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Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever wondered why it can feel so hard to get “the right IBD care” at the right time, this conversation will click into place. We’re joined by Dr. Casey Chapman, Chief Medical Officer at Specialty Alliance, gastroenterologist and IBD specialist, and we start with the moment that pulled him into inflammatory bowel disease care: a packed clinic where Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis were running patients’ lives, and where the stigma around advanced therapies was still very real. From there, we get practical about what changes outcomes. Dr. Chapman explains how community gastroenterology practices can run high-quality clinical trials, often with faster activation timelines than academic medical centers. We talk about why that matters during an IBD medication renaissance, what makes newer mechanisms like TL1A so exciting, and how the next wave of therapies aims for better efficacy, better safety, and less frequent dosing. He also breaks down what Iterative Health is, what it is not, and how research teams can offload the back-office work so physicians can stay focused on patients. We spend time on the questions patients actually ask: When should a clinical trial be offered? What happens if I get placebo? What is rescue therapy? If a study drug works, can I stay on it through an open-label extension? We also talk about multidisciplinary care through an IBD medical home model, including dietitians, social work, primary care, and the specific needs of college-aged patients learning to manage a lifelong disease. If you care about shared decision making, smarter monitoring, and how to stop normalizing symptoms, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope and clarity around IBD treatment options, and leave a review so more patients can find the show. Links:  Find Dr. Chapman in Baton RougeInformation about clinical trials offered by GI Alliance/Specialty AllianceInformation on participating in clinical trials- the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation USADr. Charlie Lees substack that has tons of info on IBD clinical trails outcomes and what it means for patientsLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail We’re recording live from the Focus GI conference in San Antonio, and the conversations get honest fast: what do GI clinicians actually learn that changes patient outcomes, and what myths keep getting in the way? We sit down with nurse practitioners and advanced practice providers who work in gastroenterology and IBD care to unpack the small “clinical pearls” that add up to better, faster decisions, from using evidence-based guidelines to avoiding unnecessary testing and reducing delays in diagnosis. You’ll hear from Gabby Torres and Barbara Krause on why shared decision-making is more than a buzzword, especially when patients show up with fear fueled by social media side effects lists. We talk pelvic floor health, constipation, hemorrhoids, and why nutrition education still feels underused in everyday GI practice. We also dig into stigma: why people wait too long to mention rectal bleeding, and what we wish every patient knew about the providers who are trying to help. Blas Villa and Augustine Conejo share what new GI providers should master early, like the fundamentals of GI bleeding, pancreatitis, and cirrhosis, plus why conferences help translate “fire hose” learning into real clinic confidence. Then Hana Svejdova and Stacey Collins take us into the future of gastroenterology: career development for APPs, why long-term steroids are no longer acceptable as a default IBD strategy, how supplement safety and tools like LiverTox fit into patient education, and how dietitians and gut-brain providers belong on the IBD team.  If you care about inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, nutrition science, and practical GI care that respects real life, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a rating or review so more people can find the show. Links:  Find Hana's practice in Corpus ChristiFollow Stacey on InstagramLearn more about FOCUS GILet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis already feel complicated, but when IBD shows up in a baby or a preschooler, the rules can change fast. We’re joined by Dr. Scott B. Snapper, a leader in pediatric and adult IBD research from Boston Children's Hospital, to unpack very early onset IBD (VEO-IBD) and why some of these cases are driven by single-gene immune disorders rather than the “usual” mix of risks we talk about in inflammatory bowel disease. We get into how Dr. Snapper's work with immune deficiency and mouse models helped reveal clear cause-and-effect pathways, and why that matters for real treatment choices. If a child has IL-10 receptor deficiency, standard IBD medications like anti-TNF therapy may not work, and bone marrow transplant can be curative. We also talk about what happens when transplant isn’t possible right away, including the promise of targeted options like IL-1 blockade, and why certain immune defects respond to very specific therapies. Along the way, we zoom out to the big goal in IBD care: fewer rounds of trial and error, more precision medicine guided by biomarkers from blood, stool, and biopsies. We also dig into whole exome sequencing, insurance realities, and the ethics of genetic information, including the very real fear of future discrimination. Finally, Scott shares how the VEO-IBD Consortium grew into a global resource for clinicians and families through veoibd.org, and why he’s genuinely optimistic about the future of IBD therapy, including better tools for