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Empowering the Chronically Ill & Disabled to Lead Fuller Lives

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  • acceptance,  advocacy,  Body Positivity,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  living with IBD,  Mental Health,  Ostomy,  Self-image,  stigma

    “I Had an Ostomy—and It Changed My Life”

    December 11, 2019

    For these people living with Crohn’s disease, ostomy surgery made everything from the ordinary to the extraordinary possible. By Jennifer Rainey Marquez Excerpt taken from HealthCentral. Article originally published in HealthCentral on November 27th, 2019: https://www.healthcentral.com/article/ostomy-crohns-patient-stories “I feel more ‘myself’ than I have in years.” ~Tina Aswani Omprakash, 36, New York City “As an Indian American, getting an ostomy was so culturally taboo that I waited until I was near death’s door to finally have the surgery. I was told nobody would marry me, and I was very afraid that I’d be discriminated against. To my surprise, my ostomy didn’t just save my life—it made me feel alive again! Not only…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Owning My Crohn’s Mindfully This New Year

    January 5, 2019

    12 News to Your Health IBD Segment

    June 23, 2018

    Edgar Flores opens up about surviving near-death and the challenges of living with an ostomy in Mexico

    November 4, 2018
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Clinical Trials,  Crohn's,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis

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

    November 24, 2019

    Originally published on November 22, 2019 on Antidote’s website Like many people living with Crohn’s disease, Tina Aswani Omprakash had trouble finding a treatment that would send her symptoms into remission.  After trying many of the common Crohn’s treatments on the market, she still wasn’t getting a response. She also had developed fistulas: abnormal connections between organs in the digestive tract, typically between one part of the intestines and another.  That’s when her doctor suggested she join a clinical trial…  To read more of this story, please visit Antidote’s website: https://www.antidote.me/blog/how-a-clinical-trial-helped-this-crohns-advocate-finally-reach-remission       As always, I welcome all your thoughts, comments and feedback! Love hearing from you all! ~~LOVE,…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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

    June 20, 2020

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

    April 18, 2021

    My 9/11 Story: Paying Kindness Forward

    September 11, 2019
  • advocacy,  award,  awareness,  Crohn's,  Ostomy,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis

    The Healio Disruptive Innovator Award: Moving the Needle on IBD Care

    November 16, 2019

    A few weeks ago on Diwali Day, I won the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award for the Patient Voice category at the American College of Gastroenterology’s conference in San Antonio, Texas! This award is presented to the patient advocate who helps move the needle on GI care most in a particular year and whose voice resonates most with the 200 world-renowned doctors part of Healio Gastroenterology. Even though I wasn’t able to travel to Texas for the award ceremony, I’m deeply honored and humbled to be recognized with such a prestigious award. It has been a very long and arduous journey and being able to advocate and help destigmatize inflammatory bowel…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    My Feature in Everyday Health as #EverydayWoman

    February 22, 2019

    OYC Trailblazers: What Healing Means to Natasha

    March 26, 2019

    All of these exceptional women have won awards this year for their public advocacy efforts

    October 16, 2018
  • Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Fistulizing Disease,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Patient Experiences with IBD Surgery

    November 9, 2019

    Last winter, my husband and caregiver, Anand, and I recorded a video with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on what it’s like to have surgery for Crohn’s & ulcerative colitis. We shared my experiences as a patient undergoing colorectal surgery and his experiences as my caregiver. The video was released in the last week or so. To view, check out https://youtu.be/InmqegoP-6c. Be sure to check out the entire video as there are other patient experiences included as well! So own your Crohn’s, own your colitis, and educate yourself on all the treatment options available to you and your loved ones! ?✨ ~~Love, Light & Peace Always~~

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Real Talk about Ostomies

    October 5, 2018

    The Value of Support Groups

    August 26, 2018

    Colon Cancer & Its Devastating Impact on My Family

    March 19, 2020
  • acceptance,  awareness,  Body Positivity,  Colorectal Surgery,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  Egg-Freezing,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Pregnancy in IBD,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

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

    September 4, 2019

    A Nursing Student Tells OYC Her J-Pouch Story and How That Led to Her Courageous Decision to Freeze Her Eggs to Someday Have Children. By Katie Gene Friedman When I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in my senior year of college, my colitis responded to medication and didn’t take up much of my life. Consequently, I only disclosed my diagnosis to my then boyfriend, best friend, and immediate family. During a bad flare and particularly stressful semester in grad school studying social psychology, that group expanded to include the nucleus of my social circle and some professors. At that point, my disease affected what I was doing but not…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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

