Shares pain to help others
YOUNG NICHOLAS INSPIRES HOPE, WRITES SANDHYA RAM
A FAR North Queensland high school student has opened up about his excruciating experience with chronic pain to help others find hope.
Nicholas Frost, 16, is a student at Tully State High and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 10.
Since then, he has had over a hundred procedures in his short lifetime including surgeries, infusions, and MRIs.
“When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s it was really hard,” Nick said.
“I was in the hospital for ages. I couldn’t see any of my mates, family as well.”
Due to the lack of paediatric gastrointestinal specialists in the region, Nick and his mother were forced to travel from Mission Beach to Brisbane, spending more than six months there at one point.
Once he was home, Nick was unable to attend an entire day of class due to his nasal gastric tube.
“We really didn’t have any other options at that time than to let him go for two hours a day,” Ms Cain said.
“The Ronald McDonald House offers free tutoring for kids who have spent a lot of time in hospital, which is fantastic, but we haven’t been able to access it because of where we live.”
Ms Cain, 43, is a former youth worker who is now a full-time carer for Nick.
“The worst part about Crohn’s is that it’s invisible. And people seem to think it’s something that only affects the elderly. People don’t understand that sometimes Nick is so anaemic that he has no energy to do anything, Or he has really bad chronic pain in his stomach. They think it’s just IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), he’ll be right,” she said.
As Nick got older, he was able to transfer to the adult system, which was well supported with specialists at Cairns base.
His mother then found an alternative pathway for him to complete school and gain work experience through APM, an employment agency that provides vocational services for those with injury or disability.
“My older son Alex actually had severe autism and when he was in Year 10, he was offered a school based traineeship through APM and he did great,” Ms Cain said.
“He was able to finish year 12 and graduate and he’s a manager at Woolworths now.”
Nick’s APM employment consultant, Jodi Hunt, said that there are lots of businesses willing to give students a fair go and that all these children need is an understanding employer.
She was able to find one for Nick at As Green As Garden Centre and Pet Shop in Tully, where he pots up plants, does cutting and weeding, and cleans up cages of animals. Boss Lisa Godfrey describes him as “punctual, neat and a fit young man who helps around, lifts heavy things, doesn’t take too many sick days”.
“Nick used to think I can’t just walk into a Woolie’s and get a part-time job like my other friends, what if I need to run to the toilet or get sick? Are they going to be understanding,” Ms Cain said. “The workplace where he is however – they are so supportive and understanding. We couldn’t ask for more.”
Today Nick, who is a “bigtime fisherman” and former Mission Beach Game Fish Champion for juniors, is grateful that his condition is a lot more under control.
He is studying for his certificate in horticulture, saving up for his first car, and hopes to work in the mines in future.