LOOP Blog

What if your closest friend had a habit of interrupting your plans and not listening when you begged them to stop? You might might wish to end that friendship. But, as Mahalakshmi points out in her #IgniteTalk, which she shared at both our in-person and our virtual community conference this fall, when "friend" is really a metaphor for IBD there isn't really a choice. 

Be inspired by Mahalakshmi's #IgniteTalk 🔥 

Inspiring, honest and motivational. Those were the words used to describe IBD parent, Ildiko's #IgniteTalk. In it she reminded us all of the critically important and unique perspective that parents and caregivers of young people with IBD bring to the discussion. She asked us to remember that while we collaborate on the big challenges that IBD presents, there are also small things we can do to make a difference right now (like watching our language). And she issued a call to action for us to work together to make truly meaningful progress in outcomes for kids with IBD and also to really believe that radical, transformative progress is possible.

Be inspired by Ildiko's #IgniteTalk 🔥

David Suskind, MD is an IBD clinician and researcher, as well as physician leader of ImproveCareNow at Seattle Children's Hospital. At our Fall 2022 Community Conference, Dr. Suskind shared the Professor NiMBAL comic, which presents important information about Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in a way that is easy to digest and feels less scary. Read more about how the comic came to be as Dr. Suskind answers our Challenge, Choice, Outcome interview questions.

Join me (Fionna) and my fellow PAC members, Christian and Shira for our conversation with the hosts of the NASPGHAN podcast, Bowel Sounds, Dr. Temara Hajjat and Dr. Jason Silverman. We discuss what we wish providers knew from the patient perspective and uncover what providers wish patients knew. 

Join me (Vanessa), Hannah and Fionna for our conversation about IBD during different stages of schooling. Between the three of us, we have lived experiences with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, with being diagnosed at different life stages (during early education and in high school) and with balancing high school, college and grad school with IBD.

We are hosting a Fall 2022 Virtual Community Conference as a way for us to connect, share information and updates, and learn from each other. This event is online, and is free & open to all who want to attend. We are keeping it brief (90 minutes), conveniently timed (6:30-8pm ET/3:30-5pm PT) and flexible - making it easy for you to drop in for some or all of the event. Our content is all intentionally focused toward patients and caregivers living with IBD. So, please join us (and invite someone you care for to join us) for #ICNVCC on November 9 from 6:30-8pm ET/3:30-5pm PT. 

Jane Weyer is a member of the ImproveCareNow Parent/Family Advisory Council and also an A-LiNK Connections Parent Co-Lead. She joined us at our Community Conference this September to reconnect with colleagues, friends and ICN family in person for the first time since 2019. Jane shared her own heartfelt reflection, as well as sentiments from PFAC members, about their time together in Dallas.

Thank you for following our story! Since our last blog, Ella (who is now 15!) and I (Emily) have completed our planned iVHOODIE donation to Yale Children’s Hospital through the generous ImproveCareNow Innovation Fund grant we received in 2019. When we set out to create a sweatshirt that was comfortable and provided IV access to both arms for people receiving infusions, during the height of a global pandemic, we could barely imagine producing a successful prototype let alone delivering 55 iVHOODIES - but here we are! With support from ICN and Yale we have accomplished our goal! We are forever grateful to ICN for helping us to achieve this and kickstart the future of iVHOODIES! 

“If you just sit and give folks a list of facts, they can debate those facts or try to refute them. They can't debate your story. Because it's your story." - Chris Keck on the imPACt Podcast 

Join me (Vanessa), Becky and Fionna for our conversation with Chris Keck from ImproveCareNow. We discuss storytelling - particularly personal narratives - and why stories matter.

We are excited to be hosting our Fall 2022 Community Conference in Dallas, TX later this month. This will be our first in-person event since moving to a Live Online format in Spring 2020 in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. September 21-23 we look forward to engaging with healthcare providers, patients and parents from across ImproveCareNow to all teach and all learn about recent results in our pediatric IBD research and improvement efforts. Download our draft agenda to preview the full conference schedule ⬇⬇