Neighbor Spotlight: Pine-Richland grad turns personal battle against Crohn's disease into advocacy for others who suffer

Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, see pinecreekjournal.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner, click the “New Article” button and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.

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Jaclyn Lenhart knows it is hard for anyone suffering from the debilitating effects of Crohn’s disease to see an upside to being among the afflicted.

But the 21-year-old Pine-Richland High School graduate hopes sharing her battle with the inflammatory bowel disease for which there is no cure will help inspire others to face the challenges they encounter.

“I’ve struggled with symptoms of Crohn’s disease since I was 13, but I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 17,” said Lenhart. “One of the biggest issues I’ve faced is that it’s an invisible disease. I look like a perfectly fit college student, so it’s hard for some people to understand that this can have some very serious symptoms.”

After her diagnosis, Lenhart learned even discussing the hereditary disease seemed to be “taboo” for some people.

“I didn’t really know anything about Crohn’s, and I found that a lot of people don’t want to talk about it because it’s seen as a pooping disease,” she said. “But the reality is, there are more than 3.1 million people in this country who suffer from some form of inflammatory bowel disease. Remaining silent isn’t the way to help people.”

Lenhart’s candor and efforts to not only overcome the disease’s effects but help others who are suffering recently were recognized by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Western PA/WV, which named her its 2021 Adult Honored Hero.

Foundation officials said Lenhart’s participation in its Camp Oasis summer camp for children with irritable bowel disease and her efforts to raise money to find a cure “exemplifies what it means to advocate for her fellow patients — especially so young.”

Lenhart began helping to raise money for research by organizing “Jaclyn’s Joggers” for the foundation’s annual Take Steps walk. Her team has raised more than $7,000 and is planning to participate in this year’s event June 13 on the North Shore.

While Lenhart suffered from Crohn’s since her early teens, it grew worse as she got older.

During her final two years of high school, she was forced to switch to cyber school because of the pain, fatigue, frequent bathroom trips and doctors appointments she experienced. People with Crohn’s also suffer from arthritis, mouth ulcers and rashes.

The poor state of her health also made attending college difficult. She ended up taking a medical leave after the first semester to address the problems.

She said her passion for helping to find a cure for irritable bowel disease has grown as new treatments being developed have helped her cope.

“There’s a lot of really good research going on with biological medicines that change the way the immune systems works,” she said. “It’s done so much for patients, and we’re seeing fewer surgeries and more and more people in remission.”

Before the new class of treatments was developed, she said, the main way to treat the symptoms was to administer medication that wound up weakening patients’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to infection and other conditions.

Lenhart said she now undergoes monthly infusion treatments that have helped her lead “a somewhat normal life.”

“I now attend Slippery Rock University in hopes of becoming a recreational therapist in a pediatric hospital,” she said. “The treatments have made a huge difference, but it’s not a cure. There are days when i feel wonderful and others when the pain is terrible, and I can’t do a thing.”

Lenhart said she began advocating for irritable bowel disease patients after volunteering at Camp Oasis in 2018.

“I was expecting to help the campers, but the experience was life changing for me as a counselor, too,” she said.

“I not only was able to help amazing campers and talk with them about irritable bowel syndrome, but I formed relationships with other counselors who are now some of my closest friends.”

That experience led Lenhart to begin mentoring other patients in 2019 through social media.

“I share my story so that others know they aren’t alone,” she said. “I believe there needs to be a purpose for all this and that I haven’t gone through it for no reason. I think I can bring some good out of my experiences by advocating for others.”