October 15, 2024 • 34 mins
Amber interviews Alison McGauley, a teacher and author of "Kenzie's Little Tree," a children's book about a girl whose mother lives with chronic illness. Alison shares her journey with ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and ankylosing spondylitis, and how her hospitalization impacted her two daughters. She emphasizes the importance of talking about illness with children to help them process their emotions. Alison’s book, set to release in March 2025, aims to provide a narrative for families dealing with chronic illness. Pre-orders are available, with proceeds donated to Crohn's and Colitis Canada and the Arthritis Society.
Buy Alison's book: https://www.alisonmcgauley.com/books/my-books
Find Alison McGauley at:
- Web: https://www.alisonmcgauley.com
- Facebook: @author.alison.mcgauley
- Twitter: @AlisonMcgauley
- YouTube: @AlisonMcGauleyAuthor
- Instagram: @alisonmcgauley
Find Amber J Tresca at:
- AboutIBD.com: About IBD
- Verywell Health: Verywell Health
- Facebook: @aboutIBD
- Twitter: @aboutIBD
- Pinterest: @aboutibd
- Instagram: @about_IBD
- YouTube: @AboutIBD
- https://www.threads.net/@about_ibd
Find Mac Cooney (mix, sound design, and theme music) at:
- Facebook: @maccooneycomposer
- Instagram: @maccooneycomposer
- YouTube: @MacCooneyComposer
- Web: Cooney Studio
- Theme music, IBD Dance Party, is from ©Cooney Studio.
Episode transcript and more information at: https://bit.ly/AIBD160
These show notes contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, Mal and Tal Enterprises, LLC may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amber Tresca (00:04):
I'm Amber Tresca, and this is About IBD.
I'm a medical writer and patienteducator who lives with a J
pouch due to ulcerative colitis.It's my mission to educate
people living with Crohn'sdisease or ulcerative colitis
about their disease and to bringawareness to the patient
journey.
Welcome to Episode 160
living with a chronic illnessisn't uncommon, but it's also
not something that's wellrepresented in popular culture.
(00:27):
All parents need community andsupport, but parents who live
with chronic illnesses havechallenges that are different
from many of their peers.
That brings me to my guest,Allison McAuley. Allison was
diagnosed first with ulcerativecolitis, but also discovered
that some of her symptoms weredue to irritable bowel syndrome.
Later, she developed a form ofarthritis that can be related to
IBD, called ankylosingspondylitis. When Allison was
(00:50):
hospitalized to treat herulcerative colitis, it had a
significant impact on her twoyoung girls. She learned,
through some trial and errorthat her kids needed to talk
over their emotions in order tobetter cope with them. That led
her to write her firstchildren's book, kenzie's little
tree, which is about a girlwhose mother lives with chronic
illness. In the story, Kenzielearns how to manage the
(01:11):
emotions and worries she hasabout her mother's health.
Allison hopes that kenzie'sstory will provide a narrative
that children can relate to andwill help give families a way to
start important conversations.
Allison, thank you so much forcoming on about IBD.
Alison McGauley (01:28):
Thanks for having me, Amber. I love
listening to you about IBD, andI'm excited to be here as a
guest today.
Amber Tresca (01:33):
Oh, perfect. I love to hear when people listen
to the show. So thank you somuch for for doing that. It does
make it a little bit easier tohave you as a guest, because you
know how things go around here,which is perfect for our
listeners, not you and I knoweach other. We've been chatting.
We've been putting together thisshow, this episode, but our
listeners don't know you yet, soI'd like to get an introduction.
(01:56):
Would you tell us a little bitabout yourself for sure?
Alison McGauley (02:00):
Hi everyone. I'm Allison Magali. I've been an
elementary teacher for almost 20years, and I'm currently a part
time Special Education ResourceTeacher. I live in Ontario,
Canada with my partner, twodaughters and our Ragdoll Cat. I
have ulcerative colitis. It wasdiagnosed in 2008
and I also have ankylosingspondylitis, which is an
(02:22):
inflammatory arthritis thataffects the spine. I've always
loved books, and a few yearsago, started my journey toward
publication, and I'm thrilledthat my first picture about
kenzie's Little tree,illustrated by Emily the Duke,
will be published next Marchwith orca book publishers in the
story, Kenzie and her familyplant a fragile little tree in
their yard One summer day, andshe promises to keep it safe
(02:45):
only when fall and winterweather flare along with mom's
chronic illness, Kenzie worriesthat her promise will be broken.
Kenzie's little tree reminds usthat, though the world is
constantly changing andoftentimes difficult, we can be
bold and strong, just like thelittle tree. I'm super excited
for it to be out in the worldand in the hands of kids.
Amber Tresca (03:04):
Perfect. Thank you so much for that. I'm really
looking forward to this book aswell, and you absolutely get to
talking about kenzie's Littletree, which is super beautiful.
I've been able to see some ofthe illustrations from it. But
first, Allison, because this isabout IBD, I want to understand
more about your journey withulcerative colitis, I wonder if
(03:24):
you would tell me how yoursymptoms started and then about
your diagnosis journey.
Definitely. In my late 20s, Igot sick with the stomach flu,
and the symptoms just kind ofkept on going. Eventually it
turned into blood and mucus inthe stool, and I went to find my
family doctor, he triedmedication for hemorrhoids,
spoiler alert, that didn't work,and then I was referred to a GI
(03:46):
doctor who did a scope anddiagnosed ulcerative colitis.
When I first found out, Iremember trying to make it to my
car before crying. So I justcouldn't believe that I had this
incurable disease.
And I was young, and no one inmy family, my immediate family
anyway, had it at that point. Irarely took medication, so I was
really hesitant to startanything. So I did the whole
(04:07):
gluten free, dairy free, sugarfree, soy free, everything free
for a full year, flavor free,yeah, which is really difficult.
And that was before, like thewhole gluten free time.
And it was, it was difficult tofind ingredients at that point,
so I basically spent my weekendsourcing out, you know, gluten
free, oats, good quality,stevia, all those fun things I
(04:30):
still get teased from one friendabout my brownies that were too
dry to swallow. He loves myeverything free brownies. So
after all that, the diet didn'tsignificantly help my symptoms,
so I started a five ASA drugthat worked pretty well, up and
down for a while.
While my girls were little, myIBD was up and down, and I also
(04:52):
had some arthritis symptoms,like a flare of my thumb. That
one was really hard because itleft me unable to take care of
my newborn. For a few days,which is really devastating. And
then I had one big gut flarethat was eventually diagnosed as
IBS, which apparently you canalso have. So then I got some
(05:12):
medication for that, an IBSmedication that really helped.
About five years ago, I had aterrible flare that was the
closest I came to havingsurgery. Prednisone at first
worked so well for me, but thenit stopped working at that
point. So that's when I went tothe hospital. We tried Remicade
as a last resort before surgery.Luckily, that worked well. So
(05:33):
that was the start of mybiologics journey. And a few
years after that, my Si, SIjoint pain and back pain hit a
new level, and so I had someMRIs done, and that was when
they diagnosed the ankylosingspondylitis.
So at this moment, I'm takingbiologic that covers both the
IBD and the as I'm considered inremission. But anyone who is an
(05:56):
IBD or as warrior knows thatthat doesn't mean that the body
is as it was before,
Right 100% thank you for sharingthat with me. Do you remember
how long was it between whenyour symptoms started and then
when you were, you know,referred and got that
colonoscopy and were diagnosedwith ulcerative colitis?
Alison McGauley (06:16):
I feel like it wasn't too long. I think I was
lucky after hearing from someother people that take years to
get diagnosed. But yeah, yeah.Because, as I said, I went to
the doctor. Well, at first Ithought it was just the flu, so
that probably went on for like amonth or so. Then I went to the
doctor who thought it washemorrhoids. So I tried
different things for that for afew months, and then, and then I
(06:37):
got the diet, the referral,okay, so, and I'm in Canada, so
referrals can take quite awhile, so that probably took a
few months at that point to getin. And then the doctor
originally thought I hadulcerative colitis, but it
wasn't, you know, we had to waitfor the colonoscopy to give the
full on diagnosis, but Right? Somaybe six to 12 months, I'd say,
Amber Tresca (07:02):
okay, it still feels like a long time. Does it
to be walking around withsymptoms, yeah? And to be
treated, not that you didn'thave hemorrhoids you may have,
but, but the Treatment ForHemorrhoids is not going to do
anything.
