Just Talking Podcast

Patient advocate Joan Mueller joins me this week for a conversation about her life with arthritis, its impact on her work as an Assistant Hospital Director, the challenges that come with physical therapy and relearning motor functions, and how to create more empathy in health care. Run Time - 38:44 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week I'm joined by Kristal Kent for a conversation about fibromyalgia, the widespread pain index, challenges that come with an invisible illness, and the positivity and empathy that an online patient community can generate. Learn more about Kristal's advocacy efforts at @KristalPainChronicles. Run Time - 47:17 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Maria Thomas joins me this week to talk about her life with hyperhidrosis, share her perspective on defining chronic diseases as disabilities, empowerment and validation that is received from peers and providers, and navigating social cues most people take for granted. There's also a lot of my new puppy, Miles Davis, trying to participate in the interview. I did what I could to minimize his contribution. My apologies in advance. Learn more about Maria's advocacy efforts at mylifeasapuddle.com. Run Time - 35:08 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.  

This week I'm joined by Justin Birckbichler for a conversation about his testicular cancer diagnosis, identifying an opportunity to educate through humor, really clever puns, and creative opportunities for testicular cancer advocacy. Learn more about Justin's advocacy efforts at aballsysenseoftumor.com. Run Time - 33:24 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Erin Smith joins me this week to talk about her life with celiac disease, traveling the world in search of great gluten free food, challenges that arise when your medical necessity becomes a culinary fad, and New York accents. Learn more about Erin's advocacy efforts at glutenfreeglobetrotter.com and glutenfreefun.blogspot.com. Follow Erin on Twitter @gfglobetrotter. Run Time - 32:55 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week I'm joined by Frank Rivera for a conversation about his sarcoidosis diagnosis, the challenges and opportunities that come with living with a rare disease, living with multiple other chronic illnesses, and how patient advocacy efforts can create lasting relationships. Learn more about Frank's advocacy efforts at lifeasararepatient.blog and sarcoidosisofli.org. Run Time - 39:03 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Robert Joyce joins me this week to talk about his life with multiple sclerosis, life in a small Irish town, making the most of the good days, the value in online patient communities, and Robert takes a few minutes to explain the different types of multiple sclerosis. Learn more about Robert's advocacy efforts at a30minutelife.com. Run Time - 33:43 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week, I'm joined by Derek Canas for a conversation about having open heart surgery at 3 months old, have five pacemakers installed over his life to date, using positivity and humor through his patient advocacy efforts, the ongoing stigma for people living with AIDS, and the art of a perfect pre-surgery playlist. Learn more about Derek's advocacy efforts at derekcanas.com. Run Time - 32:28 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Content warning: eating disorders. Erin Akers, Founder and Executive Director of Diabulimia Helpline joins me this week to talk about her personal experience with diabulimia, building a community and growing resources for people with diabetes and eating disorders, the constant hustle of running a nonprofit organization, and the First International Conference on Diabetes and Eating Disorders. Learn more about Diabulimia Helpline, including the upcoming International Conference at diabulimiahelpline.org. Run Time - 33:03 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week I'm joined by Rodney Miller for a conversation about his diabetes diagnosis, his passion for power lifting and Strongman competitions, unique opportunities for patient advocacy and community building, and his nonprofit organization, Bolus and Barbells. Follow Rodney on Instagram, on Instagram, and bolusandbarbells.org. Run Time - 32:18 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Britt Johnson returns to the podcast to chat about filing for disability benefits, the continued stigma that comes from not looking sick, and the tenacity required to find a new normal for her physical and mental health. Follow Britt on Twitter, on Instagram, and on her blog. The resource Britt mentioned during the conversation about disability can be found at allsup.com. Run Time - 38:33 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week I'm joined by Mike Lawson for a conversation about the joys of theater, redefining personal efforts at diabetes advocacy, the challenges of drawing rabbits, and his new book, "Open Up Your Bag - A Diabetes Picture Book". Visit diabetesdoodles.com to Mike's book. Follow Mike on Twitter @mrmikelawson and t1international.com to learn more about the #Insulin4All movement. Run Time - 33:01 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Ernesto Ramirez returns to the podcast to talk about the birth of his daughter and adjusting to parenthood. We also discuss his new role at Evidation and the growing anticipation for a breakthrough moment in making clinical studies more accessible. Visit ernestoramirez.com to keep up with Ernesto's personal and professional projects. Follow Ernesto on Twitter @eramirez. Run Time - 45:20 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Stacey Simms returns to the podcast to discuss Children with Diabetes annual Friends for Life conference, the community fostering potential of Facebook groups, recent developments about the privacy of closed Facebook groups for patient communities, and podcasting with your neighbors. This CNBC story was the foundation for our conversation about Facebook groups. Visit diabetes-connections.com to listen to Stacey's podcast. Run Time - 34:51 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week I'm joined by Dr. Karen Schrier, Associate Professor of Games/Interactive Media, Director of the Play Innovation Lab, and Director of the Games and Emerging Media program at Marist College for a conversation about video games in academia. Specifically, we discuss opportunities to discuss ethics in game design and how discussion about and around video games can lead to broader education opportunities. Visit karenschrier.com to learn more about Karen's work and read up on her published books and research. Follow Dr. Schrier on Twitter @drgamermom. Run Time - 39:54 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Cara Gael returns to the podcast to resume our freak out about the ongoing political discussion around the Affordable Care Act, and then we try to find some positivity through Netflix recommendations, new podcast ideas, the Fast and Furious franchise, and the return of Bill and Ted. Visit cageclub.me to listen to the many shows on the Cageclub Podcast Network. Run Time - 40:26 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Lilly Stairs, Head of Patient Advocacy at Clara Health, joins me for a discussion about her life with multiple chronic conditions, her work at Clara Health, the importance of clinical trials, and her podcast, Patients Have Power. You can learn more about Clara Health at clarahealth.com and listen to Patients Have Power. Follow Lilly on Twitter @lillystairs and lillystairs.com. Run Time - 47:32 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

>Dana Lewis returns to the podcast for a biannual update on the latest from the #WeAreNotWaiting movement. We also discuss her Red Hat 2018 Women in Open Source Community Award, the joys of international travel, her ongoing research project, Opening Pathways, and her new book about celiac disease. You can learn more about OpenAPS at openaps.org and Dana's research at openingpathways.org. Follow Dana on Twitter @danamlewis. Go to bit.ly/booksbyDanaMLewis to check out Dana's new book. Run Time - 50:11 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week, Michelle Boise joins me to talk about her role at Beyond Type 1, their DKA Awareness campaign, and her recent longform story featured on previouslyhealthy.org. You can learn more about Beyond Type 1 at beyondtype1.org and read Michelle's feature at previouslyhealthy.org. Run Time - 40:38 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

This week Virtue Bajurny returns to talk about mental health and chronic illnesses. We dig into the value of peer support in patient communities, approaches to mental health balance, and also John Woo movies. Trust me. You can learn more about Virtue's work at diabetestalk.ca and insulinpump.ca. Run Time - 46:22 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.