I solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm...

Where to begin? As I’m sure is typical in these circumstances, now I sit down to write it’s tough to think what to say. I’m no writer, but this page serves as an opportunity for me to clear my mind and just maybe offer some inspiration to others. In seeking answers for myself I’ve seen a lot of negativity around Crohn’s Disease and IBD particularly in regards to policing. The general consensus always seemed to be that people with IBD couldn’t work in policing, I want to prove this isn’t the case.

I don’t recall the moment I decided to become a Police Officer, having fallen into working as a civilian investigator and Special Constable, I found myself in 2017 attesting as a PC into Lancashire Constabulary. From the moment I arrived on the streets I realised that I had found my calling. Without the standard cliches the work was engaging, exciting and meant I could make a real difference.

Having spent some time building knowledge and tradecraft skills, in 2019 I felt my health starting to decline. Stomach pains, constipation, diarrhoea and bleeding; I had no idea what was causing it but in my own stubborn way decided to just suppress and ignore what was happening. As the symptoms worsened I continued to hide what was happening, from colleagues, family, friends, even my girlfriend. By Spring 2019 I started to develop serious pains which I would later discover were perianal abscesses. The pain from these abscesses continued to escalate but I continued with the stubbornness, working overtime and extended shifts to keep my mind on the job. I finally reached rock bottom working a late shift double crewed with a colleague, the level of pain I was in prevented me from leaving the vehicle for almost the entire tour of duty. I managed to keep the real reason for my discomfort secret and make it through the shift; it’s testament to the support of my colleague that I made it through and that we somehow managed to make two arrests!

Throughout the time the abscesses (affectionately named “Albert”) developed, I visited numerous medical professionals. From all of these consultations I never really received any real support or advice, until being referred to a specialist after several months. The visit to this specialist was a real turning point, after less than 5 minutes he was able to diagnose a fistula and begin the process of a diagnosis for Crohn’s Disease.

Despite now beginning to understand the reasons for my various symptoms I was still anxious to keep what was happening a secret, I had been able to share with my girlfriend and close family but sharing with work felt a much bigger hurdle. Booked in for my first piece of surgery at the end of 2019 I still wasn’t ready to share what was happening, I took two weeks of annual leave to cover the surgery (setons fitted in the fistula) and recovery time before returning to work on full duties.

Following the surgery, colonoscopy and small bowel MRI I was formally diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. The diagnosis did come as a shock to me, largely as I didn’t know what to expect moving forward. I was lucky to receive really amazing support from the specialist IBD nurse who explained everything that was happening and immediately arranged a course of steroid tablets to start reducing my symptoms. The steroids had a really positive impact but without fully removing the symptoms, the specialist nurse arranged a more long term treatment.

I began infusions of Infliximab in Spring 2020, like everything else under the shadow of COVID-19. I here reached another problem, I was told that within the first 6 weeks of Infliximab treatment my immune system would be left vulnerable, meaning I would have to isolate at home. I was now forced to speak to work about my need to be at home, my sergeants were really supportive and enabled me to work from home dealing with routine incidents by phone. The working from was tough, I’d been forced from working proactively into dealing with low-level, mostly non-crime incidents whilst listening to the radio buzzing away next to me. In spite of my frustrations at being stuck in the house, the Infliximab treatments really improved my symptoms meaning that I could return to working after the 6 weeks eager to get stuck back in. The rest of 2020 continued positively despite COVID, I was working as part of a brilliant team and able to move into a new home with my girlfriend.

After 12 months with the setons stitches fitted I was back with the consultant to discuss them being removed. Removal of the stitches would involve surgery to seal the fistula with a flap of skin (advancement flap surgery). I knew that this surgery would mean a longer recovery period, but by now I was beginning to come to terms with my Crohn’s Disease and becoming more comfortable opening up about it. I was supported brilliantly and was able to take 4 weeks in recovery following the operation. Now 3 months post op I’m fully back at work and able to perform my full duties, ready to go seeking the next challenge.

This is a really brief summary of the events that led to me starting to write this page and I hope it explains what I’m trying to talk about over the posts that follow.