The Pill Podcast

Jaysen Coffil talks about what it's like living with Hemophilia, starting a family, and maintaining a healthy marriage with his chronic disease. We talk about what it was like for him being a young boy who couldn't play sports due to his disease, how summer camp for kids with chronic illness changed both of our lives, and exactly what a bleed feels like. A very short but sweet episode. Enjoy! 

In this episode, 26 year old Jamina St. Fleur talks about her life living with a brain tumor called an astrocytoma. Jamina was diagnosed when she was 23 years old, having lived most of her life healthy, Jamina was suddenly burdened with coming to terms with a very serious diagnosis. She talks about how emotional and shocking her diagnosis was, what its like to have a seizure, she talks about dating, her symptoms, how she got through school despite her two brain surgeries, which caused her to learn how to do simple things like write, hold a cup, and walk again. She also talks about ignoring her life expectancy, getting outside, and her future hopes dreams goals and aspirations. She is an amazing young women, who for the first time is being open about her life living with a brain tumor. 

This episode is with my good high school friend Amanda Healey, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. In this episode we talk about EVERYTHING, from school, studying abroad, friendship, marriage, dating with a chronic illness, working with a chronic illness, what CF is, what an invisible illness means and how it affects our emotional health, poop, symptoms of CF and the lifestyle of those who suffer from cystic fibrosis. Likewise, we talk about the movie Five Feet Apart, which stars two patients with Cystic Fibrosis who fall in love, and how the movie accurately or inaccurately depicts the CF lifestyle. Finally, Amanda gives us her very wise prescription for living with a chronic illness. Please donate to her brother Michael's Xtreme Hike for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR?px=2621117&fr_id=7560&pg=personal&fbclid=IwAR2PopfzqN-4yKnyIw3V21vX9W9HBPIPhC0fyd8YeBVRSRa0oJ_1OiecRKcThank you so much for listening!

This is the Intro Episode to The Pill Podcast, created by Wheaton College student, Kelsey Taylor. In this intro episode we describe what this podcast is all about, our mission, our mantra, and our, "prescription for life," as beautifully written and articulated by Kelsey. Also find out about Kelsey's journey with Sickle Cell anemia, and how her interaction with other chronically ill kids growing up has prepared her for national advocacy and most importantly, this platform. We hope you enjoy! For more about The Pill Podcast:The Pill Podcast is a new type of health podcast that celebrates the amazing lives of strong, brave and heroic survivors of different chronic illness, disease, and disabilities. Our podcast brings the insightful patient perspective back into health and medicine by interviewing young adults across the nation living with different chronic illnesses and health problems, and bestows their deep life thoughts, goals, and lessons on love, friendship, career, family, spirituality, education, and other aspects of “normalized” human life. Guests will help the world understand how they accept, and come to terms with their illness, disease, or condition, and how overcoming having your life jeopardized medically everyday helps you to figure out, and discern the true meaning of life. The Pill Podcast offers a safe community, space, and creates an open dialogue for those who have been significantly impacted by chronic illness to not only share their courageous stories of survival, but to share their philosophical life lessons and valued thoughts that come with facing life and death, head on, as a major reality and impactful burden to their every day life. Living life with health being their number one priority, whilst maintaining goals and aspirations despite their illness, and never giving up their hopes of leaving a legacy and impacting their fellow community, young adults nationwide are overcoming chronic illness daily with immense courage and are figuring out how to enact change and illness awareness so that the physically disabled, impaired, and unhealthy can feel apart of larger, healthy, society at large. The Pill reflects illness in a truthful, blunt, and sometimes humorous way. We also fosters deep conversations on the core life values that “cure us” in times of medical strife and difficulty. As society normalizes a culture of what it means to be healthy and unhealthy, the Pill Podcast will also touch on hot topics in the medical community, but through the patients eyes, and how awareness of certain societal hinderances and institutions, whether it is healthcare costs, disability services at school, accessibility services, family medical leave act, and funding for research and cures ultimately have direct indefinite consequences which determine how those with chronic illness live their daily lives. It is from the patients’ mouth that we will hear stories of triumph, overcoming huge medical feats and life wins, resounding experiences of loss and it’s lasting emotional and societal impact, and ultimately stories of the laughter and love that surrounds people with chronic health battles with support, in times of medical stress. The Pill Podcast’s main goal is to make the disabled or chronically ill population relatable, yet give them a platform to spread awareness about their disease, misconceptions, and how health is truly a privilege in a society that refuses to change for the disabled and chronically ill. It is because of this that people with chronic illnesses feel that natural human values of friendship, family, and love, become collateral damage in a society that isn’t built for the disabled or chronically ill. We wish to create everlasting awareness on this oppression, through open hearted conversation. The opening guests invited on the Pill Podcast are fellow friends of mine who have different chronic illnesses, such as, sickle cell anemia, brain cancer,