Chad’s Story
My name is Chad Talbot, and I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2018 when I was 27. I first started losing a lot of weight, and realty struggled to eat, and had a lot of issues with going to the toilet. The tipping point was on New Year’s Day in 2018 starting the year off in a hospital bed with intense stomach pains. The hospital thought it was a ruptured appendix, opened me up and realised it was not my appendix, and my stomach was badly inflamed.
They recommended I get a referral to a gastroenterologist to get checked out as they were quite concerned. After my first ever colonoscopy (sadly was not my last) I woke up and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. It’s a weird thing to hear that you have a highly aggressive version of Crohn’s and there is no current cure. Then to be handed scripts for medication for immune suppression, vitamin D, Progesterone, and a monthly Epi pen for a biological injection. It took a good couple of days to properly land in my head, and not really understanding how my life had now changed forever.
I had no idea what it was and had to google it after being diagnosed. I really struggled to get on top of my symptoms at the start and adjusting to the different medications and side effects they came with as well. Mentally I was not coping and bounced between denial and anger for the first few months. In the third month I lost my job due to the time off I was taking off, in the end this was a blessing as it gave me time to adjust and get used to living everyday life with a disease. Due to financials I needed to go on to a payment type with Services Australia and was referred to an Employment Service Provider to assist me address my barriers and get back to work.
This was one of the first times I learnt how to find positives in negative circumstance. I needed to find a new purpose in life and to find a way I could live in Solace with my new circumstances. With a lot of time to think and self-reflection it really got me thinking on other people in a similar spot to myself. That’s when I discovered Disability Employment Services and found a love and passion in supporting people with different types of barriers and circumstances. It was and still is very therapeutic helping people find ways to manage their health and life to find the purpose they need and deserve. Encouraging others to be able to manage and work through their barriers has held me to account to also work through and manage my own. A lot of the people I have serviced over the last 5 years would never know how much they have done for me but working with them. Hopefully if they ever read this, they will take pride in heling others without even realising it.
The most challenging event happened a couple of years ago when I was working back in 2022. I began to start feeling unwell and again was losing a lot of weight and struggling to eat or drink. After crashing on Sunday night my parents called an ambulance as I needed medical assistance. At the time it was during the COVID pandemic, and the ambulance advised they would not be able to transport me. It was a good thing my parents took me to the hospital, the first test they advised it was my appendix this time had ruptured.
The next morning there a slight change of plan. I met the professor of Gastroenterology and there was a unique set of circumstances. They advised on top of my appendix rupturing I also had a perforated small stomach, and I would need a stoma for the next 7 months at least to recover. It was the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever done, and a big adjustment again to my life. My employer at the time was very understanding and provided a great environment for me to return and was able to work up until my reversal surgery. Again, that was an experience I will never forget. I am happy to say I was recently I returned to remission for the first time in 2 years and have been the most stable I have been in a long time.