- Jade May, 38, from Sydney, NSW, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was 13
- Her only saving graces in her darkest moments were her family and her love of books
- As her tastes matured, she fell in love with one genre – romance novels
- Writing her very own romance novel, ‘Tempted by Eden’ was released in October 2023
Here Jade tells her story in her own words.
Sitting up in the rigid hospital bed, I felt a burning hatred for the four white walls surrounding me like a cage.
I can’t take another minute of this, I thought, bored out of my mind.
Aged 13, I’d been diagnosed with Crohn’s, an autoimmune disease causing inflammation in the bowel. For two years I’d suffered excruciating abdominal pain after eating or drinking water.
While the news came as a shock to me and my parents, Nuccia and Dominic, it was a relief to finally have an answer.
With no cure, doctors warned it’d be trial and error to see what treatments helped keep my symptoms under control.
Now I was eager for something – anything – to distract myself.
Thankfully, my parents bought me a stack of books to bury my head in. One was about werewolves, another about vampires.
Before long, I was lost in the pages, swept up in stories about the supernatural world.
Reading quickly became my favourite escape from reality. Even after I was discharged, I would spend hours reading in my room.
Despite doctors’ best efforts, much of my teens was spent in and out of hospital, as I underwent treatment for flare-ups and obstructions.
While my friends were playing sports and going on dates, I was dealing with one medical issue after another.
I feel so alone, I thought, bitterly.
After finishing school, my condition worsened.
At 20, I had bowel resection surgery to remove a portion of my small intestine that was damaged by the disease.
With a scarred stomach, I was devastated by my appearance.
‘My teens were spent in and out of hospital.’
I look like a gutted fish, I cried to myself.
It took a year to physically recover, but the toll on my mental health was worse, and I suffered from depression and anxiety.
The only saving graces in my darkest moments were my family and books.
As my tastes matured, I moved from tales about mermaids and dragons to romance novels.
Wow, this is steamy! I’d think, flicking through the romance novels’ pages of sexy characters.
Their lives were so far from mine lying in my hospital bed.
Each book was a safe space for me to learn about love and relationships, exploring what I might like in a partner someday.
My imagination flourished, and the romance novels helped boost my self-esteem too, as I put myself in a character’s shoes and imagined being part of their world.
It made me feel great!
I learned that everyone is deserving of love, no matter what they’ve been through.
At 28, I met my first boyfriend, Daniel, then 35, at a conference. Both working in the film industry at the time, we bonded over our favourite movies.
I was worried how to tell him about my condition – too soon and it might drive him away, but too late and it could look like I was hiding something.
So on our fourth date, I confided in Daniel.
He was so lovely and saw past my disease, seeing me for who I was.
‘You’re so beautiful!’ Daniel always said.
When he popped the question a year after we first met, I was over the moon. I never thought anyone would love me enough to want to spend the rest of their life with me.
‘Yes,’ I cried, overjoyed.
We tied the knot in May 2015, before going on to welcome our beautiful boy Jordan four years later.
Sadly, the following year I was dealt another blow when I was diagnosed with melanoma in-situ on my left upper arm.
As the cancer was grade zero, it thankfully hadn’t spread. So I didn’t need chemo, but I had to undergo two surgeries to remove all the cancerous cells.
I was so grateful to have my wonderful family to help me through.
When the pandemic hit that year, I relished the extra time I had with Daniel and Jordan.
But it got me thinking about all the women who were feeling isolated, like I did growing up in and out of hospital.
Why don’t I write a romance book? I thought, wanting to help those stuck at home needing an escape.
‘Tapping away on the keyboard, I felt electric with every word I typed.’
I had no formal training in writing, but decided to give it a crack anyway.
Welcome to Eden, where your darkest desires become reality, I tapped away on the keyboard, feeling electric with every word I typed.
‘This is incredible,’ Daniel beamed after reading my first 10,000 words.
Writing every evening after finishing work in my marketing business, I was so proud when I submitted the final draft to a publishing house in September 2022.
With the title Tempted by Eden, it’s the story of a woman named Cora who finds herself living a double life – working as a public relations specialist by day, and at a gentleman’s club by night.
Incredibly, my novel was signed by the publisher and was released last October.
If my writing helps just one woman reclaim parts of her sexuality and makes her feel good about herself, that’s a dream come true, I think.
One day, I’ll have to have another bowel resection surgery, as there’s no cure and my disease will progress, but I remain positive for the future.
My medical team, family support, and therapy have helped save me. But romance novels and writing have played a large part in my journey.
Without them, I don’t know if I’d be the confident woman I am today.
You can buy Jade May’s book Tempted By Eden here.
