Positivity Beats IBD With Josef Miller

During times of stress, our personal relationships may suffer. In the pandemic, we are finding ourselves spending a lot of time with those in our households, and for couples, that can start to take a toll. Certified sex educator Kait Scalisi, founder of Passion By Kait, shares her knowledge and experience as a neuroscientist, public health professional, and couples' counselor to help us understand how to better manage our relationships during the pandemic and beyond. Concepts discussed on this episode: Sexy Truth or Dare Pick A Stick How to Be a Good Partner During Quarantine How to Keep the Romance Alive Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic 3 Fun Sex Ideas for Couples—That You Can Try Tonight Mindful Sex Practices Sexy Conversation Starter Kit Find Kait Scalisi, founder of Passion By Kait, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

8 Helmi 202142min

People with IBD and other chronic conditions have questions about receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. Rosanne Mottola works at a hospital and was therefore eligible to receive a vaccination through her employer. Rosanne gives her experiences and takeaways as a "mild to moderate" ulcerative colitis patient and how she made the decision to receive the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. She offers some great advice about how the internet may skew our perception of what IBD life is like, and because of her background, she's a wonderful resource for people living with IBD. Concepts discussed on this episode: An Overview of C. Diff Can Immunocompromised People Safely Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine? An Overview of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Find Rosanne Mottola on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

25 Tammi 202135min

Did an IBD diagnosis change the direction of your life? For Danielle Golden and Joe Teeters, being diagnosed as a young adult had a profound influence on their lives. The plans they had for their lives were derailed, but they only met, formed a strong friendship, and founded Double Baggin' It because of their IBD. Learn more about their disease journeys, how they met, and how they use humor to raise awareness of IBD and ostomy life both inside and outside the IBD community. Further Reading: Pre-Existing Condition—What It Is & Why It’s a Big Deal Dependent Coverage for Young Adults Proctectomy Surgery for Inflammatory Bowel Disease How to Prepare Yourself for Ileostomy Surgery Leading Charities and Organizations for Ostomy Surgery Find Double Baggin' It at Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

11 Tammi 202144min

What does it mean to act with intention? The pandemic altered the course of our year and divorced us from our intentions. However, there were learnings that we can build on to create a better, more inclusive, and informed IBD community. In this mini-episode, I share my thoughts on how the year affected me and how I plan to move forward in 2021 by getting back to my intentions. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

