'I was diagnosed with a chronic illness the day I landed my dream job'

While Lily Greer was studying journalism at university, she dreamed of one day working in a high-pressure news room.

The Brisbane journo, 22, had a drive that would undoubtedly get her to exactly where she wanted — and she was determined she wouldn't let anything get in her way.

So when she landed her dream job on the same day she was diagnosed with a debilitating chronic illness, the prospect of reaching her full potential seemed daunting.

The previous year, Greer, then 20, had landed a reporter position in Nine's Darwin newsroom, and it was obvious to her this was the beginning of an exciting career.

Yet she found her hard work was often clouded by mysterious physical symptoms that left her in immense pain and discomfort.

"Some days I would just eat half a piece of toast and that was all I could eat," Greer tells 9Honey.

"Anytime I would eat anything, my body would just get rid of it. It would just come out one end, whether it was vomiting or going to the toilet."

For the young journalist, eating food at work was "a risk" as she would be "committing [herself] to feeling sick" for "extended periods of time" meaning she was distracted from filing stories.

"Most of the time I just didn't eat because it was like, 'I've got to go do this story, I really want to produce this story today'," she admits.

The immense pain and nausea had begun when Greer was 20, and she became so unwell she lost around eight kilograms in a matter of weeks.

The beautiful designer dresses she had purchased for her first on-air gig began to fall off her tiny frame.

When regional doctors in Darwin failed to determine the cause of her symptoms, Lily returned home to Brisbane for further testing with her usual family doctor, where she was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

Yet true to the nature of Greer's job, that wasn't the only news of the day.

"I was going in to be put under for a colonoscopy and that's when I got a call from my boss to say I had gotten the job," she recalls.

The journo had landed a new job as Chief of Staff in Townsville, a gig she had only applied for a week prior.

Hours later Greer was taken into the doctor's office following a colonoscopy and informed she had Crohn's disease — a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting the lining of the digestive tract.

"When you hear it, you just stop and you're like, 'Oh, so I'm actually going to have to be careful and aware and manage something forever now'," Greer says of her diagnosis.

"When you're 21, that's a pretty big thing."

Greer's first reaction was perhaps rare for someone of her age; all she could think about was her career.

"I was freaking out, but mainly because I had this massive opportunity waiting for me that I wanted to give my all, and I was just scared that this would get in the way of that," she explains.

"Work was probably my number one priority at that point."

Determined to integrate all of these changes into her life, Greer moved to Townsville and found a local gastroenterologist who was recommended by her Brisbane doctor.

Together, they begun the ground treatment to reduce inflammation and get the journalist back on a relatively normal diet.

Greer's advice to anyone who feels something isn't right with their body but may be afraid of the diagnosis is to "put on a brave face" and seek help.

"Going to all of these doctors appointments and having all of these tests, it is time out of your life and it is scary, but you can get it all done," Greer says.

"Knock out all of the appointments so you know what's wrong with your body, so you can work with someone to figure out a plan on how to get better.

"You can try soldiering on at work but at the end of the day, you can't be the best version of yourself when you're dealing with this every single day.

"You've just got to get the doctor stuff over and done with. You've just got to put on a brave face and do it, because the payoff of being able to sort your life out is so worth it."

Lily Greer is a Nine News reporter in Townsville, Queensland.