# Childhood Crohn’s, ostomy and nursing: Leah’s long way back Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/colitis-unfiltered-7485565/childhood-crohn-s-ostomy-and-nursing-leah-s-long-way-back Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/colitis-unfiltered-7485565/childhood-crohn-s-ostomy-and-nursing-leah-s-long-way-back.md Podcast: [Colitis Unfiltered](https://stenobird.com/podcast/colitis-unfiltered-7485565) Published: 2025-12-18T17:27:10+00:00 Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/talkingsht/2389391 Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/346910/2389391/talkingsht/2025_12_14_21_52_31_230ddd5c-1861-427f-94bf-85295ad25d1e.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/colitis-unfiltered-7485565/episodes/childhood-crohn-s-ostomy-and-nursing-leah-s-long-way-back Duration seconds: 2638 ## Resource In this episode of the Talking Sh*t podcast, I speak with Leah, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at just nine years old after months of fatigue, weight loss, and bloody diarrhea. What began as a frightening childhood illness quickly became a life shaped by hospital stays, international moves, failed treatments, and major surgeries. Diagnosed during her early school years and living with an ostomy from her teens, Leah reflects on navigating flares, isolation, and body image through adolescence. She talks candidly about undergoing multiple surgeries, adapting to life with an ostomy, and learning to accept a body that often dictated her limits. Now living well and working as a certified ostomy nurse, Leah shares how her experience with Crohn’s shaped her empathy, resilience, and career path. Through her work, she supports patients facing the same fears she once lived with, turning a childhood diagnosis into a source of purpose, perspective, and connection. For more on colitis, IBD and chronic illness, check out colitisunfiltered.com ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/colitis-unfiltered-7485565/episodes/childhood-crohn-s-ostomy-and-nursing-leah-s-long-way-back/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/colitis-unfiltered-7485565/childhood-crohn-s-ostomy-and-nursing-leah-s-long-way-back.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.