After 6 months of battling with health care providers, Carly was diagnosed at age 13 with Crohn’s disease. 20 years later, she has been incorrectly diagnosed with ovarian cancer, told I had an hour to live, been a passenger in an ambulance that got lost, fought for reasonable accommodations at work, bought and lost a home, participated in clinical trials for two medications that are currently very popular, and probably used half of the public restrooms in the United States.

Her interests lie in patient advocacy for multiple chronic conditions, and believes that existing in silos is not good for individual patients, nor their disease communities. We can all learn a lot from each other, and many of us are on similar treatments, have similar challenges, and can benefit from joint advocacy and creative solutions.