Alison McGauley (07:18):
Yeah. I guess it was pretty long, yeah.
Amber Tresca (07:22):
Um, another thing that you said that I want to hit
on really quickly, though, wasthat you said nobody in your
immediate family had alchemcolitis or a form of IBD. It
sounds like did you have anyknowledge of IBD beforehand? You
have extended family membersthat live with it?
Alison McGauley (07:36):
Um, I have a my mom's first cousin, so I'm not
sure if that's my second cousinor, like a first cousin once
removed or something. I'm notsure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she
had, as well, ulcerative colitisthat she got in her 20s, but I
(07:57):
didn't know her that well ormuch about her, her her journey,
yeah, but that was the only sortof genetic link, other than I
had one of my grandmother hadrheumatoid arthritis. Okay, that
was the only sort of autoimmunein my immediate family, yeah.
Amber Tresca (08:13):
So, like a lot of people, it definitely came from
nowhere, pretty much. Yeah,we're dealing with this, yeah...
Yeah, it was. It was quite ashock.
Yeah, quite a shock. Okay. Well,as you mentioned, you are a mom.
You have two girls, and like,it's not easy for anyone to
become a parent, okay? Andeveryone has a different
journey. It's especially truethough, I think with these
(08:36):
chronic illnesses kind of in themix, getting in the way,
sometimes, can you tell me aboutyour path to becoming a mom and
what that was like for you?Definitely, and
Alison McGauley (08:45):
I really agree with that. However, I've read
that it's not harder to conceivewhen you have IBD.
Amber Tresca (08:51):
It's not, yeah, actually, it's it for anyone who
thinks so, I'm gonna put on mymedical writer hat for just a
second here, um, for anyonewho's heard that, because you
live with an IBD, that yourability to conceive is
decreased. It actually is not,unless you're currently flaring,
then that might have an effecton it, and then surgeries is a
(09:13):
whole other thing.
So I know there's people outthere that think, Well, I've
been told I probably can't getpregnant because I live with an
IBD. No you can. And infertility rate, I should say
infertility rates are the samein the IBD population as they
are in the general population.So a lot of people don't know
that, but that doesn't meanthat, you know IBD didn't get in
(09:35):
your way. So all right, I'mgonna let you talk now.
Alison McGauley (09:37):
All right, well, it certainly did get in my
way. So, yeah, so as sayingthat, yes, it's not a factor,
but for me, because I triedgetting pregnant, as you said
when I was first diagnosed, andfiguring out how to manage the
inflammation that you know, I'msure is why? Because my body was
too sick at that point, I wasunderweight and anemic and
(09:58):
stressed and had a lot ofinflammation.
So yeah, things did not gosmoothly. It was a month after
month of disappointment. It wasa really emotional time because,
you know, I had just beendiagnosed, so it was grieving my
diagnosis while simultaneouslyfeeling terrified that the
illness would also take away mydream of becoming a mom, yeah.
So, yeah, I don't recommendthat. So yeah, we tried
(10:23):
acupuncture and herbs andfertility treatments and all the
things. And finally, after threeyears, we got our positive test.
And then with my seconddaughter, as you often hear
about, I got pregnant easilyright after, it's actually right
after finishing around aprednisone for a bad flare. So I
was so grateful that that onewas easy.
Amber Tresca (10:44):
So let me ask you, did you get pregnant with your
first daughter while you were inthe dairy free, gluten free,
taste free of your journey?
Alison McGauley (10:52):
No. So that was right at the beginning of being
diagnosed. Okay, that was thefirst year. And then I did start
taking medication after that,because basically the fertility
doctor said, Well, if you have alot of inflammation in your
body, it's unlikely you're goingto get pregnant. So right? I did
start taking and also the dietwasn't as I said. It wasn't very
(11:13):
effective for me, unfortunately.So I knew I needed to to do
something else, right?
Amber Tresca (11:20):
How long did you wait before you ramped it up and
went and saw a fertilityspecialist?
Probably about a year? Yeah, Ithink that that's generally
recommended for couples thatdon't have anything else going
on. That after a year, youshould see people with IBD. I
think they say, why don't youmaybe think about it a little
(11:42):
bit sooner, just because youlike, there could be something
else going on there that to dealwith. All right, so thank you
for answering those questionsand being so transparent about
our journey to motherhood. Ithink a lot of times, look, I
dealt with infertility as well.It is so emotional to speak
about, even today, and my kidsare 14 and 17, so but I think
(12:08):
getting it out there and tellingour stories a little bit is
helpful to let other people andcouples dealing with infertility
that they're not alone, and thatthere's help out there, and that
we have healthy kids today.
Alison McGauley (12:18):
Yeah. And I think, like for me, I wish I had
just, you know, in looking back,it's like, I know I should have
just got things under controland then try to get pregnant.
But I like to, you know, hit theground running. And, you know, I
was ready, you I was ready. Iwas ready to be a mom. And I was
like, Okay, I'm doing thisthing. But, you know, it just,
(12:42):
yeah, it's just one of thosethings where all the things
happen at once and but yeah, Iwould advise just getting your
body healthy first, and thenthat will be a lot easier.
Hopefully.
Amber Tresca (12:53):
Yeah, co sign that 100 percent. So thank you for
saying that.
Coming up. Allison has advicefor parents living with chronic
illness.
(13:16):
All right, let's move into yourchildren's book, kenzie's little
tree. So the story, as youalready outlined, is of a little
girl and her tree that sheplants, and then her mother, who
also lives with a chronicillness. What spurred you to
write kenzie's little tree,Allison.
Alison McGauley (13:36):
Of course. Well, my daughters were four and
seven when I was suddenlyhospitalized in a different
city. Then there's also beenlots of times when my girls have
wanted me to do activities likeyou go sledding, go tobogganing
with them, or eat certain foodsat celebrations or whatnot, when
I'm in a flare, and it's madethem sad when I can't though I
have pointed out that, you know,most moms don't actually sled
(13:58):
down the Tobogganing Hill. Thatso all this has been hard for
them.
So I wrote Kenzie little tree,in big part for that, for my
girls and for all children whoare impacted by illness or
disability, so they can feelseen and represented, and to
remind them that even thoughLife can be tough, they are
strong. When I was at thehospital that time that I
(14:19):
mentioned, my little one spent alot of time playing alone in her
room. Apparently, she didn'twant to talk much. She was only
four.
My older one understood a littlebit more, but the kids at school
were asking her, like, becausenormally I'd pick her up at the
end of the day. So they were,you know, some of her friends
were like, where's your mom? Andone actually, one student
actually asked her, like, didyour mom die? Which was
(14:42):
obviously, like, superdistressing for her, yeah, and
because I was in a differentcity, they weren't able to visit
me much, so they did come once,but it was just so upsetting
because them see me with the IVin my arm, and then, you know,
the worst part was when it wastime to go home, and I had to
stay there. And, you know, theycouldn't understand why I
couldn't just come with them. Sothat was, that was really hard.
(15:05):
And then after I returned home,we didn't talk about my hospital
stay much. My husband and Ithought, well, you know, it's
probably easier if we just, youknow, don't really talk about
it. Move on. Forget about it.But what happened was the girls
were so anxious. Like, everytime I'd go out, they'd be like,
Oh, are you going to go to thehospital anytime I wasn't like,
(15:26):
any little sign of me notfeeling well, they assumed that,
you know, I had to go to thehospital again. We talked to a
family therapist, and we foundout that having repeated
conversations about traumaticexperiences can help children to
better process their emotions.So we started having
conversations about that time,and we did find that it helped.
(15:46):
So throughout the years, we weactually still sometimes bring
up that time, and sometimes thegirls do still wonder, like, if
I'll have to go to the hospitalagain, if you know I'm heading
into a flare, but reflectingback on it and talking about our
feelings does seem to be calmingfor them, so learning about the
importance of talking with kidsand their experiences and
(16:07):
thoughts and feelings wasanother huge reason why I wrote
kenzie's Little tree, because Ihope that when reading it, it'll
be a way for families to start adialog.
And I've actually beencollaborating with a
psychologist here to write somefamily discussion questions for
the book, so I'm hoping thatThat'll also help to start
conversations. These days,publishers are putting out a lot
more diverse books thatrepresent all different
(16:29):
realities and experiences, whichis amazing, and I want to add to
this conversation to representkids like Kenzie, and also kids
who have chronic illnessthemselves.
Because in my book, it's, youknow, the mom that has the
chronic illness. But what'sreally hard about representing
people with IBD or arthritis isthat they're invisible
illnesses. So it's like notthings we can show in pictures
(16:50):
easily, right? Like a limbdifference or something you
could show in a book. So it'sdifficult with pictures,
especially IBD, right?
So it's sometimes tricky to havethis representation, but my aim
here is to bring kids anarrative story that's engaging
and relatable. I'm also workingon some other manuscripts that
feature children with chronicillness, so I'm hoping that
someday these will be out in theworld too, because it's so
(17:11):
powerful for a child to see acharacter in a book who's going
through a similar experience tothem.
Amber Tresca (17:17):
Thank you for that. I have to say, I it never
even occurred to me when I wasgoing through, especially the
early days, of trying to getpregnant and then having infants
and then small children, to lookfor a representation of what my
family experience was in a book.I wouldn't have expected to see
(17:39):
it anywhere, and never eventhought to maybe ask a librarian
or somebody else, is theresomething that might help my
children better understand whymom sometimes has days, and I'm
not saying that these were baddays, and I'm sure that my
children enjoyed these days aswell, but the days when were
cuddled up watching a moviebecause mom can't get off the
(18:00):
couch.
Alison McGauley (18:00):
Right? I know.
Amber Tresca (18:02):
And, yeah, there aren't a lot out especially, you
know, 10-15, years ago, I thinkso,
Alison McGauley (18:08):
Yeah.
Amber Tresca (18:09):
And I'm sure there's somebody out there that
says I wrote a book at thattime. I'm sorry if it was out
there. I'm sorry I didn't findit or think to look for it, but
I'm so glad to be bringing thisin front of the community today,
and that you're doing this workand discussion questions. Ah, I
could not love that more. Icould not love that more because
(18:30):
your point about talking aboutexperiences and airing them out.
I think most people feel asthough, if you don't talk about
something, that that is the wayto handle it. You don't want to
bring it up and upset people.
But, as you said, and I justwant to repeat it and reinforce
it with these kinds of things.You do need to talk about that,
(18:52):
because that helps prevent, youknow, the post traumatic stress
that can set in. That wasn'tsomething that I understood
until I had some mental healthprofessionals, like, literally,
on this show that explained thatconcept to me, and then you did
something which was amazing andso wonderful and caring and
loving for your children andyour family, was that you
(19:13):
engaged a professional to helpyou with that experience. And it
sounds like it made all thedifference.
Alison McGauley (19:19):
Thank you. Yeah, it, it really did. I mean,
same, yeah, exactly same thing.We thought that, you know, we'll
just kind of sweep this underthe rug, and they're young like
they're resilient, they'llforget.
But really, no, they're justtheir anxiety was so heightened
by, you know, mom's, you know,When's she gonna leave? Because
I had to leave. I wasn'tplanning on staying at the
hospital. I was just planning togo get a scope so that they
(19:41):
could see the level ofinflammation, and my GI doctor's
in different cities, so I had togo to the hospital where he
works. So, you know, we were, Iwas just going for half a day,
and then all of a sudden itturned into 10 days.
So it was just really for achild, so unfair that, you know,
I was just taken away. And, youknow, no warning. So yeah, so it
(20:03):
really was traumatic for them inthat instance, and yeah, totally
agreed that just talking aboutit, that's the that's the only
way to get past those feelingsand move on. So I'm just so
grateful that we did talk to aprofessional and find that out,
because that's just reallyhelped us and have a lot of
conversations over the years.Allison,
Amber Tresca (20:22):
I so for myself, raising kids while living with a
chronic illness has taught me somany things that I didn't
expect, and I think for me, thechief amongst those is that the
value of community and relyingon my community, especially my
local community and also my IBDcommunity to help me through the
(20:44):
twists and turns of being a mom.So I'm wondering, Alison, what
has surprised you most aboutraising kids while living with a
chronic illness?
Alison McGauley (20:53):
Yeah, I can totally appreciate the value of
community. Does take a villageof Yeah, you're right,
especially when there's chronicillness involved. For me. Well,
when my children were tiny,caring for them was physically
difficult, between the IVDflares, joint pain and then, of
course, the constantappointments, right? You're
constantly having to go forthese appointments. I didn't
believe that there was anythinggood about parenting with
(21:14):
chronic illness, but as they gotolder, I did start noticing some
upsides. My girls have seeninstances where I've needed care
over the years.
Of course, when I faced flaresand whatnot, and I feel like
that's really helped themdevelop their skills and caring
and empathy. They're very quickto offer, help, share with
others, and they're reallymindful about inclusion. I mean,
(21:37):
even to this day, like theystill will mask at school
sometimes because, you know,they're very aware that, you
know, they don't want to bringthings home for me, and, you
know, so things like that, um,some of the things that I do to
care for myself are teachingpart time instead of full time,
using some physicalaccommodations.
I do a lot of walking, somestrength training and eating
(21:59):
healthfully. And I'm just reallyhappy that my girls are starting
to show some good self carehabits as well from observing
that. And as we know, life withchronic illness means that often
our plans have to change whenillness flares. So my kids, like
all others, are disappointedwhen activities are canceled or
changed.
But I think it's just reallyhelpful for them that these
(22:19):
times do provide them with a lotof practice in being flexible
and resilient, because thesesorts of things that happen all
the time in life, where thingsare changed. So I think that's
just given them a lot of goodpractice while they're young
with those skills.
Amber Tresca (22:33):
I agree. I always say, like, I want my kids to
experience, like, not asignificant amount of adversity,
but, you know, like a little bitof adversity, because it does
teach you resilience and problemsolving and all sorts of other
things. And not that I wantanyone to live with these stupid
diseases, but at the same time,I noticed the same, my kids are
(22:56):
incredibly empathic, and I thinkthat that's really going to
serve them well, across theentire spectrum of their lives,
personally, professionally.
And I don't know if it's if, ifI didn't live with an IBD, I
don't know if it's somethingthat I would have focused on in
my parenting journey. So I waskind of, you know, trying to
(23:16):
find those silver linings. Ithink, yeah, it sounds like
you've done as well.
Alison McGauley (23:19):
Definitely.
Amber Tresca (23:21):
Allison, do you have any advice for people who
are starting on their parentingjourney while they're living
with a chronic illness?
Alison McGauley (23:26):
Yes, just as I mentioned earlier, I think that
it's important to talk with yourkids about experiences and
feelings, because being openwill help them to better process
their thoughts and emotions.Another thing is just to keep it
simple, once you find out whatworks best for you. Like I
mentioned earlier, I tried myeverything free diet when I was
first diagnosed, and I've trieda lot of alternative therapies
(23:49):
and special diets since then aswell.
But when you have a baby oryoung children, it's a balancing
act right with everyone's needs,along with time, money and
energy, and it is not a greattime to try new things. So keep
it simple. Be kind to yourself,because following a specific
diet or protocol can also addits own stress and work, and
this, in turn, can exacerbateyour health issues. And one last
(24:12):
thing that I wish I had doneright from the start was to give
myself time to cultivate apassion. Not doing anything
creative for years was toughmentally, and now that I'm
writing, I'm busier than ever,but I'm in a much better place,
and my kids see this, andthey're also really excited
about my writing.
Amber Tresca (24:35):
Up next the food that Allison finds helpful, but
which she also hates.
All right, let's get into itwith kenzie's Little tree,
because I want everybody, wanteverybody to know where. They
(25:00):
can get a copy, when they canget a copy, how they can get a
copy, and then you have somespecial things going on that
you're doing along with therelease of this book. So let's
give me all the deets Allison.
All right! Yes, I do. Sokenzie's Little tree launches
next March, but it's availablenow for pre order anywhere you
buy books. So in Canada, where Iam, I've partnered up with two
(25:22):
amazing independent bookstores,rookery books and the Spaniels
tale bookstore, and they'redonating 10% of the proceeds for
all pre orders to Crohn's andColitis Canada and the arthritis
society, which is super generousand for American readers, if you
pre order a copy of Ken's littletree and fill in the Google form
on my website, I will make apersonal donation to the Crohn's
(25:45):
and Colitis Foundation and theArthritis Foundation, and all
the details for that can befound on my website
allysonmagali.com
I love that the community isvery supportive and warm, and I
know listeners that you will goand order this book, that you
will pre order it, or, if you'relistening after March 2025, that
(26:06):
you will order it or ask for itat your local bookseller.
Because that is an importantthing to do as well. I love to
give books to kids, once theyget to be teenagers, I think
probably they're, you know,they're not as welcoming of my
choice of gifts, but I really amlooking forward to including
(26:27):
this in my rotation, especiallywhen somebody in the IBD
community is expecting a baby,because that that brings me
great, great joy to see peoplewith IBD starting or expanding
their families.
So I love to have this optionwritten by somebody who lives
with an IBD so understands it ina very deep way that not
(26:49):
everybody is is going to if theydon't. All right, I have I want
to ask you two things.
Normally at the end of the show,I ask one question that is more
about my guest. Personally, Icouldn't, I couldn't decide,
Allison, so I hope we could getto two questions, because
(27:10):
there's two things in yourInstagram, after I did my deep
dive into it, that I wanted toknow more about. And you brought
up diet a little bit. And, youknow, living through the days of
trying to work through a newdiagnosis, of course, exploring
diet. I mean, that just makessense, but at the same time,
maybe finding it a littlechallenging, because it's not
(27:35):
the most fun. I saw that youhave a sort of a contentious
relationship with sauerkraut. SoI just wanted to learn more of
your thoughts about that.
Alison McGauley (27:49):
That's just like a love hate relationship, I
guess. Yeah, well, I triedvarious probiotics over the
years, but none really workedtoo well for me, and I know
there's a lot of nowcontroversial stuff about
probiotics that, you know, maybethey aren't so good, or, you
know, who knows, yeah, but I dofind that because of the IBS
(28:10):
part, like the IBS, you know,bloating and gas, I do find that
align. Probiotics works well forthat.
But I also then found that thesauerkraut worked well too. So,
yeah, so sometimes I have, Ilike to have a chaser after my
sauerkraut sold, you know,little sugar sauerkraut, and
(28:32):
then, yep, something like achocolate or, like a sweet
drink, you got to have, like,the chaser at the ready, because
it's or you mix it withapplesauce, just to make it a
little more palatable. But it'sstill pretty bad.
Amber Tresca (28:45):
Oh that's a good tip mixing it with applesauce. I
have to tell you. I'm also not afan of the sauerkraut. I don't
think I would do it. I think I'mmore of like a yogurt or kefir
person when it comes to the tothe probiotic foods, kombucha.
That's been a, you know, ajourney,
Alison McGauley (29:03):
Yeah.
Amber Tresca (29:04):
But I have to say up and down as well.
Alison McGauley (29:06):
Yeah, it's very bubbly.
Amber Tresca (29:08):
Yeah. And it's just, I don't know. It's the
kind of thing that I don't know.Maybe I'll, maybe I'll get
there. If anybody has any tips,they're welcome to reach out.
But I think if somebody told meI had to eat sauerkraut, I think
I would 100% just put it on hotdog and just give it, probably
defeating the purpose.
Alison McGauley (29:28):
It's still good. I think you can get away
with it. Do it.
Amber Tresca (29:33):
Maybe some kind of a, of a advanced hot dog.
Anyway, all right, so, allright. And then my second
question that I didn't give you,I'm really torturing you. I'm so
sorry, but, um, but I have toknow more about the cat. Your
cat is beautiful.
Yes.
Oh my gosh, very beautiful. Tellme the name. Tell me what she's
(29:53):
like, Tell me. Tell me.
Well, her name's Luna. She'sfour years old, so we had a rag
doll before. Or this is oursecond rag doll. We just once
you have a rag doll, there's nogoing back, because they're just
like the softest and just theycan be. They can be like dogs,
where they our first one waslike a dog, where she followed
us, everywhere we went. She wasalways around.
(30:14):
Luna is very much your scaredycat, so she likes to hide out,
but she's just very loving, likeshe just, you know, she wants
lots of cuddles when she wantsit, and she's very, very sweet.
So yeah, we just, we adore her.We got her during the pandemic.
So she's like a pandemic cat,where she's very she's just
(30:35):
scared of people because she wasjust, you know, she never, we
never had anyone over when shewas a kitten. So, I think maybe
that's why she's partly whyshe's so shy, but yeah, we just
love her to bits, and the girlsalways want to try to find her,
and we adore her.
Well, I'm going to make a casefor more posts of Luna on
(30:57):
Instagram. Less like I want tosee more posts of this, of this
beautiful not to give you, youknow, not to be your content
manager or anything like that,but she's gorgeous. So, and the
breed is unfamiliar to me. I'venever had a Ragdoll Cat, so, you
know, I'm interested to learnmore about that well as well. So
(31:19):
I'm going to look that up.
Alison McGauley (31:20):
Yeah, they have, there's all different
colorations, similar to aSiamese, but, but, yeah, they
all have blue eyes. They're verybeautiful cats. And this, like,
beautiful long, like rabbit fur.It's very soft.
Amber Tresca (31:32):
Yes, although I imagine your vacuuming regimen
is a little bit more advancedthan...
Alison McGauley (31:38):
Yeah, well, we just have, we have hardwood, so
there's just like piles in thecorner, you know, tumbleweeds.
So, yeah, we're used to it.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that aswell. All right. Allison, very,
very last thing, I promise. ButI want everyone to be able to
find kenzie's Little tree, to beable to find you. So tell me
(32:02):
where you are on the interwebsand on the social media so that
everyone can find you.
Well, I'm pretty easy to findonline because everything's
under my name. So I'm onInstagram and x at Allison
Magali, and my website is alsoallisonmagali.com so on my
website, you'll find links to mysocials, as well as all the pre
(32:22):
order information for Ken'slittle tree.
Amber Tresca (32:25):
Perfect. Thank you so much for making it easy for
everybody. I will also put allof that information in the show
notes. Allison, it has been sucha pleasure to get to know you.
Your book is going to be soimpactful. I'm so grateful that
you wrote it. I do not love thatyour family is dealing with all
of the you know, the disease andeverything that comes along with
(32:48):
it, but I'm grateful that you'rein the community and that you
are able to use your gifts as astoryteller to help other
families as well. So thank youso much for doing that, and
thank you for speaking with metoday.
Alison McGauley (32:59):
Well, thanks, Amber. It's been an honor and
lots of fun being on the showtoday. And I also really
appreciate you. And juststarting to listen to the
podcast, I've just heard aboutso many great people in the
community. It's just, you know,it's, again, one of those silver
linings where, you know, youhate to live with this illness,
but there's just so many kindpeople in the IBD community, and
(33:20):
it's amazing that way. So thankyou.
Amber Tresca (33:25):
Hey, super listener.
Thanks to Allison Magali forsharing so much of her journey
with IBD and parenthood. Herbook, kenzie's little tree, is
being released in March 2025. Itcan be found at major
booksellers, or you can ask yourlocal bookstore to order it for
you. Some of the proceeds fromsales will be donated to IBD and
donated to IBD and arthritispatient advocacy groups.
You can get all the detailsallisonmahalli.com.
(33:48):
You can also follow Allison onInstagram, Twitter, Facebook and
YouTube. Links to a writtentranscript, everyone's social
media handles, and moreinformation on the topics we
discussed is in the show notesand on my episode, 160 page on
about ibd.com
Thanks for listening, andremember until next time, I want
you to know more about IBD.
(34:12):
About IBD is a production of Maland tal enterprises.
It is edited, Written, producedand directed by me, Amber
Tresca.
Mix and sound design is by MACCooney.
Theme music is from Cooneystudio.
Perfect, excellent. We did it
Alison McGauley (34:29):
Great..
I'm Amber Tresca, and this is About IBD.
I'm a medical writer and patienteducator who lives with a J
pouch due to ulcerative colitis.It's my mission to educate
people living with Crohn'sdisease or ulcerative colitis
about their disease and to bringawareness to the patient
journey.
Welcome to Episode 160
living with a chronic illnessisn't uncommon, but it's also
not something that's wellrepresented in popular culture.
(00:27):
All parents need community andsupport, but parents who live
with chronic illnesses havechallenges that are different
from many of their peers.
That brings me to my guest,Allison McAuley. Allison was
diagnosed first with ulcerativecolitis, but also discovered
that some of her symptoms weredue to irritable bowel syndrome.
Later, she developed a form ofarthritis that can be related to
IBD, called ankylosingspondylitis. When Allison was
(00:50):
hospitalized to treat herulcerative colitis, it had a
significant impact on her twoyoung girls. She learned,
through some trial and errorthat her kids needed to talk
over their emotions in order tobetter cope with them. That led
her to write her firstchildren's book, kenzie's little
tree, which is about a girlwhose mother lives with chronic
illness. In the story, Kenzielearns how to manage the
(01:11):
emotions and worries she hasabout her mother's health.
Allison hopes that kenzie'sstory will provide a narrative
that children can relate to andwill help give families a way to
start important conversations.
Allison, thank you so much forcoming on about IBD.
Alison McGauley (01:28):
Thanks for having me, Amber. I love
listening to you about IBD, andI'm excited to be here as a
guest today.
Amber Tresca (01:33):
Oh, perfect. I love to hear when people listen
to the show. So thank you somuch for for doing that. It does
make it a little bit easier tohave you as a guest, because you
know how things go around here,which is perfect for our
listeners, not you and I knoweach other. We've been chatting.
We've been putting together thisshow, this episode, but our
listeners don't know you yet, soI'd like to get an introduction.
(01:56):
Would you tell us a little bitabout yourself for sure?
Alison McGauley (02:00):
Hi everyone. I'm Allison Magali. I've been an
elementary teacher for almost 20years, and I'm currently a part
time Special Education ResourceTeacher. I live in Ontario,
Canada with my partner, twodaughters and our Ragdoll Cat. I
have ulcerative colitis. It wasdiagnosed in 2008
and I also have ankylosingspondylitis, which is an
(02:22):
inflammatory arthritis thataffects the spine. I've always
loved books, and a few yearsago, started my journey toward
publication, and I'm thrilledthat my first picture about
kenzie's Little tree,illustrated by Emily the Duke,
will be published next Marchwith orca book publishers in the
story, Kenzie and her familyplant a fragile little tree in
their yard One summer day, andshe promises to keep it safe
(02:45):
only when fall and winterweather flare along with mom's
chronic illness, Kenzie worriesthat her promise will be broken.
Kenzie's little tree reminds usthat, though the world is
constantly changing andoftentimes difficult, we can be
bold and strong, just like thelittle tree. I'm super excited
for it to be out in the worldand in the hands of kids.
Amber Tresca (03:04):
Perfect. Thank you so much for that. I'm really
looking forward to this book aswell, and you absolutely get to
talking about kenzie's Littletree, which is super beautiful.
I've been able to see some ofthe illustrations from it. But
first, Allison, because this isabout IBD, I want to understand
more about your journey withulcerative colitis, I wonder if
(03:24):
you would tell me how yoursymptoms started and then about
your diagnosis journey.
Definitely. In my late 20s, Igot sick with the stomach flu,
and the symptoms just kind ofkept on going. Eventually it
turned into blood and mucus inthe stool, and I went to find my
family doctor, he triedmedication for hemorrhoids,
spoiler alert, that didn't work,and then I was referred to a GI
(03:46):
doctor who did a scope anddiagnosed ulcerative colitis.
When I first found out, Iremember trying to make it to my
car before crying. So I justcouldn't believe that I had this
incurable disease.
And I was young, and no one inmy family, my immediate family
anyway, had it at that point. Irarely took medication, so I was
really hesitant to startanything. So I did the whole
(04:07):
gluten free, dairy free, sugarfree, soy free, everything free
for a full year, flavor free,yeah, which is really difficult.
And that was before, like thewhole gluten free time.
And it was, it was difficult tofind ingredients at that point,
so I basically spent my weekendsourcing out, you know, gluten
free, oats, good quality,stevia, all those fun things I
(04:30):
still get teased from one friendabout my brownies that were too
dry to swallow. He loves myeverything free brownies. So
after all that, the diet didn'tsignificantly help my symptoms,
so I started a five ASA drugthat worked pretty well, up and
down for a while.
While my girls were little, myIBD was up and down, and I also
(04:52):
had some arthritis symptoms,like a flare of my thumb. That
one was really hard because itleft me unable to take care of
my newborn. For a few days,which is really devastating. And
then I had one big gut flarethat was eventually diagnosed as
IBS, which apparently you canalso have. So then I got some
(05:12):
medication for that, an IBSmedication that really helped.
About five years ago, I had aterrible flare that was the
closest I came to havingsurgery. Prednisone at first
worked so well for me, but thenit stopped working at that
point. So that's when I went tothe hospital. We tried Remicade
as a last resort before surgery.Luckily, that worked well. So
(05:33):
that was the start of mybiologics journey. And a few
years after that, my Si, SIjoint pain and back pain hit a
new level, and so I had someMRIs done, and that was when
they diagnosed the ankylosingspondylitis.
So at this moment, I'm takingbiologic that covers both the
IBD and the as I'm considered inremission. But anyone who is an
(05:56):
IBD or as warrior knows thatthat doesn't mean that the body
is as it was before,
Right 100% thank you for sharingthat with me. Do you remember
how long was it between whenyour symptoms started and then
when you were, you know,referred and got that
colonoscopy and were diagnosedwith ulcerative colitis?
Alison McGauley (06:16):
I feel like it wasn't too long. I think I was
lucky after hearing from someother people that take years to
get diagnosed. But yeah, yeah.Because, as I said, I went to
the doctor. Well, at first Ithought it was just the flu, so
that probably went on for like amonth or so. Then I went to the
doctor who thought it washemorrhoids. So I tried
different things for that for afew months, and then, and then I
(06:37):
got the diet, the referral,okay, so, and I'm in Canada, so
referrals can take quite awhile, so that probably took a
few months at that point to getin. And then the doctor
originally thought I hadulcerative colitis, but it
wasn't, you know, we had to waitfor the colonoscopy to give the
full on diagnosis, but Right? Somaybe six to 12 months, I'd say,
Amber Tresca (07:02):
okay, it still feels like a long time. Does it
to be walking around withsymptoms, yeah? And to be
treated, not that you didn'thave hemorrhoids you may have,
but, but the Treatment ForHemorrhoids is not going to do
anything.
Alison McGauley (07:18):
Yeah. I guess it was pretty long, yeah.
Amber Tresca (07:22):
Um, another thing that you said that I want to hit
on really quickly, though, wasthat you said nobody in your
immediate family had alchemcolitis or a form of IBD. It
sounds like did you have anyknowledge of IBD beforehand? You
have extended family membersthat live with it?
