Hello! My name is Henry, and I am a 14 year old freshman in high school. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was nine. Most people don't know  that I was born in NYC but moved to Charlotte, NC when I was six months old.

At the Spring ICN Community Conference, PAC members led breakout sessions on the important topics of self-advocacy and pediatric-to-adult transition. In this episode of the imPACt podcast we continue the conversation about these topics with special guest, and PAC alumna, Sami Kennedy. 

PAC members weigh in on how they like to manage stress and take care of themselves leading up to school exams or the end of a semester. Here is what they said:

My name is Nikhil and I am 17 years old. I am currently a junior in high school, and I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in September 2016, when I was 12. One thing most of my friends don't know about me is that I absolutely love going to school. There is just something about learning new information that makes me feel great. 

Below is a description of the episode by PAC Member, Nour. 

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I had the pleasure of presenting at the Spring 2021 Live Online Community Conference last week on the topic of “Recovering from Flares”. Myself and other PAC members discussed things like: what a flare looks like, how a patient can anticipate a flare and what steps they can take in communicating with their providers and family to avoid serious health repercussions. Our goal was to really emphasize proactivity and empower patients to take charge of their health. 

I'm really excited about this topic and have shared a bit more about it below, including how you can listen as we continue the conversation in Episode 3 of the imPACt podcast this Friday.

Hello! My name is Jennifer and I am a 16 year old high school student who also works part time at a pizza restaurant. I love meeting new people and enjoy engaging in activities outside of my comfort zone.

Hi, I’m Makenna and I’m here to talk to you about Feeding Tubes. In my experience, they are something not a lot of people know about and I want to change that.

Hi, I’m Maha, one of the PAC members you’ll hear talking about IBD in the second episode of our imPACt podcast! 

Hi everyone! My name is Ryleigh, I'm 17, and I have Crohn's disease. I'm currently a senior in high school and plan to attend college in the fall. Something that most people don't know about me is that I used to be able to name over one hundred dog breeds when I was little, but I've forgotten a lot of them now.

IBD can feel lonely and isolating. It can really help to connect with and talk to other people who understand because they live with IBD too. Fionna shares what being part of the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) means to her and how it has influenced her IBD journey: