The Chronic Truth

Jenny Jones is back, and a lot has changed. Since her last visit, she lost her mother to FAP complications, launched Life's Apolyp Foundation as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, and is correcting the record on something she got wrong last time: FAP is not just a colon disease. It's a whole-body condition that can show up in the eyes, skin, teeth, liver, and more, and the gaps in that understanding are delaying diagnosis and putting families at risk. This conversation covers the foundation, the research funding gap, the APC gene, and what it looks like to build a legacy out of grief.         

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to Chronic Truth Podcast
00:47 Understanding FAP and Its Gaps
09:13 The Launch of Life's Apollop Foundation
16:04 Community and Advocacy for FAP Patients
24:48 Future Goals for Life's Apollop Foundation

CONNECT & RESOURCES

Jenny Jones:
 🌐 lysapolyp.org 
 

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production Partner: Podcast Mechanic

Mara Fowler has lived with multiple sclerosis for 26 years, diagnosed just after her 21st birthday, after being misdiagnosed with complex migraines. She's been through plasmapheresis, eight and a half months of not walking, seizures, a torn labrum, and the kind of cognitive decline that quietly dismantles the life you built. She joins Kim Nash, who is currently going through the McDonald MS diagnostic criteria herself, for a deeply personal conversation about resilience, relearning your limits, building the right care team, and why sharing your story might be the most powerful thing you can do for someone else.       

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to the Chronic Truth Podcast
01:08 Mara's Journey with MS
03:01 Understanding MS Symptoms and Triggers
06:42 The Impact of Diagnosis at a Young Age
10:05 The Importance of a Supportive Care Team
13:00 Navigating Life Changes with MS
15:48 Advocacy and Community Engagement
17:37 Words of Wisdom for Newly Diagnosed Patients

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📱 Social Media: Facebook | Instagram
 

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production Partner: Podcast Mechanic

Jesus Guillen has been an HIV survivor for 41 years since 1985, when a nurse at UCLA told him he was positive and walked out. He arrived in the U.S. in 1984 with no papers, no community, and no roadmap. What he built in the decades that followed Aguilas in San Francisco, the HIV Long-Term Survivors International Network, a global speaking career, and an Emmy-winning documentary came from the same impulse: nobody should have to think they're the only one left. This episode airs on HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day and during Pride Month. It is one of the most important conversations this show has had.       

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to Resilience and Awareness
02:37 Jesus Gillian's Journey: A Personal Story of Survival
12:40 Stigma and Discrimination: The Ongoing Battle
20:03 Advancements in HIV Treatment and Awareness
27:21 The Importance of Community and Connection
37:01 Building Support Networks for Long-Term Survivors
45:30 Closing Thoughts: The Need for Compassion and Understanding

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📱 Social Media: Search #YourSingingAdvocate across platforms
📺 Documentary: Last Men Standing (Emmy Award-winning)
🌐 HIV Long-Term Survivors International Network (contact via social media) 
 

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production Partner: Podcast Mechanic

Lara Silverman was two weeks into her dream job as a federal prosecutor when a rare neurological condition turned her world literally upside down. Eight years later, she's still largely bedridden with severe chronic vertigo, a widow, and the author of Singing Through Fire — an Amazon #1 bestseller she wrote flat on her back in six months. Her story includes a love story with a man facing terminal cancer, a wedding with a chemo pump in the room, and a faith that has been tested, broken, rebuilt, and tested again. For anyone in the chronic illness community wrestling with God, suffering, and the question of why this one is for you.     

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 The Journey of Pain and Purpose
10:09 Finding Joy in Grief
20:03 Surrendering to Suffering
27:37 Community and Connection in Chronic Illness

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📚 Book & Audiobook: Singing Through Fire — available on Amazon
🎙️ Podcast: Singing Through Fire — on YouTube (The Silverman Show)
📱 Instagram: @larapalanjian (maiden name)
📺 YouTube: The Silverman Show 

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production Partner: Podcast Mechanic

Chelcie Rice has had Type 1 diabetes since the late 1980s, diagnosed at 25, with no technology, no community, and a pamphlet for guidance. By 2005, he'd lost vision in one eye. Instead of retreating, he built a platform using comedy and storytelling to break the stigma and reach the people who are still navigating it alone. He joins Kim Nash to talk about diabetes burnout, the landmines inside online support groups, how workplaces fail their diabetic employees, and why humor might be the most underrated tool in chronic illness advocacy.     

