Girls With Guts Live Chat: IBD and Aging
Demi Ricario Demi Ricario

Girls With Guts Live Chat: IBD and Aging

Do IBD symptoms change as you age? What is it like to deal with menopause while living with IBD? Are there things younger IBD patients can anticipate as they approach the path to aging?

These questions and more are what Girls With Guts explored in our Facebook Live Chat on "IBD and Aging" last September 12. Danielle O'Connor and Pragna Patel joined us to share their experience and wisdom. Our featured warriors were both diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (Danielle when she was 17 and Pragna, in her late 40's); and both living with J-pouches. Learn from their struggles and wins and their inspiring resilience while aging with IBD.

This event was moderated by Tina, our GWG Community Connection Liaison, and yours truly!

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How can you treat your body better today?
Inspiration Demi Ricario Inspiration Demi Ricario

How can you treat your body better today?

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to taking care of your body?

Acknowledge what you need to change. Change what you can, while you still can, before it's too late.

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜จ-๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ?

๐˜ˆ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ - ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ข ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ช ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต.

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Ableism
Advocacy Demi Ricario Advocacy Demi Ricario

Ableism

This word didnโ€™t mean as much to me before as it does now that I have a disability.

๐˜๐˜ฃ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ข-๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ. ๐˜›๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ.

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Today on my plate: Ground Turkey with Kale
Food Demi Ricario Food Demi Ricario

Today on my plate: Ground Turkey with Kale

This dish is Ground Turkey Curry with Kale which I made with coconut oil, onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder, and kale. I also added a dash of cinnamon and a teaspoon of honey for a touch of surprise (sorry curry purists, just experimenting!).

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AAPI Month Feature on Own Your Crohnโ€™s
Advocacy Demi Ricario Advocacy Demi Ricario

AAPI Month Feature on Own Your Crohnโ€™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 โ€œBaka kinulam kaโ€ (โ€œSomeone probably hexed youโ€). Filipinos, although predominantly Catholic, have their share of beliefs โ€“ 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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Tomato or not Tomato
Food Demi Ricario Food Demi Ricario

Tomato or not Tomato

As I got older, I noticed that my body could not digest tomatoes easily the way it used to. I would get acid reflux and heartburn. And now that I have IBD/Ulcerative Colitis, it is one of the foods that I avoid during a flare.

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