Alison McGauley (07:36):
Um, I have a my mom's first cousin, so I'm not
sure if that's my second cousinor, like a first cousin once
removed or something. I'm notsure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she
had, as well, ulcerative colitisthat she got in her 20s, but I
(07:57):
didn't know her that well ormuch about her, her her journey,
yeah, but that was the only sortof genetic link, other than I
had one of my grandmother hadrheumatoid arthritis. Okay, that
was the only sort of autoimmunein my immediate family, yeah.
Amber Tresca (08:13):
So, like a lot of people, it definitely came from
nowhere, pretty much. Yeah,we're dealing with this, yeah...
Yeah, it was. It was quite ashock.
Yeah, quite a shock. Okay. Well,as you mentioned, you are a mom.
You have two girls, and like,it's not easy for anyone to
become a parent, okay? Andeveryone has a different
journey. It's especially truethough, I think with these
(08:36):
chronic illnesses kind of in themix, getting in the way,
sometimes, can you tell me aboutyour path to becoming a mom and
what that was like for you?Definitely, and
Alison McGauley (08:45):
I really agree with that. However, I've read
that it's not harder to conceivewhen you have IBD.
Amber Tresca (08:51):
It's not, yeah, actually, it's it for anyone who
thinks so, I'm gonna put on mymedical writer hat for just a
second here, um, for anyonewho's heard that, because you
live with an IBD, that yourability to conceive is
decreased. It actually is not,unless you're currently flaring,
then that might have an effecton it, and then surgeries is a
(09:13):
whole other thing.
So I know there's people outthere that think, Well, I've
been told I probably can't getpregnant because I live with an
IBD. No you can. And infertility rate, I should say
infertility rates are the samein the IBD population as they
are in the general population.So a lot of people don't know
that, but that doesn't meanthat, you know IBD didn't get in
(09:35):
your way. So all right, I'mgonna let you talk now.
Alison McGauley (09:37):
All right, well, it certainly did get in my
way. So, yeah, so as sayingthat, yes, it's not a factor,
but for me, because I triedgetting pregnant, as you said
when I was first diagnosed, andfiguring out how to manage the
inflammation that you know, I'msure is why? Because my body was
too sick at that point, I wasunderweight and anemic and
(09:58):
stressed and had a lot ofinflammation.
So yeah, things did not gosmoothly. It was a month after
month of disappointment. It wasa really emotional time because,
you know, I had just beendiagnosed, so it was grieving my
diagnosis while simultaneouslyfeeling terrified that the
illness would also take away mydream of becoming a mom, yeah.
So, yeah, I don't recommendthat. So yeah, we tried
(10:23):
acupuncture and herbs andfertility treatments and all the
things. And finally, after threeyears, we got our positive test.
And then with my seconddaughter, as you often hear
about, I got pregnant easilyright after, it's actually right
after finishing around aprednisone for a bad flare. So I
was so grateful that that onewas easy.
Amber Tresca (10:44):
So let me ask you, did you get pregnant with your
first daughter while you were inthe dairy free, gluten free,
taste free of your journey?
Alison McGauley (10:52):
No. So that was right at the beginning of being
diagnosed. Okay, that was thefirst year. And then I did start
taking medication after that,because basically the fertility
doctor said, Well, if you have alot of inflammation in your
body, it's unlikely you're goingto get pregnant. So right? I did
start taking and also the dietwasn't as I said. It wasn't very
(11:13):
effective for me, unfortunately.So I knew I needed to to do
something else, right?
Amber Tresca (11:20):
How long did you wait before you ramped it up and
went and saw a fertilityspecialist?
Probably about a year? Yeah, Ithink that that's generally
recommended for couples thatdon't have anything else going
on. That after a year, youshould see people with IBD. I
think they say, why don't youmaybe think about it a little
(11:42):
bit sooner, just because youlike, there could be something
else going on there that to dealwith. All right, so thank you
for answering those questionsand being so transparent about
our journey to motherhood. Ithink a lot of times, look, I
dealt with infertility as well.It is so emotional to speak
about, even today, and my kidsare 14 and 17, so but I think
(12:08):
getting it out there and tellingour stories a little bit is
helpful to let other people andcouples dealing with infertility
that they're not alone, and thatthere's help out there, and that
we have healthy kids today.
Alison McGauley (12:18):
Yeah. And I think, like for me, I wish I had
just, you know, in looking back,it's like, I know I should have
just got things under controland then try to get pregnant.
But I like to, you know, hit theground running. And, you know, I
was ready, you I was ready. Iwas ready to be a mom. And I was
like, Okay, I'm doing thisthing. But, you know, it just,
(12:42):
yeah, it's just one of thosethings where all the things
happen at once and but yeah, Iwould advise just getting your
body healthy first, and thenthat will be a lot easier.
Hopefully.
Amber Tresca (12:53):
Yeah, co sign that 100 percent. So thank you for
saying that.
Coming up. Allison has advicefor parents living with chronic
illness.
(13:16):
All right, let's move into yourchildren's book, kenzie's little
tree. So the story, as youalready outlined, is of a little
girl and her tree that sheplants, and then her mother, who
also lives with a chronicillness. What spurred you to
write kenzie's little tree,Allison.
Alison McGauley (13:36):
Of course. Well, my daughters were four and
seven when I was suddenlyhospitalized in a different
city. Then there's also beenlots of times when my girls have
wanted me to do activities likeyou go sledding, go tobogganing
with them, or eat certain foodsat celebrations or whatnot, when
I'm in a flare, and it's madethem sad when I can't though I
have pointed out that, you know,most moms don't actually sled
(13:58):
down the Tobogganing Hill. Thatso all this has been hard for
them.
So I wrote Kenzie little tree,in big part for that, for my
girls and for all children whoare impacted by illness or
disability, so they can feelseen and represented, and to
remind them that even thoughLife can be tough, they are
strong. When I was at thehospital that time that I
(14:19):
mentioned, my little one spent alot of time playing alone in her
room. Apparently, she didn'twant to talk much. She was only
four.
My older one understood a littlebit more, but the kids at school
were asking her, like, becausenormally I'd pick her up at the
end of the day. So they were,you know, some of her friends
were like, where's your mom? Andone actually, one student
actually asked her, like, didyour mom die? Which was
(14:42):
obviously, like, superdistressing for her, yeah, and
because I was in a differentcity, they weren't able to visit
me much, so they did come once,but it was just so upsetting
because them see me with the IVin my arm, and then, you know,
the worst part was when it wastime to go home, and I had to
stay there. And, you know, theycouldn't understand why I
couldn't just come with them. Sothat was, that was really hard.
(15:05):
And then after I returned home,we didn't talk about my hospital
stay much. My husband and Ithought, well, you know, it's
probably easier if we just, youknow, don't really talk about
it. Move on. Forget about it.But what happened was the girls
were so anxious. Like, everytime I'd go out, they'd be like,
Oh, are you going to go to thehospital anytime I wasn't like,
(15:26):
any little sign of me notfeeling well, they assumed that,
you know, I had to go to thehospital again. We talked to a
family therapist, and we foundout that having repeated
conversations about traumaticexperiences can help children to
better process their emotions.So we started having
conversations about that time,and we did find that it helped.
(15:46):
So throughout the years, we weactually still sometimes bring
up that time, and sometimes thegirls do still wonder, like, if
I'll have to go to the hospitalagain, if you know I'm heading
into a flare, but reflectingback on it and talking about our
feelings does seem to be calmingfor them, so learning about the
importance of talking with kidsand their experiences and
(16:07):
thoughts and feelings wasanother huge reason why I wrote
kenzie's Little tree, because Ihope that when reading it, it'll
be a way for families to start adialog.
And I've actually beencollaborating with a
psychologist here to write somefamily discussion questions for
the book, so I'm hoping thatThat'll also help to start
conversations. These days,publishers are putting out a lot
more diverse books thatrepresent all different
(16:29):
realities and experiences, whichis amazing, and I want to add to
this conversation to representkids like Kenzie, and also kids
who have chronic illnessthemselves.
Because in my book, it's, youknow, the mom that has the
chronic illness. But what'sreally hard about representing
people with IBD or arthritis isthat they're invisible
illnesses. So it's like notthings we can show in pictures
(16:50):
easily, right? Like a limbdifference or something you
could show in a book. So it'sdifficult with pictures,
especially IBD, right?
So it's sometimes tricky to havethis representation, but my aim
here is to bring kids anarrative story that's engaging
and relatable. I'm also workingon some other manuscripts that
feature children with chronicillness, so I'm hoping that
someday these will be out in theworld too, because it's so
(17:11):
powerful for a child to see acharacter in a book who's going
through a similar experience tothem.
Amber Tresca (17:17):
Thank you for that. I have to say, I it never
even occurred to me when I wasgoing through, especially the
early days, of trying to getpregnant and then having infants
and then small children, to lookfor a representation of what my
family experience was in a book.I wouldn't have expected to see
(17:39):
it anywhere, and never eventhought to maybe ask a librarian
or somebody else, is theresomething that might help my
children better understand whymom sometimes has days, and I'm
not saying that these were baddays, and I'm sure that my
children enjoyed these days aswell, but the days when were
cuddled up watching a moviebecause mom can't get off the
(18:00):
couch.
Alison McGauley (18:00):
Right? I know.
Amber Tresca (18:02):
And, yeah, there aren't a lot out especially, you
know, 10-15, years ago, I thinkso,
Alison McGauley (18:08):
Yeah.
Amber Tresca (18:09):
And I'm sure there's somebody out there that
says I wrote a book at thattime. I'm sorry if it was out
there. I'm sorry I didn't findit or think to look for it, but
I'm so glad to be bringing thisin front of the community today,
and that you're doing this workand discussion questions. Ah, I
could not love that more. Icould not love that more because
(18:30):
your point about talking aboutexperiences and airing them out.
I think most people feel asthough, if you don't talk about
something, that that is the wayto handle it. You don't want to
bring it up and upset people.
But, as you said, and I justwant to repeat it and reinforce
it with these kinds of things.You do need to talk about that,
(18:52):
because that helps prevent, youknow, the post traumatic stress
that can set in. That wasn'tsomething that I understood
until I had some mental healthprofessionals, like, literally,
on this show that explained thatconcept to me, and then you did
something which was amazing andso wonderful and caring and
loving for your children andyour family, was that you
(19:13):
engaged a professional to helpyou with that experience. And it
sounds like it made all thedifference.
Alison McGauley (19:19):
Thank you. Yeah, it, it really did. I mean,
same, yeah, exactly same thing.We thought that, you know, we'll
just kind of sweep this underthe rug, and they're young like
they're resilient, they'llforget.
But really, no, they're justtheir anxiety was so heightened
by, you know, mom's, you know,When's she gonna leave? Because
I had to leave. I wasn'tplanning on staying at the
hospital. I was just planning togo get a scope so that they
(19:41):
could see the level ofinflammation, and my GI doctor's
in different cities, so I had togo to the hospital where he
works. So, you know, we were, Iwas just going for half a day,
and then all of a sudden itturned into 10 days.
So it was just really for achild, so unfair that, you know,
I was just taken away. And, youknow, no warning. So yeah, so it
(20:03):
really was traumatic for them inthat instance, and yeah, totally
agreed that just talking aboutit, that's the that's the only
way to get past those feelingsand move on. So I'm just so
grateful that we did talk to aprofessional and find that out,
because that's just reallyhelped us and have a lot of
conversations over the years.Allison,
Amber Tresca (20:22):
I so for myself, raising kids while living with a
chronic illness has taught me somany things that I didn't
expect, and I think for me, thechief amongst those is that the
value of community and relyingon my community, especially my
local community and also my IBDcommunity to help me through the
(20:44):
twists and turns of being a mom.So I'm wondering, Alison, what
has surprised you most aboutraising kids while living with a
chronic illness?
Alison McGauley (20:53):
Yeah, I can totally appreciate the value of
community. Does take a villageof Yeah, you're right,
especially when there's chronicillness involved. For me. Well,
when my children were tiny,caring for them was physically
difficult, between the IVDflares, joint pain and then, of
course, the constantappointments, right? You're
constantly having to go forthese appointments. I didn't
believe that there was anythinggood about parenting with
(21:14):
chronic illness, but as they gotolder, I did start noticing some
upsides. My girls have seeninstances where I've needed care
over the years.
Of course, when I faced flaresand whatnot, and I feel like
that's really helped themdevelop their skills and caring
and empathy. They're very quickto offer, help, share with
others, and they're reallymindful about inclusion. I mean,
(21:37):
even to this day, like theystill will mask at school
sometimes because, you know,they're very aware that, you
know, they don't want to bringthings home for me, and, you
know, so things like that, um,some of the things that I do to
care for myself are teachingpart time instead of full time,
using some physicalaccommodations.
I do a lot of walking, somestrength training and eating
(21:59):
healthfully. And I'm just reallyhappy that my girls are starting
to show some good self carehabits as well from observing
that. And as we know, life withchronic illness means that often
our plans have to change whenillness flares. So my kids, like
all others, are disappointedwhen activities are canceled or
changed.
But I think it's just reallyhelpful for them that these
(22:19):
times do provide them with a lotof practice in being flexible
and resilient, because thesesorts of things that happen all
the time in life, where thingsare changed. So I think that's
just given them a lot of goodpractice while they're young
with those skills.
Amber Tresca (22:33):
I agree. I always say, like, I want my kids to
experience, like, not asignificant amount of adversity,
but, you know, like a little bitof adversity, because it does
teach you resilience and problemsolving and all sorts of other
things. And not that I wantanyone to live with these stupid
diseases, but at the same time,I noticed the same, my kids are
(22:56):
incredibly empathic, and I thinkthat that's really going to
serve them well, across theentire spectrum of their lives,
personally, professionally.
And I don't know if it's if, ifI didn't live with an IBD, I
don't know if it's somethingthat I would have focused on in
my parenting journey. So I waskind of, you know, trying to
(23:16):
find those silver linings. Ithink, yeah, it sounds like
you've done as well.
Alison McGauley (23:19):
Definitely.
Amber Tresca (23:21):
Allison, do you have any advice for people who
are starting on their parentingjourney while they're living
with a chronic illness?
Alison McGauley (23:26):
Yes, just as I mentioned earlier, I think that
it's important to talk with yourkids about experiences and
feelings, because being openwill help them to better process
their thoughts and emotions.Another thing is just to keep it
simple, once you find out whatworks best for you. Like I
mentioned earlier, I tried myeverything free diet when I was
first diagnosed, and I've trieda lot of alternative therapies
(23:49):
and special diets since then aswell.
But when you have a baby oryoung children, it's a balancing
act right with everyone's needs,along with time, money and
energy, and it is not a greattime to try new things. So keep
it simple. Be kind to yourself,because following a specific
diet or protocol can also addits own stress and work, and
this, in turn, can exacerbateyour health issues. And one last
(24:12):
thing that I wish I had doneright from the start was to give
myself time to cultivate apassion. Not doing anything
creative for years was toughmentally, and now that I'm
writing, I'm busier than ever,but I'm in a much better place,
and my kids see this, andthey're also really excited
about my writing.
Amber Tresca (24:35):
Up next the food that Allison finds helpful, but
which she also hates.
All right, let's get into itwith kenzie's Little tree,
because I want everybody, wanteverybody to know where. They
(25:00):
can get a copy, when they canget a copy, how they can get a
copy, and then you have somespecial things going on that
you're doing along with therelease of this book. So let's
give me all the deets Allison.