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to the Chronic Truth Podcast
01:06 Chelsea's Journey with Type 1 Diabetes
04:35 Navigating Complications and Community Support
10:06 Advocacy and the Importance of Community
12:57 Understanding Diabetes in the Workplace
15:48 The Role of Community in Chronic Illness Management
21:11 Advice for Newly Diagnosed Patients
23:35 Connecting with Chelsea and Closing Thoughts

CONNECT & RESOURCES

 📱 @type1comedian

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Eric Butcher was told to get his affairs in order at 38. He had cirrhosis, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency, and five years. That was 15 years ago. His MELD score has dropped from 15 to 8 through lifestyle changes, community, and getting off medications that were quietly compounding the damage. Now he's built The Prepared Patient, a navigation framework for chronic illness patients who are tired of 15-minute appointments that go nowhere. He joins Kim Nash to talk Alpha-1, insurance gatekeeping, how to advocate without being labeled difficult, and why community is the most underrated medicine there is.   

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Milestone
01:04 Eric Butcher's Journey with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
08:57 Navigating Chronic Illness and Healthcare Challenges
15:55 Advocating for Yourself in Healthcare
20:48 Community Support and Personal Struggles
22:54 Conclusion and Resources

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📱 @EricButcherOfficial

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Jason Jepson was 19 when he had a psychotic break at an Army base in the Mojave Desert. He's 45 now, living independently, volunteering, writing a blog cited by academic journals, and traveling to Portugal with his family. His mother, Maye, is a trained counselor who became an expert in schizoaffective disorder overnight, started a Facebook group called Parenting Through Mental Illness, and trains law enforcement through NAMI on how to respond to mental health crises. Together, they join Kim Nash for a conversation that covers the full arc: diagnosis, crisis, the trust partner model, long-acting injectables, triggers, and why recovery doesn't mean cured, it means living.   

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to Mental Health Advocacy
02:05 Jason's Journey: From Army Life to Diagnosis
05:50 Understanding Schizoaffective Disorder
10:03 The Role of Family in Mental Health
14:12 Becoming a Trust Partner
17:59 Advocacy and Community Engagement
24:09 Navigating Law Enforcement and Mental Health
29:47 Medication Management and Recovery
34:02 Daily Routines and Coping Strategies
38:13 Conclusion and Call to Action

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📝 Jason's Blog: jasongepps.blogspot.com
👥 Facebook Group: Parenting Through Mental Illness

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Dean Graves has spent 20+ years teaching one idea: the condition of the body is a manifestation of the mind. As a meditation teacher, mental health counselor, and author, he works with veterans, trauma patients, and chronic pain sufferers who are ready to stop fighting their bodies and start understanding them. This conversation covers consciousness, the ego mind, how stress works as a teacher, and a set of trauma-clearing techniques he learned from a Serbian psychologist that can dissolve a lifelong pattern in 10 minutes. For anyone living in chronic pain who wonders if there's more to healing than medication, this one is for you.   

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS 

00:00 Introduction to the Chronic Truth Podcast 
01:10 Meet Dean Graves: A Holistic Healer 
03:32 Understanding Consciousness and Healing 
09:10 The Mind-Body Connection in Healing 
15:41 Stress as a Teacher 
17:00 The Power of Meditation 
20:21 Defining Happiness and Bliss 
23:04 Pain, Energy, and Healing 
24:24 Exploring Dean's Books and Teachings 
27:11 The Role of Medication in Healing 
28:34 Conclusion and Resources 

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website:  ddeangray.org

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Ruthy spent years being dismissed before passing out from pain and finally landing in the office of a surgeon whose bio said: If you're in pain, please come see me. The MRI showed seven internal organs fused. She built The Yellow Hub: a global specialist map with over half a million views so no one else would have to find the right doctor by accident. Now, as co-founder of Ma Pott Health, she's bringing AI-powered symptom forecasting to endometriosis patients so they can manage their lives around the disease instead of being controlled by it. 

Chapters/Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Chronic Truth Podcast and Ruthy's Journey
06:55 The Birth of the Yellow Hub and Community Support
14:12 Understanding Endometriosis: Diagnosis and Treatment Challenges
21:58 Innovative Solutions: AI and Patient Empowerment
25:48 Life After Diagnosis: Managing Chronic Pain and Daily Life

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website:  theyellowhub.org
🌐 Website:  ma-pott.com

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Lorrinda Gray-Davis went from managing billion-dollar construction projects to crash-landing in an ER with end-stage liver disease, then inoperable liver cancer, then a high-risk transplant that was only possible because of clinical trials. As president of TRIO and vice chair of OPTN's Patient Affairs Committee, she's turned that journey into systems that actually help: a peer-to-peer transplant support meeting running six years online, and the Transplant Medication Navigator, which has taken medications from hundreds of dollars to single digits for patients who didn't know they had options. This one is packed with information the transplant community needs and isn't hearing anywhere else.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Facing the Diagnosis: A Life-Changing Moment
06:51 Navigating the Transplant Journey
14:12 Empowerment Through Advocacy and Support
19:56 Understanding the Transplant System
25:49 Living Life After Transplant: A New Perspective

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website: trioweb.org
💊 Transplant Medication Navigator: transplantmedicationnavigator.com
📧 Email: [email protected]

The Chronic Truth Podcast:
 
🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic