AAPI Month Feature on Own Your Crohn’s
Advocacy Demi Ricario Advocacy Demi Ricario

AAPI Month Feature on Own Your Crohn’s

I sat on the toilet for the tenth time that day, clueless about what was going on inside of me. For the past seven months, I had been experiencing episodes of bloody diarrhea and had yet to be diagnosed. My ass was spewing blood and I was worried that I am losing a lot of it. I thought to myself: if I were back home in the Philippines, I would probably hear someone say “Baka kinulam ka” (“Someone probably hexed you”). Filipinos, although predominantly Catholic, have their share of beliefs – both superstitious and supernatural. Kulam, a form of folk magic, is one of them.

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IBD Talk with Luna
Advocacy Demi Ricario Advocacy Demi Ricario

IBD Talk with Luna

Thanks to Late Nights by Luna Manila, a Filipina IBD patient like me had the opportunity to be seen and heard today. For this disease whose cure has yet to be discovered, every story counts.

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Hiya | Pakikisama
Demi Ricario Demi Ricario

Hiya | Pakikisama

How is it like to be Filipino and have an invisible illness and chronic pain knowing that you have to deal with Hiya (shame) and Pakikisama (fellowship or sociability) while trying to live a normal life? It took me seven years to come out and speak up about my Inflammatory Bowel Disease (as embarrassing as it may be) because I got tired of explaining.

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