pain and gut-brain symptoms. Subscribe for more real talk about IBD, share this with someone who needs hope, and please leave a rating and review so more patients and caregivers can find the show. VEO-IBD ConsortiumDr. Snapper won the Sherman Prize last yearVEO-IBD Information from Boston Children's HospitalVEO-IBD Information from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation- USALet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail Watching your partner lose their health in real time changes everything and it can happen faster than most people realize. We’re joined by Andrea and Dusty Sibley, who take us from the confusion of early symptoms and ER misdiagnoses to a full colectomy, ostomy life, and the J-pouch surgery path that finally got Dusty back to living the life he wants. Along the way, we talk about the weird moments that stick with you, like being told you “look like you’re dying” when you’re actually healing, or having to use a motorized grocery cart in your 40s because your body simply can’t do more yet. Andrea shares what doesn’t get asked often enough: what it’s like to be the caregiver. We dig into the vows you don’t think about until you’re living them, the nurse-patient dynamic that can take over a marriage, parenting during long hospital stays, and the quiet trauma that caregivers carry while telling themselves they shouldn’t feel that way. Dusty opens up about one of the scariest parts of his hospitalization: blood transfusions, why they felt terrifying at first, and how they became a turning point when his energy and color finally came back. Their story also explains why they started No Guts All Glory, a nonprofit supporting people with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and colon cancer through care packages for the hospital-to-home transition, plus kid-friendly ostomy bears and books that help families talk about what’s happening. If you’re searching for real talk on IBD, ostomy surgery, J-pouch recovery, colonoscopy fears, and invisible illness, this conversation brings both the hard truth and the hope. Subscribe, share, and leave a review, then tell us what part of their journey hit closest to home. Links:  No Guts All Glory websiteNo Guts All Glory: Stories of Strength podcast- SpotifyNo Guts All Glory InstagramLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail An 11-year-old looks a microphone in the face and calmly explains ulcerative colitis, colonoscopies, and anxiety like it’s a skill she’s been training for. Penny joins us live to share what diagnosis felt like in fourth grade, what she’s learned about still living a full life, and why the prep can be harder than the procedure. Her honesty about nausea, fear of vomiting, and the way anxious thoughts snowball will sound painfully familiar to a lot of people with inflammatory bowel disease. We’re also joined by Penny’s mom, Sonia, a registered dietitian with digestive health training and an eating disorder specialty. We talk about food labels, restaurant unknowns, and finding a healthy balance that protects both the gut and the mind. Sonia shares what it’s like to be both a clinician and a parent, how mental health support helps, and what it took to advocate for the right testing and the right IBD specialist. Then, still live from the Focus GI conference, we sit down with Grishelda and Rony Valme. Roni is a GI nurse, a creative on the conference media team, and an IBD patient himself. He tells his diagnosis story, breaks down how urgency reshapes travel, and gives the most practical “where do I go” bathroom advice you’ll hear all week. We also dig into a message every new GI provider needs: believe patients, even when scopes and labs don’t match the symptoms. If you want real-world ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease coping strategies, patient-to-provider empathy, and practical IBD travel tips, hit play. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to feel less alone. Links:  FOCUS GIRony and Grishelda Valme's business!- Valme Photography and DesignSonia's practice- Colibri Nutrition TherapyLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail A Saturday training that changes how you practice on Monday is rare, and that’s exactly what FOCUS GI is designed to do. We recorded live from the event with Dr. Anish Patel, the nonprofit founder behind FOCUS GI, plus Dr. Richa Shukla (course director) and Dr. Kevin Pak (hepatologist) to talk about what happens when medical education is built for real clinic decisions, not ego or noise. We get into why the program started in Central Texas, how it grew from a small local idea into a hybrid event serving GI fellows and advanced practice providers across states and even countries, and what “clinically oriented” really means in practice. You’ll hear how the team chooses speakers, updates topics, and protects hands-on learning, especially for first-year GI fellows facing a steep learning curve and nonstop consult questions. We also unpack how the APP and fellow track serves different needs while strengthening the same GI care team. Then we go deeper into the human side of IBD care: hope and trust. Dr. Patel explains why “hope” is the point of provider education, while “trust” is the skill that makes treatment partnerships work, especially when patients have normalized symptoms for years. We also tackle misinformation head-on, including the growing role of social media influencers in shaping IBD myths. Along the way, Dr. Pak shares why accurate FibroScan interpretation matters and how misreads can send patients down the wrong clinical pathway, and Dr. Shukla reflects on patient education around medication risks and how to talk about scary