29 Joulu 20206min

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have had many questions. Now that vaccines against the virus are becoming available, people living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis need even more information in order to make decisions. I asked Dr David Rubin, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and the Co-Director of the Digestive Diseases Center at The University of Chicago Medicine to answer some of these initial questions about the first COVID-19 vaccines (manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna). Topics discussed on this episode include: How vaccines work How mRNA works How IBD medications affect the immune system IBD medications and their potential effect on COVID-19 vaccination When we'll have more information about COVID-19 vaccines and IBD Why side effects with vaccines are expected and what they mean Key Quotes: The first thing is to remember that inflammatory bowel disease itself is a condition where in almost all situations, the immune system is overactive. So having Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is not a situation where you're immune deficient. So IBD patients in all the analyses during COVID have not actually been found to be at increased risk for getting infected, or at increased risk for developing COVID as having just because they have Crohn's or colitis or have an ostomy or have a j pouch. The messenger RNA is degraded within a couple days it's out of your system doesn't hang around. It doesn't ever enter the nucleus of cells, it doesn't become a permanent part of your genetic material in your body. And therefore that's why it is thought to be extremely safe. But I want to make it clear to everyone that they didn't just decide to do this in February, March. This was something that actually was in development, it just got pushed through because of the critical nature of the pandemic. ... there are no data to say that vaccination triggers IBD. And it's been looked at carefully in many studies. And there's no data to show that getting a vaccine triggers a relapse of your IBD. And the newer vaccines that we're talking about here, will not do that either. ...we don't know for sure yet is whether you'll have impaired ability to mount a protective immunity at the same level as if you weren't on therapy. But that doesn't mean you won't develop any immunity. And in fact, it's possible that you'll develop the same immunities to general population because the messenger RNA vaccine is a completely new mechanism. Dr Rubin's Tweets and Tweetorials: "I've created a thread that summarizes the statements from the #IOIBD global expert panel about management of #IBD during #COVID19." https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1247526583985823749.html "Here are my thoughts and a few updates about #SARSCoV2 vaccines, and also about implications for our #IBD patients. A tweetorial in 20 parts." https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1333972549848469508.html "Terrific @US_FDA presser this morning. The agency has its origins in SAFETY and then EFFICACY became part of their regulatory pathway. Both Director Hahn @SteveFDA and career scientist Dr. Peter Marks @FDACBER used the language "safety and efficacy" (in that order). IMPORTANT." https://twitter.com/IBDMD/status/1337771896721563655 Further Reading: Understanding How Vaccines Work How mRNA Vaccines Work Understanding and Explaining mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines How the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Works (NYT: Paywall) GI Physicians Urge COVID-19 Vaccines for All IBD Patients COVID-19 Vaccines: What IBD Patients & Caregivers Need to Know Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine: What to Know If You’re Immunocompromised Expect Mild Side Effects From COVID-19 Vaccines, CDC Advisory Group Says Doctors for America COVID Vaccine FAQ Toolkit Scholarly Publications: Winter is coming! Clinical, immunological, and practical considerations for vaccinating patients with IBD during the COVID pandemic COVID-19 vaccinations in patients with inflammatory bowel disease Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a preliminary report of a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial Find David T. Rubin, MD at The University of Chicago Medicine, Twitter, Rubin Lab, Rubin's Reflections (Blog), and Cornerstones Health. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

18 Joulu 202032min

For many of us who live with a form of IBD, being a performer seems like it would be impossible. Some of the problems include needing a job that provides health insurance, the stress of auditions, and being healthy enough to perform onstage. Justin Baker, however, has found a way to make it work for him as he lives with Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondylitis (a form of degenerative arthritis that's associated with IBD). Justin is an actor, a photographer, and a clown. He tells me how he manages stress, how empathy informs his work and his life, and how not having health insurance led to emergency surgery for his Crohn's disease. Concepts discussed in this episode: Ankylosing Spondylitis "Find the Pony" Camp Esperanza Find Justin Baker, actor, on Acts4Food, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Find Justin Baker, photographer, on Photo-Baker.com and Instagram. Find "You Don't Look Sick: A Documentary Series," on Facebook and Instagram. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

14 Joulu 202035min

Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week is full of events that aim to raise funds and understanding of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One of these is Gaming4Guts, a gaming marathon to raise funds for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. Participants stream over Twitch during the 72-hour event but they have also formed a community, keeping in contact year-round on the Gaming4Guts Discord server. Kenzie, John, and Mark from Gaming4Guts sat down with me to talk about their personal connections to IBD, the evolution of Gaming4Guts, and what their goals are this year. Donate to Gaming4Guts on Tiltify. Concepts discussed in this episode: Indeterminate Colitis Pott Puffy Tumor Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Find Gaming4Guts on Twitch, Discord, Facebook, and Twitter. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

30 Marras 202030min

After hearing from my 10-year-old daughter, it’s now time to hear from my 13-year-old son. My kids are in hybrid school, and for my 8th grader, this means he goes to school in person  two full days a week, with 3 days of distance learning at home. We are managing it as well as I think we can expect. However, my son brings up a small wrinkle in regards to the "return to normal" to which we are all looking forward. It is going to be challenging for us to go back to our prior pace and there will be new struggles along the way. Be sure to listen to the end to hear my son’s tips for parents on how to talk to their kids. Find Amber J Tresca at AboutIBD.com, Verywell, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Find IBDMoms on IBDMoms.org, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Credits: Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney. Theme music, "IBD Dance Party,” is from ©Cooney Studio.

26 Marras 202020min