A hotel bar is an unlikely place to start a support group for Inflammatory bowel disease. But that’s where Brooke Abbott and Amber Tresca found a special magic to form the group, "IBD Moms." In the first of a two-part episode, get to know Brooke and Amber and how they manage life as mothers living with IBD.

“We both realized that going through your journey… you don't just meet people in the wild who are like, ‘Yeah, I have IBD as well,’" says Amber. ”We just found so much joy and so much friendship in one another.”

Among the highlights in this episode:

2:24: Amber describes being diagnosed at 16 with ulcerative colitis

3:27: Brooke talks about first having symptoms in college

5:06: How Amber and Brooke started IBD Moms

7:51: How IDB impacts Brooke’s life as a single mother

9:36: Amber describes her motherhood journey having IBD

10:29: IBD forced Amber to stop volunteering as a Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader

11:59: Most people don’t understand the ups and downs of having IBD

10:24: ”You can have an “A” day or a “D” day within 30 seconds,” says Melodie

Learn more about IBD Moms 

Contact Our Hosts

Steven Newmark, Director of Policy at GHLF: snewmark@ghlf.org

Melodie Narain-Blackwell, President and Founder of The Color of Crohn's and Chronic Illness: melodie@cocci.org

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