July - Chronic Disease Awareness
LIFE SHOCKS YOU SOMETIMES.
You started life as a happy, chubby, bouncy baby. Mom and dad dotted on you, and the rest of the family followed their lead. Everybody loved you. As you grew older, life was your forever-bearing fruit tree. Learning, sports, extracurricular activities, everything came easily to you. You became convinced that there was nothing to hold you back.
Then five years after graduating from college and being well into a fantastic career, you started to feel tired every day. You didn’t have the energy to finish your To Do List. You went to see your doctor, who referred you to a specialist. Following a battery of tests, the specialist gave you the shocking news you had contracted MS (Muscular Dystrophy). As a child, you never expected to be here, a person with a chronic illness. Your life is now drastically different. You’ll have challenges for the rest of your life of that you had never dreamed.
The preceding story can be anyone’s, even yours. Approximately one-third of the population of the US suffers from some form of chronic illness. Seven out of ten deaths in America are due to a chronic disease—that means 1.7 million Americans lose their lives to chronic disease every year. Chronic illnesses are health conditions that last for more than three months. They include conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, alcohol related conditions, cancer, Alzheimer’s, addiction to smoking, tooth decay, epilepsy, and more.
Chronic illnesses can drastically change the life of a person, their family, and friends. For a Christian, a chronic illness can be that test of faith one has never experienced before. In 2024, 90% of the nation’s $4.5 trillion in annual health care costs were for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
July is Chronic Disease Awareness Month. It’s a time to recognize that thousands of people who are suffering from chronic health conditions, some silently with no apparent symptoms, and others with conditions that prevent them living what many would call a normal life.
Our St. John family has a sizable number of members with chronic health conditions. Let’s be constantly prayer and sensitive to the needs that chronic health conditions might present for our congregation. One way to serve in this area is to become a member of the Saint John chronic Illness Support Group, which is under the umbrella of The Health and Wellness Ministry. If you’re interested in serving in this area, please contact Hosea Long, Coordinator at 501-350-0721 or Lena McCullum, RN, Servant Leader, Saint John Health and Wellness Ministry at 501 658-7659.
Coming up next month
Next month’s Health and Wellness topic will highlight how caregivers can support and encourage loved ones with chronic illness. Caregiving can be exhaustive, resulting in the caregiver burning themselves out. We encourage you to avail yourself of this information. Even if you are not currently a caregiver, you could find yourself in this position at any time in the future.
About the author
Hosea Long, coordinator of the Saint John Chronic Illness Support Group, has been a member of Saint John for forty years, serving in a number of areas. He’s a retired human resources executive. He served as associate vice chancellor/chief HR officer with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He’s also a twenty-five-year cancer survivor, living with multiple myeloma, an incurable disease.