I might be at the start of a partial obstruction.  What do I do?” The words I shared with my husband in late March 2020 weren’t rhetorical.  It was more like I dropped a mini bomb into an already stressful situation. Even though I’ve had a series of partial bowel obstructions over the years, this time felt different. We were at the beginning of the pandemic.  At a time when merely stepping  outside seemed dangerous, a trip to the ER felt terrifying. In that moment, I was asking for much more than just advice.  I wanted – no, needed  – reassurance that regardless of what was happening with…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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

    September 18, 2021

    Dropping Mask Mandates: A Time of Anxiety or Joy?

    March 15, 2022

    What I’ve Learned About Starting an Advanced Therapy for Crohn’s Disease

    March 2, 2024
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Caregiving,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  Minority Health,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  World IBD Day

    World IBD Day Panel Discussion: Experiences of Minority IBD Patients & Caregivers

    May 23, 2020

    By Anand Omprakash For World IBD Day, I was invited to be a part of a virtual panel discussion with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, Dr. Meena Bewtra (IBD patient & gastroenterologist) and Stephanie Stinson (IBD patient) highlighting the unique struggles that minority patients and caregivers face.  I did this because I wanted to shed light upon the stigmas surrounding chronic illness in my community, especially so when it comes to a bowel disease and to marriage. In many communities around the world, a chronic illness is often viewed as a liability because marriage is considered as a familial “contract” to provide and reproduce and not just a means to provide…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Throwback to La Caverna 2006!

    August 30, 2018

    Real Talk About Fistulae

    January 19, 2019

    ~OYC TRAILBLAZERS~ Katie’s Story: Baby-Making Prospects & Egg-Freezing with a J-Pouch

    September 4, 2019
  • Ableism,  acceptance,  Caregiving,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis

    The Other Side of Crohn’s: Caregiving

    December 9, 2019

    By Anand Omprakash Originally published by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on December 3rd, 2019: https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/anands-story   “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A Heinlein For anyone who has been in a loving relationship – romantic, familial, or other – I hope this quote resonates. Love truly is the condition in which another’s happiness is crucial to your own. In fact, that is the whole point of a loving relationship, is it not?   This aspect of love very much applies to relationships in which we are not just partners, but also caregivers. A caregiver is one who takes on…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    I am NOT a Burden: A South Asian Perspective

    July 1, 2020

    University Accommodations in the COVID-19 Era

    September 7, 2020

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

    June 17, 2020
  • awareness,  caregivers,  Crohn's,  living with IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Caregivers: The Greatest Blessing of All

    December 7, 2018

    As we wrap up Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week, I reflect on the greatest blessing of all in my IBD journey: my caregivers, my dear mother and husband. From the constant rides into the city for doctors’ visits to packing wounds and changing PICC line dressings while helping me walk and shower after surgery, Mom, you picked me up when I was at my lowest points in life. From driving me to Cleveland Clinic and flying me to Mayo Clinic for surgery while spending countless sleepless nights in the hospital, Anand, you stood by my side when society told you you could have done better. Many of our IBD journeys…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    J-Pouch Failure – Tina’s Story

    June 15, 2019

    What Will People Think? ~A Short Documentary by Chealynn Feaster

    December 27, 2019

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

    September 22, 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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