'I loved being a teacher, but when I returned to work after surgery, everything changed.'

Teaching has always been my passion. It lit me up and gave me a sense of purpose each day, that is, until I was forced to choose between my health and the job I loved so dearly because of workplace bullying.

I've been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, asthma, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, adenomyosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Living with these chronic conditions can be difficult. I've had approximately 40 surgeries to date, and countless hospital visits. During flare-ups, I can be crippled by the pain.

However, one of the biggest challenges I've faced has been navigating the stigma and discrimination that often comes with chronic health conditions, particularly in the workplace.

Watch: What it's like to have multiple chronic conditions. Post continues after video.

Over the course of my career, I have had a broad spectrum of reactions from my managers in regard to my health. At one job, my manager hugged me when I returned to work after surgery. At another, I was bullied out of my job by my manager.

It all began with a fibromyalgia flare up. Essentially, my nervous system went into hyperdrive, and every sensation I felt was magnified by 1,000. This meant that any pain — even though it might be minor — was amplified to excruciating levels. Normal, everyday tasks — brushing my hair, wearing clothes or even the sensation of having bedsheets on me — were painful.

The pain became so bad that I ended up in hospital, and soon, the stress from the flare up triggered my Crohn's disease, which brought with it abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and extreme fatigue.

Despite my condition, my manager and their own manager continued sending me messages and emails throughout the duration of my hospital stay. I felt harassed, but I continued working from my hospital bed.

After coming out of surgery — my second procedure of the hospital stay — I replied to an email from my manager. Apologising for the delay, I explained the circumstances. I'll never forget her reply.

"But you already had surgery," she wrote.

It wasn't the first time my manager had made a comment about my health — in another particularly harmful conversation, she'd said to me, "I can't have a sick person in my team". The lack of understanding was relentless, and over time the impact of such remarks wore me down, leading to more frequent flare-ups and an overall decline in my health.

After eight days in hospital, I returned to work. Immediately, I was called into a meeting, where they informed me that I was being put on a performance improvement plan.

I was shocked. I'd done everything to maintain my performance at work, and to the best of my knowledge, there were no issue — none of my students or their parents had voiced any problems with my work.

The situation was beyond damaging to my health and mental health; I had been pushed beyond my limits by the bullying and harassment in my workplace. I made the difficult decision to step away from the role I had once loved, and took stress leave to recover. Still, when I asked my employers to take leave without pay, it was denied.

Faced with the impossible choice of returning to the performance improvement plan or resigning from my job, I made the heartbreaking decision to resign from my job.

It took me awhile to gain the confidence to speak about this experience, but a major turning point for me was taking part of a patient focus group for the Working Well Insights Report by AbbVie.

There, I was able to share my story, and hearing the experiences of the other participants made me realise I wasn't alone. It gave me hope for a better future for those struggling with the same workplace issues as me, and by sharing my story, I hope that we can one day break down the stigma around chronic health conditions and foster workplaces that value and support all employees equally.

I am proud of myself for sharing my story and for contributing to the destigmatisation of chronic conditions in the workplace, but still, my experience has left a lasting impact on the way I approach potential employers now.

I no longer disclose my health conditions at job interviews or when I start a new role, because I want a chance to prove my capability without being seen as a 'sick person'.

Chronic health conditions don't diminish the skills, dedication, or contributions of those who live with them. Workplaces must embrace inclusivity, and create environments where everyone can thrive, regardless of their health.

I hope that people realise that I'm more than capable of doing my job, and that a flare-up of one of my conditions is not an impediment to me doing my role.

The author of this story is known to Mamamia but remained anonymous for privacy purposes.

Learn more about chronic health conditions by reading these stories next:

• Psoriasis is the debilitating chronic illness no one talks about. So I'm talking about it.

• For eight years, Tara Moss battled daily pain that felt like she was being "burned alive". Then, everything changed.

• "It's absolute torture": 9 women share exactly what it's like to live with an 'invisible' illness.

Feature image: Getty.