side-effect lists with real numbers and context. Subscribe for more live conversations from FOCUS GI, and if this helped you, please share it with a colleague or friend and leave a review so more patients and providers can find it. Links:  FOCUS GI websiteDr. Richa ShuklaFOCUS GI's Facebook pageLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail A colonoscopy that comes back normal can feel like relief, until your body keeps proving something is wrong. We sit down with Dr. Matthew J. Simpson, a family medicine physician in North Carolina, to unpack how he lived with Crohn’s disease symptoms for years without a clear diagnosis, and why a perianal fistula finally forced the medical system to see the full picture. If you’ve ever been told your labs look fine while you’re dealing with bleeding, urgency, fatigue, or weight loss, you’ll hear your reality reflected back with empathy and precision.  We talk about what it’s like to chase answers while living outside a major medical hub: limited local gastroenterology options, slow referral pipelines, insurance approvals, and fragmented care between GI, colorectal surgery, and imaging. Matthew walks us through the flex sig, MRI findings, and the moment he realized he needed an IBD specialty clinic and an academic medical center approach. His story is a clear reminder that “not unreasonable” care can still be the wrong pace when your health is sliding.  Then we get practical. Matthew explains perianal fistulas in plain language, what a fistulotomy does (and does not do), and why healing often requires treating the underlying Crohn’s inflammation. We also dig into shared decision making for Crohn’s medications, including how he weighed biologic options, risk communication, and the added complexity of carrying a BRCA2 gene mutation. Along the way, we challenge overreliance on single tests like fecal calprotectin and zoom out to the bigger point: algorithms are helpful, but they are not your lived experience.  If this conversation helps you feel less alone, please subscribe, share it with someone navigating IBD, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Links:  What is anorectal manometry?- Cleveland ClinicFistulotomy- Cleveland ClinicLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to improve IBD outcomes is not always a new drug. Sometimes it’s a better system and a team that can actually reach you before you end up in crisis. We’re joined by Dr. Corey Siegel, a renowned gastroenterologist and IBD specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, to unpack what “high-quality inflammatory bowel disease care” looks like when you measure it, stress-test it, and rebuild it around real patient needs. We talk through IBD Qorus, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation quality improvement program that defines key standards for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis care and then tracks whether clinics meet them. That leads to a practical, patient-first goal: keeping people out of the emergency department by creating urgent clinic access, proactively supporting high-risk patients, and using better visit workflows that start with the patient’s top concern. These aren’t flashy changes, but they reduce prednisone use, unnecessary CT scans, opioid exposure, and the emotional toll of feeling unheard. Then we zoom out to rural healthcare and specialty access. Dr. Siegel explains RADIUS, a telemedicine “hub-and-spoke” model where community practices connect patients early to a full multidisciplinary IBD team, including behavioral health, nutrition, pharmacy support, and nursing coordination. We also get real about treat-to-target, why symptoms can mislead, and how insurance barriers like prior authorization and step therapy can delay the right biologic or advanced therapy for months. If you want smarter, more human IBD care and concrete ideas you can advocate for, hit play now. After you listen, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more patients can find these conversations. Links:  Dr. Siegel's podcast- Digesting: The Latest in IBD- apple podcastsSpotify optionInformation on IBD Qorus- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Information about the BRIDGe GroupLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail An MRI, a phone call, and four words nobody wants to hear: “You have a perforated bowel.” Zach Koscuik was on the road to a comedy gig when Crohn’s disease forced yet another hard pivot, adding to a 25-year history that includes perianal Crohn’s, fistulas, abscesses, emergency surgeries, biologics, and three ileocolonic resections. We talk with him about what it’s like to grow up sick, manage the stigma that makes people minimize inflammatory bowel disease, and keep showing up to school, work, and life when your body is always negotiating the nearest bathroom. Then the story takes a turn into the world of clinical trials and high-stakes medicine. Zach explains how severe disease and short bowel complications pushed his team toward an autologous stem cell transplant, a process that essentially wipes out and restarts the immune system. We get specific about the testing, chemo, isolation, and the surreal experience of being treated on a cancer floor without having cancer, plus the very real impact of insurance decisions that kept him hospitalized for 43 days. The payoff lands with the kind of news IBD patients barely let themselves hope for: a one-year follow-up colonoscopy that comes back completely clean. We also keep it honest about what remains, including motility issues, joint pain, and the mental aftershocks of medical trauma. Zach closes with a simple challenge for the Crohn’s and colitis community: practice equal empathy, because two people can share a diagnosis and live totally different realities. If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people living with IBD can find it. Links:  Find Zach on InstagramInformation on the stem cell trial that Zach didStem Cell Therapy clinical trial site- Clinicaltrials.govLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail A ninth inning ballpark burger. Days of relentless diarrhea. Then blood. John Capodilupo’s ulcerative colitis diagnosis didn’t arrive slowly, it hit like a truck, and it sent him into a crash course on what living with IBD really demands. We talk through the early fear and uncertainty, the 28-day hospitalization, and the chaos of juggling treatment while also battling infections like C. difficile and CMV colitis. John also shares his experience with fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for recurrent C. diff and why the microbiome still feels like one of the biggest unsolved stories in gut health. From there, we connect the dots between health data and better decisions. John helped build Whoop, the wearable built around continuous physiological tracking like heart rate variability and sleep, and he explains what longitudinal data can reveal about stress, recovery, and early warning signs. We dig into how sleep disruption and subtle body signals can show up before you’re sure whether you’re flaring or just paying the price for Taco Bell. Then we get into Throne, the smart toilet monitoring system John now co-leads as Chief Product Officer. Throne clips onto the toilet and uses computer vision and sensors to track stool and urine trends passively, aiming to reduce guesswork, improve symptom recall, and open the door to research like flare prediction, medication durability, and future screening signals such as blood detection for colon cancer. We also cover the “real life” questions: multi-user households, cleaning, cost, and a privacy approach built around de-identified data and opt-in research. If you’re curious about ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, IBD tracking, gut health technology, or the future of smart toilets, listen now then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review. Links:  Throne's websiteFun article about the founding of ThroneBuy Throne for $50 off!  or use code ListenToYourGutLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail Sara Herring lived with stomach pain so long she thought it was just life, then at 21 she finally got the word that changed everything: Crohn’s disease. Sara joins us for a raw, funny, and unexpectedly tender conversation about what it’s like to be dismissed as a kid, spend months chasing negative tests, and reach the point where you’re writing goodbye letters because you’re not sure you’ll make it.  Sara walks us through the turning points of her IBD journey, from the relief of being believed to years of medication trial and error that end in a surgery she never expected. We talk about how chronic abdominal pain can become so “normal” you don’t even notice the ways you’re bending, bracing, and shrinking your life around it, and why learning to describe pain can be a powerful tool for self-advocacy with doctors.  Then we shift into the practice that helped her reclaim her life: a bucket list book that’s part scrapbook, part journal, part proof that small moments matter. We dig into presence over perfection, creativity, therapy, boundaries with social media, and the complicated truth about remission, including the guilt that can come with feeling better while others are still in the fight. If you’re searching for Crohn’s disease support, IBD mental health tools, or hope that doesn’t ignore reality, this one’s for you.  Subscribe for more real talk, share this with someone who needs it, and please leave a rating and review so more people in the IBD community can find us. Let's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail Five years post J-pouch surgery sounds like a finish line, but our bodies do not read the brochure. We’re together in person for a live catch-up with our favorite recurring guest and IBD Registered Dietitian, Stacey Collins, and we get real about what changes with time and what still blindsides you when you live with a J-Pouch after IBD. We talk through the wins that matter most day to day: more capacity, less urgency, and the quiet joy of doing normal things without panic, like waiting in line, taking long road trips, hiking, skiing, and traveling. Then we dig into the stuff patients whisper about but rarely get warned about, especially gas pain. We break down what it feels like, why it can block emptying, what actually helps (yes, including “toilet yoga”), and why travel, altitude, fasting, dehydration, carbonation, and food additives can make symptoms spike. We also cover the scary gray zones: when symptoms feel like a Crohn’s flare but turn out to be SIBO, why antibiotics may be part of J-pouch life, and how to rebuild the gut microbiome afterward with food you can tolerate. Finally, we get blunt about the “surgery is curative” myth, the need for ongoing monitoring (iron deficiency anemia, B12, folate, fatigue), and what better post-op care should look like, including pelvic floor physical therapy and honest expectations at 3, 6, and 12 months. