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For two decades, Rachel Gebhardt has navigated the complex terrain of Crohn's disease with a refreshing perspective shaped by her father's experience with the same condition. Where her father let illness define him, Rachel chose a different path—one filled with humor, openness, and resilience—despite her case being more medically severe.

Rachel's journey encompasses four bowel surgeries and fourteen hospital admissions since 2020 alone, including a colostomy she affectionately named "Whoopie." With disarming candor, she shares the moment her surgeon showed her a photo of a woman in an American flag bikini with a matching ostomy bag cover as encouragement—a moment that eventually inspired her own celebratory beachside photo years later. Through skin infections, bowel obstructions, and dietary restrictions, Rachel maintains her commitment to living fully and modeling positive coping for her children.

The military healthcare system presented unique challenges, but also connected Rachel with Dr. Anish Patel at Brook Army Medical Center, who became not just her gastroenterologist but her advocate and ally. Their relationship exemplifies the profound difference compassionate, specialized care makes for patients with complex conditions. Rachel details her experience with hyperbaric treatments, medication complications, and the surprising remission she experienced only during pregnancy and breastfeeding—highlighting the understudied connection between hormones and IBD.

What resonates most deeply is Rachel's transformation from initially viewing her ostomy as "the end of the world" to embracing it as a source of freedom. Now training for a half marathon and hiking mountains previously inaccessible when bathroom urgency controlled her life, she's become an outspoken advocate for ostomy awareness. Her message is clear and powerful: life with an ostomy can be not just manageable, but genuinely good—a perspective desperately needed by those facing similar paths. For anyone navigating IBD or supporting someone who is, Rachel's story offers both practical wisdom and heartening hope.

Links:

• United Ostomy Association
• Our episode with Dr. Anish Patel
• Pregnancy and Crohn's - video from Brigham & Women's IBD Center
• Pregnancy & Breastfeeding info- Crohn's Colitis UK

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