All right! Yes, I do. Sokenzie's Little tree launches
next March, but it's availablenow for pre order anywhere you
buy books. So in Canada, where Iam, I've partnered up with two
(25:22):
amazing independent bookstores,rookery books and the Spaniels
tale bookstore, and they'redonating 10% of the proceeds for
all pre orders to Crohn's andColitis Canada and the arthritis
society, which is super generousand for American readers, if you
pre order a copy of Ken's littletree and fill in the Google form
on my website, I will make apersonal donation to the Crohn's
(25:45):
and Colitis Foundation and theArthritis Foundation, and all
the details for that can befound on my website
allysonmagali.com
I love that the community isvery supportive and warm, and I
know listeners that you will goand order this book, that you
will pre order it, or, if you'relistening after March 2025, that
(26:06):
you will order it or ask for itat your local bookseller.
Because that is an importantthing to do as well. I love to
give books to kids, once theyget to be teenagers, I think
probably they're, you know,they're not as welcoming of my
choice of gifts, but I really amlooking forward to including
(26:27):
this in my rotation, especiallywhen somebody in the IBD
community is expecting a baby,because that that brings me
great, great joy to see peoplewith IBD starting or expanding
their families.
So I love to have this optionwritten by somebody who lives
with an IBD so understands it ina very deep way that not
(26:49):
everybody is is going to if theydon't. All right, I have I want
to ask you two things.
Normally at the end of the show,I ask one question that is more
about my guest. Personally, Icouldn't, I couldn't decide,
Allison, so I hope we could getto two questions, because
(27:10):
there's two things in yourInstagram, after I did my deep
dive into it, that I wanted toknow more about. And you brought
up diet a little bit. And, youknow, living through the days of
trying to work through a newdiagnosis, of course, exploring
diet. I mean, that just makessense, but at the same time,
maybe finding it a littlechallenging, because it's not
(27:35):
the most fun. I saw that youhave a sort of a contentious
relationship with sauerkraut. SoI just wanted to learn more of
your thoughts about that.
Alison McGauley (27:49):
That's just like a love hate relationship, I
guess. Yeah, well, I triedvarious probiotics over the
years, but none really workedtoo well for me, and I know
there's a lot of nowcontroversial stuff about
probiotics that, you know, maybethey aren't so good, or, you
know, who knows, yeah, but I dofind that because of the IBS
(28:10):
part, like the IBS, you know,bloating and gas, I do find that
align. Probiotics works well forthat.
But I also then found that thesauerkraut worked well too. So,
yeah, so sometimes I have, Ilike to have a chaser after my
sauerkraut sold, you know,little sugar sauerkraut, and
(28:32):
then, yep, something like achocolate or, like a sweet
drink, you got to have, like,the chaser at the ready, because
it's or you mix it withapplesauce, just to make it a
little more palatable. But it'sstill pretty bad.
Amber Tresca (28:45):
Oh that's a good tip mixing it with applesauce. I
have to tell you. I'm also not afan of the sauerkraut. I don't
think I would do it. I think I'mmore of like a yogurt or kefir
person when it comes to the tothe probiotic foods, kombucha.
That's been a, you know, ajourney,
Alison McGauley (29:03):
Yeah.
Amber Tresca (29:04):
But I have to say up and down as well.
Alison McGauley (29:06):
Yeah, it's very bubbly.
Amber Tresca (29:08):
Yeah. And it's just, I don't know. It's the
kind of thing that I don't know.Maybe I'll, maybe I'll get
there. If anybody has any tips,they're welcome to reach out.
But I think if somebody told meI had to eat sauerkraut, I think
I would 100% just put it on hotdog and just give it, probably
defeating the purpose.
Alison McGauley (29:28):
It's still good. I think you can get away
with it. Do it.
Amber Tresca (29:33):
Maybe some kind of a, of a advanced hot dog.
Anyway, all right, so, allright. And then my second
question that I didn't give you,I'm really torturing you. I'm so
sorry, but, um, but I have toknow more about the cat. Your
cat is beautiful.
Yes.
Oh my gosh, very beautiful. Tellme the name. Tell me what she's
(29:53):
like, Tell me. Tell me.
Well, her name's Luna. She'sfour years old, so we had a rag
doll before. Or this is oursecond rag doll. We just once
you have a rag doll, there's nogoing back, because they're just
like the softest and just theycan be. They can be like dogs,
where they our first one waslike a dog, where she followed
us, everywhere we went. She wasalways around.
(30:14):
Luna is very much your scaredycat, so she likes to hide out,
but she's just very loving, likeshe just, you know, she wants
lots of cuddles when she wantsit, and she's very, very sweet.
So yeah, we just, we adore her.We got her during the pandemic.
So she's like a pandemic cat,where she's very she's just
(30:35):
scared of people because she wasjust, you know, she never, we
never had anyone over when shewas a kitten. So, I think maybe
that's why she's partly whyshe's so shy, but yeah, we just
love her to bits, and the girlsalways want to try to find her,
and we adore her.
Well, I'm going to make a casefor more posts of Luna on
(30:57):
Instagram. Less like I want tosee more posts of this, of this
beautiful not to give you, youknow, not to be your content
manager or anything like that,but she's gorgeous. So, and the
breed is unfamiliar to me. I'venever had a Ragdoll Cat, so, you
know, I'm interested to learnmore about that well as well. So
(31:19):
I'm going to look that up.
Alison McGauley (31:20):
Yeah, they have, there's all different
colorations, similar to aSiamese, but, but, yeah, they
all have blue eyes. They're verybeautiful cats. And this, like,
beautiful long, like rabbit fur.It's very soft.
Amber Tresca (31:32):
Yes, although I imagine your vacuuming regimen
is a little bit more advancedthan...
Alison McGauley (31:38):
Yeah, well, we just have, we have hardwood, so
there's just like piles in thecorner, you know, tumbleweeds.
So, yeah, we're used to it.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that aswell. All right. Allison, very,
very last thing, I promise. ButI want everyone to be able to
find kenzie's Little tree, to beable to find you. So tell me
(32:02):
where you are on the interwebsand on the social media so that
everyone can find you.
Well, I'm pretty easy to findonline because everything's
under my name. So I'm onInstagram and x at Allison
Magali, and my website is alsoallisonmagali.com so on my
website, you'll find links to mysocials, as well as all the pre
(32:22):
order information for Ken'slittle tree.
Amber Tresca (32:25):
Perfect. Thank you so much for making it easy for
everybody. I will also put allof that information in the show
notes. Allison, it has been sucha pleasure to get to know you.
Your book is going to be soimpactful. I'm so grateful that
you wrote it. I do not love thatyour family is dealing with all
of the you know, the disease andeverything that comes along with
(32:48):
it, but I'm grateful that you'rein the community and that you
are able to use your gifts as astoryteller to help other
families as well. So thank youso much for doing that, and
thank you for speaking with metoday.
Alison McGauley (32:59):
Well, thanks, Amber. It's been an honor and
lots of fun being on the showtoday. And I also really
appreciate you. And juststarting to listen to the
podcast, I've just heard aboutso many great people in the
community. It's just, you know,it's, again, one of those silver
linings where, you know, youhate to live with this illness,
but there's just so many kindpeople in the IBD community, and
(33:20):
it's amazing that way. So thankyou.
Amber Tresca (33:25):
Hey, super listener.
Thanks to Allison Magali forsharing so much of her journey
with IBD and parenthood. Herbook, kenzie's little tree, is
being released in March 2025. Itcan be found at major
booksellers, or you can ask yourlocal bookstore to order it for
you. Some of the proceeds fromsales will be donated to IBD and
donated to IBD and arthritispatient advocacy groups.
You can get all the detailsallisonmahalli.com.
(33:48):
You can also follow Allison onInstagram, Twitter, Facebook and
YouTube. Links to a writtentranscript, everyone's social
media handles, and moreinformation on the topics we
discussed is in the show notesand on my episode, 160 page on
about ibd.com
Thanks for listening, andremember until next time, I want
you to know more about IBD.
(34:12):
About IBD is a production of Maland tal enterprises.
It is edited, Written, producedand directed by me, Amber
Tresca.
Mix and sound design is by MACCooney.
Theme music is from Cooneystudio.
Perfect, excellent. We did it
Alison McGauley (34:29):
Great..
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.