    February 25, 2019

    Allowing Acceptance In

    November 21, 2018

    Real Talk about Ostomies

    October 5, 2018
  • acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Gastroparesis,  Ostomy

    When Diagnoses Accumulate: My Gastroparesis Story

    August 29, 2019

    As Gastroparesis Awareness Month is coming quickly to a close, I thought it high time to share my story. As many of you know, I was diagnosed in June with a form of digestive tract paralysis (DTP), specifically gastroparesis, via antroduodenal manometry and a gastric emptying study. And let me just say, this diagnosis was one of the toughest pills I’ve had to swallow in recent years. Not because I hadn’t known that some kind of DTP diagnosis was in the works but because I was blindsided by the resurgence of Crohn’s along with small bowel dysmotility on top of the gastroparesis. And it knocked me down and it wore…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Metamorphosis

    August 13, 2018

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

    September 23, 2020

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

    December 1, 2018
  • advocacy,  awareness,  Body Positivity,  coping with flares,  Crohn's,  Diet,  J-Pouch,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Pelvic Floor Dysfunction,  Self-image,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Weekend Long IBD Retreat Helped Me to Own My Crohn’s

    August 24, 2019

    Everyday Health blogger Tina Aswani Omprakash details her experience on a weekend-long retreat for women living with IBDs.

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    A Direct-to-Patient Model: How Online Pharmacy Marley Drug is Revolutionizing Drug Pricing

    September 8, 2022

    TINA ASWANI OMPRAKASH | 2018 NYC ADULT HONORED HERO

    April 20, 2018

    Happy World IBD Day from Digestive Disease Week (DDW)!

    May 22, 2019
  • advocacy,  awareness,  Crohn's,  Lobbying,  patient rights,  Ulcerative Colitis

    Summer of Activism: IBD Advocates You Should Follow on Social Media

    August 7, 2019

    Originally published by Amber Tresca on August 6th, 2019: http://aboutibd.com/2019/08/06/summer-of-activism-ibd-advocates-you-should-follow-on-social-media/ Improving the quality of life for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) takes commitment and focus to understanding the issues affecting patients and caregivers. Real change means engaging with all stakeholders, including physicians, industry, and government, as well as patients and caregivers. A future that includes more effective treatments and compassionate care for those touched by IBD will only happen when those who have the best interests of patients at heart take their seat at the table. There are many activists in the IBD community that are doing this hard work and you can strengthen their achievements by amplifying their…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    Allowing Acceptance In

    November 21, 2018

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

    June 22, 2020

    6 Myths About IBD in Minority Patients, Busted

    December 20, 2018
  • advocacy,  awareness,  Crohn's,  Disability Justice,  Ulcerative Colitis

    My Nomination for the WEGO Health Patient Advocacy Awards

    July 21, 2019

    In the last few weeks, I was nominated for 6 different WEGO Health Awards in honor of my advocacy work for patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Patient Leader Hero, Best Advocacy for Another, Best in Show: Blog, Best in Show: Facebook, Best in Show: Twitter and Rookie of the Year. Now many of you might be wondering why I advocate. I advocate because we all deserve representation no matter the color of our skin, shape or size of our bodies, our gender, our sexual orientation or our ability (or lack thereof). ✊? We all deserve representation for our illnesses and disabilities. And our conditions and the way we…

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    Tina Aswani Omprakash

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    When Diagnoses Accumulate: My Sjögren’s Story

    April 13, 2022

    My Feature in Everyday Health as #EverydayWoman

    February 22, 2019

    The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide

    October 17, 2019
  • Ableism,  acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  caregivers,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  Disability Justice,  Fistulizing Disease,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis,  Women's Health

    Love Knows No Disability

    July 2, 2019

    Nine years ago today, the love of my life, Anand, and I were married in a beautiful Hindu temple with several of our relatives and friends in attendance from all over the world. It was a momentous occasion for me not just in a traditional sense but because of how close I had been to death just two years prior. But as beautiful as the wedding was, the process of getting married wasn’t exactly a fairytale or a bed of roses. You see, a couple years prior, I was freed of an extremely warped and diseased colon on the 4th of July, 2008 (see blog post: My Very Own Independence…

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    The Beauty of Ostomates Worldwide

    October 17, 2019

    University Accommodations in the COVID-19 Era

    September 7, 2020

    Inspire’s #KeepUsAllSafe COVID-19 Campaign

    April 12, 2020
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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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