The Real Life Journey of UC | HealthCentral

Journalist Linda Rodgers and I had such a lovely conversation when we spoke about this piece. I've told my story many handfuls of times, but Linda's writing really nailed it - she even took me back through my own emotional and health journey in this article for HealthCentral. My hope with this piece is that other patients (more…)

About IBD Podcast: Managing IBD Alongside a Career - Part 1

Amber Tresca's About IBD podcast offers a wealth of insight, wrapped up in warm conversation. I'm very excited to have contributed alongside some incredibly strong women, Mary Elizabeth Ulliman and Tina Aswani Omprakash, (more…)

Enable Injections +SAP Startup | Forbes.com

When I first connected with Enable Injections, I had no idea companies and technology like them even existed - but I visited their facility, sat with their leadership team, and shared my patient perspective for this SAP feature for Forbes.com - and I was impressed with how they are thinking, and what they are building, every step of the way.

As a patient, the infusion experience can be quite enjoyable, to be honest (as I discuss in these medication videos) - so what a technology like this would do for patients is just free up constraints of time, appointments, and hours committed to a chair.

Update: This campaign was awarded 8 Telly Awards in 2020

"It’s great to see something like this come to life and come to market,” said Starshak. “As a chronic illness patient, I think it’s important for us to be able to control what we can and make things easy when we can, because we’re never going to be able to control all of it.” [read full piece/video on Forbes.com]

If Remission Is The Goal | Experts by Experience

Remission from a chronic disease such as Ulcerative Colitis is (short of a cure) a good thing, which is probably why it took some time to figure out how to approach it in writing. This stage in the disease journey also contains some identity crisis, some guilt, and some figuring out how to live, knowing it's not the end of the story.

Experts by Experience is a joint campaign by Mayo Clinic and Inspire.com, where patients affected by serious diseases are given a platform to address some of the important topics that they want both physicians, and communities, to better understand. I'm honored to have contributed on this platform.

"The period of adjustment to remission is real. I learned to find my identity as someone in remission, while finding a way to connect authentically and respectfully with the same IBD community that had carried me for so long. Finally, I was happy and healthy.

That’s when another unexpected emotion hit—guilt. Survivor’s guilt. Remission guilt. [read full piece on MayoClinic.org]

Marathon Megan on Outdoor Wisconsin

Going after a goal such as qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a big deal. Doing it within the window of remission makes it an even bigger deal. I was honored to have Outdoor Wisconsin on Milwaukee PBS follow my story as I trained for the 2017 Lakefront Marathon while being sure to keep an eye on my greater health. (more…)

Finding Purpose; Creating a Movement - Keynote

The Iowa Digestive Disease Center (IDDC) presents an annual education conference for patients and caregivers. (more…)

About IBD Podcast: It’s a Pain I Invite Into My Life

Amber Tresca of About IBD is a hero to the IBD community. She is an expert at bringing critical information to patients in a way that is easy to understand, and also accurate and reliable. Her podcast, also called About IBD, brings an additional dimension to the conversation of patient experience, by interviewing those living with diseases such as Crohn's and Colitis.

Thanks to Amber for having me as a guest, where I discuss being active with Ulcerative Colitis, behind the scenes at The Great Bowel Movement, and why getting every single patient to find their voice is important and powerful.

Listen on her site, aboutibd.com.

Find me on other About IBD Podcast Episodes:

Managing IBD Alongside a Career - Part 1

HuffPost: How Living With IBD Helped Me Discover My Superpowers

Through a partnership campaign with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, I was tasked with writing a piece of content surrounding the topic of IBD and superheroes. I'm very proud of this piece, not just for my personal perspective, but because I have the opportunity to leave the reader feeling empowered.

"If you had x-ray vision, what would you do with it? Look through walls and spy on your co-workers? Find your dog’s lost ball under the couch, or lazily peek through your fridge to see if you’re almost out of your favorite Greek yogurt? Or maybe, like a traditional superhero, you would wander your town looking for clues behind the doors that no one can enter, and use your powers for the greater good.

What if your x-ray vision allowed you to not just see through things, but to see the invisible? I was given that super power, in a way, because of my life with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

As many patients know all too well, the difficulties associated with IBD are often invisible to others. It’s the hours when no one is around as you traverse from your couch to your bathroom; it’s the pain and fatigue that lurk in your body; it’s disappearing from your friends as you drive to the doctor’s office; and it’s the emotional pain too - the loneliness and isolation - when it feels like no one understands your experience..." [read full piece on huffpost.com]

The Remicade Experience Videos

When I first heard of infusion treatments for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), it seemed scary. But when I started, I found that the exact opposite is true. The hope offered by many infusion treatments can change the lives of patients like me living with Ulcerative Colitis, as well as a wide range of autoimmune and other diseases. (more…)

Everyday Health: Finding Love with Ulcerative Colitis

I'll just let this piece speak for itself <3.

But what really struck Starshak was that Stewart asked questions about her ulcerative colitis. “His attitude was that he wanted to learn more,” Starshak recalls. “He wanted to know what it was like for me and what the hard parts were. He didn’t think it was gross, and he wasn’t feeling sorry for me.”

(more…)