Episode #56: Jaime Walden
Jaime Walden is a tiny lady with not so tiny curly blonde hair. Since 2007, she’s been the Tour Mama and Executive Vice President of The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus - the world’s greatest non-profit mobile recording studio that provides free professional audio and video recording workshops to young people across the US and Europe.
Growing up in Florida, her early passions centered around dance, singing, playing guitar and finding excuses to never leave the beach. At the age of 19, she decided to take the sunshine with her to NYC and pursue her passion for live music, carving a career path in production and talent booking for several music venues and artists. Alongside full-time employment and ramen noodles, she received her MBA specializing in International Management from Northeastern University and a BA in Music from Baruch College.
Hidden underneath what seemed like boundless ends of energy and activity, Jaime’s insides never aligned with her attitude and lifestyle. She was always “the sick girl.” It took years into adulthood to finally be properly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Now, with a little humor and a lot of compassion, she’d like to continue providing support and empathy to anyone recovering from isolation, shame or fighting stigmas around what can feel so limiting.
As Jaime Walden explains, navigating Crohn’s disease is a little different than navigating other illnesses. Crohn’s is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and when you’re in the middle of a flare, you might be trapped in the bathroom. That can make it very isolating and embarrassing, but Jaime is determined to speak candidly about the experience. On today’s episode, we talk about Jaime’s very long journey to being diagnosed with Crohn’s, and the range of often painful symptoms she’s experienced over the years. We also talk about the emotional component of this invisible illness, as well as what you can do to support people who are sick. This episode marks the first time that Jaime is publicly sharing a deep glimpse into her health story, and she does it with an incredible amount of honesty and humor.
“You are completely isolated. It’s not like having another disease where your friends can come over and hang out with you… You’re trapped in a bathroom by yourself.”
Here are some of the things Jaime and I chatted about:
Being known as “the sick girl,” and her constant bouts of bronchitis, pneumonia, and more
Why, when she was younger, she didn’t think chronic illness was underneath her symptoms
Moving to New York, and choosing to use her health insurance to see some specialists
Being diagnosed with celiac disease, and her reaction when she heard what she couldn’t eat
The morning she woke up to find her then-boyfriend out of bed, and why she was mortified
Learning to adapt to foods, only to do more research and decide she had to cut them out, too
Going through heartbreak and stress, and how that led to her diagnosis of Crohn’s disease
Her family history of Crohn’s, but why it hadn’t been something doctors suspected before
Figuring out the foods she can’t eat (high-fat and high-fiber), and starting to go into remission
The traumatic events of the last year or so, and how her stress triggered serious symptoms
Navigating her miscarriage, and how she dealt with the feeling of being incredibly alone
How depression, isolation, and embarrassment go hand-in-hand with Crohn’s symptoms
The invisible element: how it can feel like a chainsaw in your gut, but people think you look “fit”
How symptoms can change dramatically overnight, which can lead to coming across as flaky
Using humor to cope and to communicate with people about this often-misunderstood disease
Managing her stress with activities like therapy, surfing, and riding her bike around the city
Navigating her career, and the level of understanding from her current boss and colleagues
The work she does with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, and how kids can get involved
“If you really care about this person, pound on their door a little bit harder. Do something to make this person laugh or just even tell a stupid story.”
Support for this episode comes from Ouchie. Ouchie is a free app for iOS and Android that provides solutions for chronic pain management. It uses evidence-backed tools like cognitive behavioral therapy, pain tracking, community support, access to resources, and integration with clinicians to help people feel better, faster. Check out ouchie.com and download the Ouchie app to see for yourself. Make sure to share with them that you found the app through Made Visible!