Our mission is to improve the quality of life for BIPOC who are affected by IBD, Digestive Disorders and associated Chronic Illnesses; through Community, Research, Education, and Advocacy.
You Just Have Stomach Issues
When I was about 5 or 6, I would get knocks on the bathroom door asking if I was OK. I would be in there longer than normal.
By Melodie Narain-Blackwell, as told to Michele Jordan
ABGH & COCCI are grateful to welcome Golden Globe-winner, actor Tyler J. Williams of Abbot Elementary, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Walking Dead, to discuss his journey with Crohn's disease, a subset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the midst of Abbott Elementary's overwhelming success.
Melodie Narain-Blackwell joins Lurie Daniel Favors to discuss autoimmune diseases and African American women being misdiagnosed at disproportionate rates.
In the 20 years, I have lived with Crohn’s disease, I have realized there were ways that access to care can be improved to benefit a patient’s health and well-being.
Early in my Crohn's journey, I began taking biologics. Two years into being on this medication I switched employers, which caused my health insurance to change. The new insurance company wanted to switch me to a different medication even though the biologic I was on placed me into clinical remission.
I was subjected to step therapy due to my insurance at the beginning of my diagnosis - I received oral medication in 2014. A year after not achieving baseline outcomes, I was moved to a biologic.
I requested a history of my medication and found out that I had been given Inflectra several times without me even knowing...when I would confirm that I was there for Remicaide no one ever stopped to correct me or clarify that the medication had been switched. I contacted my GI's office and the nurse confirmed that I had not been on Remicade for "a while". My question? Why wasn't I notified?
A patient’s journey combating any chronic illness is a vital story that, if willing, should be told so that others can learn from their journey.
My journey with Crohn’s disease started after I was diagnosed in 1988. Crohn’s disease if anything has made me “the strongest woman I know” as my children have said.
If something isn't right please go check it out! I knew something wasn't right when I first noticed the symptoms at 16, 17 years old. In 2003, I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis after three years of trying to figure out why I was feeling ill.
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