Tips on how to manage a long term health condition

June 5, 2025

Some of you who are reading this might have been managing a long term health condition for years, and for some of you it could be a recent diagnosis that has turned your world upside down. I’ve been dealing with a long term health condition for many years, the last year and a half have especially been challenging, but I have learnt a lot on the journey. You can read more about my long term health condition in a blog I wrote titled ‘Why I need heart surgery‘. Today I want to share 8 tips I’d say I learnt the hard way, so I hope this blog avoids you learning these tips the hard way, and instead helps you thrive, even when managing a long term health condition.

Tip #1 – Understand your “normal” will need to change

In December 2023 when I discovered I needed heart surgery I had to come to the realisation that the life I was living needed some changing. Sadly I didn’t acknowledge this until Spring 2024, so I spent almost 6 months trying to live a life that wasn’t manageable, a life I had once lived and this led to a season of deep depression. For most people a long term health condition may impact your physical ability, or it could impact you mentally, and so therefore what was once normal, probably isn’t your normal now. I’d encourage you to ask yourself what may need changing, and how you can incorporate new things into your life that will give you new excitement and joy, instead of living in sadness over what you might have lost. A personal example, at present I can’t exercise the way I used to, however my body does allow me to go on long walks, so I’ve been seeking exercise through walking and it has massively improved my mental health, as it allows me time to process everything I’m facing. God may have closed one door, but what other door is he opening?

Tip #2 – Don’t lose yourself in the process, try and retain some of your hobbies and things you love to do

I explained in tip #1 that some things will need to change, so we can’t be under the illusion that life will just tick along as it used to. However we have to remember that the hobbies we participated in shouldn’t just disappear. It’s likely that you may need to reduce or slightly alter some of your hobbies and interests, but we don’t want to drop everything we love just because we’re dealing with an ongoing health condition. Our identity should be in our relationship with Jesus, however I do believe God gifts us in areas that he wants us to pursue. Life will require some altering, but it shouldn’t look so different that it’s not your life anymore, you are who you are, with the interests you have, because God made you that way, don’t lose that.

Tip #3 – Seek counselling, as some days you’ll need to have a heavy chat, and as time passes it can be hard to have those conversations with family and friends

Have you noticed that when you go through a tough season, whether it was a breakup, a job loss, a health scare, whatever it may be, that family and friends are super supportive and ask you how you are for about a month or two, and then it slowly starts to fade? At times this can be frustrating, but for everyone else life just continues. I know for me, because my health condition isn’t physical, most people don’t notice, some people may even forget I’m awaiting heart surgery. I remember around 6 months into my diagnosis I went through the deepest period of depression, and I felt so isolated, as people stopped asking how I was, on the outside I looked fine, but internally I was struggling – does that sound familiar?. Don’t get me wrong, family and friends care for you and want to support you, but sometimes their own life gets in the way and we shouldn’t be upset or angry at them for not being attentive all the time. I discovered counselling in the deepest moments of my depression and it was incredible. Every week I spoke to a lovely lady who allowed me to spill out all the pain I was experiencing. Please seek counselling, as we can’t expect our family or friends to carry the weight of our health condition, especially if it’s something you will experience for years.

Tip #4 – Set new goals that are achievable, so your life has purpose and something to aim for

It’s easy to sit with an illness and let life happen around you without much direction or plan. God didn’t create us to sit down, he created us to be active and achieve things, but obviously this will look different depending on your health condition. You might not be able to achieve what you first thought, but what new thing can you aim for? As my life can’t be super go, go go I decided to start something which physically would be manageable, and that’s one of the reasons why I started writing blogs. Life is meant to have purpose and drive, don’t let it pass you by without properly experiencing it.

Tip #5 – Seek medical advice, so you know what is and isn’t manageable

We need to be sensible, if I decided to get my running shoes on and run a marathon it probably wouldn’t be that wise, but after speaking with my cardiologist I was told I can do certain exercise, so that’s what I do. When you are first diagnosed with a health condition it’s so easy to stop everything, often this comes from a place of fear and a place of unknown. However when you seek medical advice and ask them what you should and shouldn’t be doing, it can allow you to create routines that work for you, as you’re living with your health condition.

Tip #6 – Implement routines that help you de-stress and live in the moment

Living with an ongoing health condition can be exhausting at times. It can drain your energy levels, and it can also lead to increased stress and anxiety. As I wait for my heart surgery I find myself living in this world that always wants to be 2 months ahead. I am so keen for this drawn out waiting to be over, but nor do I want to wish my life away either. Finding ways to live in the moment can be difficult, because your ‘in the moment’ might be incredibly painful, but God calls us to lean on him in our pain. For me going for a walk, praying and relaxing with friends is a wonderful way to let my body and brain calm down and be in the moment. We don’t want to become people who wish our lives away, nor do we want to be people living with anxiety and stress every day. Your journey will look different to mine, but one thing I do believe we will all have in common, is the need to relax and take each day at a time.

Tip #7 – Have monthly check-ins with yourself to see how you’re managing, and work out if some things need to change

You could wake up on Monday and feel amazing, but by Tuesday you’re exhausted and burnt out. Long term health conditions are like a roller-coaster, and you never quite know when you’re going to have a high, and when you’re going to have a low. So what worked last month might not be working this month. Having regular check-ins with yourself is a key way to identify what may need changing in your life to make your long term health condition bearable. I often beat myself up because my journey has been so up and down, one week I feel so capable and strong, and the next week I feel weak. I’ve discovered and accepted that a long term health condition can do that to you sometimes, and the best thing you can do is be easy on yourself, and so yourself compassion and love.

Tip #8 – Find friendships with people who understand what it means to live with a long term health condition

I one time was speaking with a friend, she asked me how I was doing, my response was ‘I shouldn’t complain’. What I really meant was ‘life kind of sucks at the moment, but I feel like I’ve got good things in my life, so I don’t want to be that person who’s complaining again’. She responded to my ‘I shouldn’t complain’, with ‘well I would’. She knows what it’s like to live with a long term health condition and opened up the conversation for me to be truly honest, and it felt so liberating. If someone doesn’t know what it’s like to experience a long term health condition, how can they offer support and encouragement in a way that really touches deep? In a way that really means something to you. There’s a reason why there’s groups for people with cancer or groups for people with addictions, it’s because we are meant to be in community with people who understand. Don’t isolate yourself, the best way to deal with any challenge in life is to seek support and guidance from a trusted person.

I hope this blog has been helpful, my heart does truly break for people who have to face health conditions every day. It sucks at times, it’s okay to admit that, let’s not pretend. However these tips are designed to help you get support and help, and primarily to live your life. I’m still on this journey myself, so why not join me?

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