IBS Chat Episode 11: Natalie Hayden is an IBD Patient, Mom and IBD Advocate who celebrates her patient journey

Natalie (Sparacio) Hayden is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease patient advocate who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2005, She is a Mom of 2 beautiful children, with one more on the way. She is a former TV news anchor and reporter so she has had a very active life. Her blog is LightsCameraCrohns.com where she publishes weekly articles. She enjoys sharing stories about pregnancy and motherhood in hopes of comforting and empowering others.

I was struck by Natalie’s story about living with IBD and the overlap with the quality of life of living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It’s a similar constant power struggle that we have living with a digestive disease.

In my conversation with Natalie, she tells her story when and how was she diagnosed including her warning symptoms. Natalie told me about her day to day coping and what it’s like being a stay-at-home Mom and Mom to be, with the fear of starting a biologic and the effect on fertility. She speaks about parenthood and what can and can’t she do. She says it takes a wonderful partner to be able to cope.

Natalie believes that “the moment you open up and share your story is when you will receive support”.

Find Natalie Hayden at:

• Website: https://LightsCameraCrohns.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natalieasparacio
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/nataliesparacio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalieannhayden/

Find Jeffrey Roberts and IBS Patient Support Group at:

• Website: https://www.ibspatient.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ibspatient
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ibspatient
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ibspatient

 Music:

Werq Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/