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review. What’s one thing you wish your care team had told you before surgery? Links:  Stacey's website- sign up for her waiting list, find resourcesStacey's additives guideStacey's oral rehydration guideInfo about SIBO- Mayo ClinicInfo about the ENIGMA Study- National Institutes of Health Info about the ENGIBMA Study from Stacey's websiteLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail The word “surgery” can feel like a threat when you’re young and already worn down by Crohn’s disease. Michael Morgan, author of *The Secret Life of Crohn’s*, joins us to talk about being diagnosed at age 10, cycling through medications, and living with the kind of urgency that forces you to plan every minute around toilets, school schedules, and the fear of being noticed. We get into the part people don’t always see: the constant anxiety, the shrinking world, and how much mental energy IBD can steal long before anyone calls it mental health. Michael also shares what it was like to hear ostomy surgery discussed as a teenager, the misconceptions that fueled his fear, and the moment he realized life on the other side could be bigger than the life he was trying to protect. We talk about the adjustment period, confidence building, and why so many people with ostomies describe freedom and relief once their disease is under better control. From there, we dig into practical realities: asking schools for accommodations, using tools that make bathroom access easier, staying on top of Crohn’s management even after major surgery, and navigating rare symptoms like inflammatory disease in the mouth. And yes, we go deep on travel with an ostomy, including packing supplies, hostel bathrooms, and the small “tricks” that make big adventures possible. If you’re facing a big treatment decision, supporting a child with IBD, or trying to make your world bigger again, this conversation will meet you where you are. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs a little more hope and a lot more real talk. Links:  More of Michael's Story- Crohn's & Colitis UKOrder Michael's bookArticle about Michael and his book- Hackney CitizenTraveling with an ostomy- United Ostomy AssociationLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail Medical care can be doing everything “right” and you can still feel wrecked, anxious, and trapped in a never-ending cycle of symptoms, appointments, and fear. That gap is where GI psychology lives, and it’s why we wanted Dr. Anna Katherine “AK” Black. AK is a licensed clinical health psychologist at GI Psychology, with a focus on gut-brain therapies, trauma-informed care, and medical fatigue in chronic illness. We get into what clinical hypnosis actually is (no stage tricks, no mind control) and why gut-directed hypnotherapy has decades of research behind it for GI conditions. AK explains the gut-brain connection in plain language, including how stress can hijack the system, how visceral hypersensitivity turns the volume up on sensations, and why you can’t just tell your gut to “calm down” with conscious thoughts alone. We also talk about how fear and pain overlap, and why techniques that shift the nervous system toward parasympathetic regulation can change real physical symptoms. Then we name the thing so many people feel but rarely hear described: medical fatigue. If you’ve ever canceled yet another appointment, struggled to keep up with meds and procedures, or felt judged as “noncompliant,” this conversation puts words to that burnout and offers practical next steps. We also cover trauma-informed care, what providers can do with better language and screening, and why integrated teams work best. AK shares resources and explains the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation partnership group that combines community with skills like CBT and hypnosis. Subscribe for more real talk about living with IBD, share this with someone who needs it, and please leave a rating and review so more people can find the show. What part of the gut-brain story hit closest to home? Links:  Join the IBD Psychotherapy GroupInfo on Gut-Directed HypnotherapyLet's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!

Send us Fan Mail A Crohn’s diagnosis at eight can shrink a kid’s world down to fatigue, fear, and the nearest bathroom. Nicole Thornton took that same reality and built something bigger: community, advocacy, and a blueprint for how young people with IBD can lead without pretending it’s easy. We talk through Nicole’s early health journey and the moment Camp Purple Live in New Zealand changed everything by giving her friends who truly understood Crohn’s and colitis. From there, Nicole shares how she petitioned the New Zealand Parliament at just 12 years old to improve toilet access for people with inflammatory bowel disease and other urgent health needs, and how that effort evolved into the “I Can’t Wait” campaign where busin esses voluntarily welcome patients to use staff bathrooms. We also dig into the everyday stakes behind “bathroom access” and how stigma and public accidents can shape mental health, confidence, and relationships. Nicole also brings a global lens from her work with the International Federation of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations (IFCCA) youth group, including what she’s learned about medication access, healthcare funding, and how different countries support young patients. Finally, we get into why she’s studying nursing, how small acts of care can change someone’s life, and what it takes to balance advocacy, school, work, and chronic illness without burning out. If you care about Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic illness advocacy, bathroom accessibility, or patient leadership, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show. Links:  Camp Purple Live- Crohn's & Colitis New ZealandIFCCA- Youth GroupArticle on Nicole's NZ parliamentary effortsStory on CCNZ on Nicole's trip to Brussels  Let's get social!! Follow us on Instagram! Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!