Why Flare-Ups Aren't Failure: The Truth About Chronic Illness Grief
Release Date: 09/22/2026
Why Flare-Ups Aren't Failure: The Truth About Chronic Illness Grief
About IBD
Transcript and more information: Flare-ups in chronic illness can reopen feelings of grief. Clinical psychologist Dr Antonia Repollet shares her journey with Crohn's disease and how it informs the way she helps patients navigate the emotional challenges of long-term health conditions. Learn ways to maintain your identity despite symptoms, how to come back from comments like "you don't look sick," and how a GI psychologist can be an ally in managing life with a relapsing-remitting condition. Key chapters and timestamps: [00:00] - Introduction: Meet Dr Antonia Repollet, GI...
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How to Eat Well When Chronic Fatigue Makes Cooking Impossible With Nicholas Kelly MS, RD
About IBD
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is thought of as a lung disease, but it affects the entire body. Amber Tresca speaks with Nicholas Kelly, MS, RD—a registered dietitian, public speaker, and cystic fibrosis advocate. His diagnosis is a result of his mother’s advocacy and research. Nick describes how he balances wanting to fit in with his determination to stand out, how he navigates chronic illness disclosure in the workplace, and his "triple minority" experience within the CF community. Plus, Nick shares practical nutrition tips to help you rethink your relationship with food. Chapters: 00:00...
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Why Your Symptoms Get Dismissed (and How to Be Heard) — With Morgan Check, NP
About IBD
Pediatric GI Nurse Practitioner Morgan Check shares her journey living with Crohn’s disease, navigating a diagnosis change, emergency surgery, and motherhood. She uncovers the challenges facing women with IBD, from bone density and fertility to dismissal in clinical settings, and gives actionable tips for effective self-advocacy. Transcript, video, and more at: This episode is sponsored by . What you’ll learn: The challenges faced during the path to motherhood, including fertility issues and pregnancy complications. The impact of IBD on women's health, including fertility, bone density,...
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The Truth About How IBD Affects Families With Adam and Brandon Sikes
About IBD
Adam Sikes was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 18 and later with stage 1 colon cancer. Along with his son Brandon, Adam shares how his family supported him through decades of illness, surgery, and recovery with a J-pouch. Adam and Brandon highlight how IBD affects families, the importance of screening, and the power of community support through groups such as Connecting to Cure. Transcript and more information available at: Chapters: [00:02:12] — Adam discusses his diagnosis of ulcerative colitis at age 18. [00:04:05] — Adam describes his colon resection surgery after a...
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Powerful Lessons: How Women Experience Life With IBD Featuring Alicia Aiello of Girls With Guts
About IBD
Episode transcript and more information at: https://bit.ly/AIBD207 Alicia Aiello, president of Girls With Guts, shares her journey with IBD, which began in childhood. She discusses major surgeries, including a proctectomy that resulted in an unexpected loss of her fallopian tubes and an ovary, and the early onset of perimenopause. Alicia opens up about navigating rectovaginal fistulas, feeling dismissed, and the importance of knowing when to switch providers. What you’ll learn: The impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on women’s health. Why proctectomy surgery might be used, how it...
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Hidden Ways IBD Affects You Over a Lifetime With Puja Khanna, MD
About IBD
The truth about inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is that it goes beyond the gut. In this first ever live recording of About IBD, Amber talks with Dr. Puja Khanna from Cedars-Sinai to explore the extra-intestinal impacts of IBD, from skin conditions and eye inflammation to debilitating fatigue. Learn how sex-specific factors affect women and why building a multi-disciplinary care team is the best strategy for long-term health. Episode transcript and more information at: Chapters: (00:01): Amber introduces the first-ever live recording of the "About IBD" podcast, recorded at an event in Los...
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How to Navigate ER Visits and Avoid Fragmented Care With Dr Stephen Lupe
About IBD
Emergency room visits are a source of stress and can lead to fragmented care. Amber speaks with psychologist Dr Stephen Lupe to learn why inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients avoid the ER, the reality of medical trauma, and how a multi-disciplinary approach like the IBD Medical Home can revolutionize patient care. Transcript and more information at: Sponsored by: Johnson & Johnson: Find Stephen Lupe, PsyD at: Cleveland Clinic: Twitter: LinkedIn: Resources mentioned: Cleveland Clinic's Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute: Explore the...
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Brown Note: Helping People with IBD Find Hope and Support With Andrew Giffen
About IBD
Amber Tresca talks with Andrew Giffen, a product manager in Toronto who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 19 after years of symptoms in high school. Andrew shares his experience navigating three major surgeries, adjusting his career path away from law enforcement, and learning to manage stress as part of living with a chronic illness. He also discusses developing apps, including Brown Note, a free, anonymous peer-support app for people with digestive diseases. Brown Note was inspired by his own feelings of isolation while preparing for his third surgery and is available on Apple, Android,...
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Insider Secrets to Fearless Travel with IBD
About IBD
Certified travel advisor, business owner, and ulcerative colitis patient Sarah McGovern joins Amber to give tips and tricks on traveling with IBD. Sarah relates her IBD journey, including a rare medication side effect that landed her in the hospital. Now in remission, Sarah breaks down her blueprint for traveling with an invisible illness. On this episode, you'll learn concrete, practical strategies for traveling with IBD and how a travel advisor can help you relax on your next trip. Transcript and more information at: https://bit.ly/AIBD203 Chapters: 00:04 — Introduction to...
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The Powerful Impact of the IBD Community Featuring Katie Neu
About IBD
Episode transcript and more information at: Katie Neu and Amber Tresca talk over the results of the IBD Social Circle white paper, "The Power of Community in Inflammatory Bowel Disease." A survey of more than 500 patients puts a spotlight on the ways IBD affects body image, relationships, intimacy, and mental health. Amber and Katie discuss masking symptoms, the difficulties of working a corporate job, and why having community is critical. Chapters 00:05 — Host Amber Tresca introduces the podcast and her guest, Katie Neu, who lives with Crohn's disease. 01:25 — Amber and Katie...
info_outline- [00:00] - Introduction: Meet Dr Antonia Repollet, GI psychologist
- [02:18] - Navigating Crohn's, bullying, and school without accommodations
- [05:28] - Bridging mind, body, and lived experience to land in GI psychology
- [07:25] - When and why Dr Repollet discloses her health journey to patients
- [11:19] - The 7 Stages of Chronic Illness Grief and why the cycles aren't setbacks
- [14:46] – Coping with invisible illness stigma and responding to "you don't look sick"
- [19:31] - Reclaiming identity and purpose outside of managing a chronic illness
- [21:23] - Rejecting the dichotomy of toxic positivity and worst-case scenarios
- [25:48] – How evidence-based tools such as CBT, gut-directed hypnotherapy, and support groups can help patients cope
- [29:35] – Closing on how pets, such as cats like Pearl, Bubba Bear, Loki, and Freya, are important allies in managing hard days
- Why new anger or sadness during an active flare isn't an emotional setback.
- How the 7 Stages of Chronic Illness Grief can help process complex issues.
- Ideas about responding to remarks like "You're too young to be this sick."
- Steps to reconnect with your values and passions despite managing chronic illness.
- Why performative wellness sparks burnout and how vulnerability creates true connection.
- How GI-tailored mental health modalities address the biological gut-brain axis.
Resources
- Steroid Side Effects: https://www.hopkinsvasculitis.org/vasculitis-treatments/prednisone/
- Psychological Stages of Chronic Illness/Chronic Pain:
https://www.jennifermartinpsych.com/yourcolorlooksgoodblog/2015/4/27/psychological-stages-of-chronic-illnesschronic-pain - Grief and Chronic Illness: Processing the “Old You” — Dr. Antonia Repollet: https://www.gipsychology.com/blog/grief-and-chronic-illness/
- Instagram: @drantoniarepollet
- LinkedIn: @antoniarepollet
- Website: https://www.gipsychology.com/
- Instagram: @gipsychusa
- Facebook: @GIPsychology
- YouTube @gipsychologymindyourgut
- LinkedIn: @gipsychology
- Twitter/X: @GIPsychUSA
Find Amber J Tresca at:
- AboutIBD.com: About IBD
- Verywell: Verywell Health
- Facebook: @aboutIBD
- Twitter: @aboutIBD
- Pinterest: @aboutibd
- Instagram: @about_IBD
- YouTube: @AboutIBD
- Threads: @about_IBD
- Facebook: @maccooneycomposer
- Instagram: @maccooneycomposer
- Web: Cooney Studio
- YouTube: @MacCooneyComposer
- Theme music, IBD Dance Party, is from ©Cooney Studio.