April 29, 2026

83. The Condition No One Talks About: A Conversation with Maya Van Wagenen

48 minutes

Chronically Dolores — Interstitial Cystitis, Invisible Illness & the Power of Storytelling

Dr. Denise Millstine is joined by NYT bestselling author Maya Van Wagenen and Mayo Clinic urologist Dr. Aqsa Khan for a conversation about interstitial cystitis — a chronic bladder condition that's widely misunderstood and often dismissed. Maya shares the personal experience behind her award-winning YA novel Chronically Dolores, while Dr. Khan breaks down the medical realities of IC, from diagnosis challenges to treatment options. Together, they explore what it means to live with an invisible illness, the emotional toll of feeling unseen, and why representation in fiction matters for patients of all ages.

This episode was made possible by the generous support of Ken Stevens.

We talked with:

Maya Van Wagenen lives in the Atlanta area with her fiancée and their pets. When she’s not writing, she enjoys quilting, knitting, costume design, reading, and binge-watching detective procedural dramas. At fifteen, Maya became a New York Times bestselling author after Penguin Dutton published her eighth-grade journal, Popular. The book went on to win the American Library Association’s YALSA award for excellence in nonfiction, making her the youngest author and first memoirist to receive this honor. Maya’s second book and first novel, Chronically Dolores, won the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award for disability representation in young adult literature.

Maya Van Wagenen Author Website

Dr. Aqsa Khan is an Assistant Professor of Urology and Consultant in Surgical Urology at Mayo Clinic Arizona, where she specializes in women’s urologic health. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Khan is deeply committed to medical education and physician wellbeing. She serves as the Urology Residency Associate Program Director and the Director of Student Wellbeing at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Her clinical and educational work focuses on benign lower urinary tract conditions in both men and women such as urinary incontinence, prolapse, neurogenic bladder, and complex reconstruction.

Urology Care Foundation

Purchase Chronically Dolores:

From Bookshop.org

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The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not designed to replace the physician’s medical assessment and judgment. Information presented is not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional for medical assistance with specific questions pertaining to your own health if needed.

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