OFF TOPIC
Mike’s wife asked me to write a “Sketch of life” about Mike, so I did, a bit long, but it could have been 5 times longer with what I could have written.
Michael Johnson arrived on the 4th of July, 1968. Being the first child of young parents raised in 50’s and 60’s discipline, we were probably a little strict with him, and for the most part, without good reason. He was a great little kid. He was smart. Right after he turned 1 year old, I went into his bedroom one weekend and made him hold up one finger to show he was 1. From that point on over the next year if I went into the bedroom when he woke up would immediately hold up his finger and energetically say “one, one, one”. When he was 3 my mother had him reading, not Jane plays with Bob, but newspaper articles, words that he didn’t even understand, but he learned to read them.
Mike was always competitive, any game, any sport, any kind of ball, and even in school with grades. We never had to push him to get his homework done, he always got really good grades because he wanted to. He did the boy thing in sports and was good in baseball, basketball and in High School where they had no baseball, he was good in basketball and cross country and Track, going to state in all three sports multiple times.
He was valedictorian in his high school and went on to San Diego State where he got a degree in aerospace engineering finishing in the top 10% of his class, and I only knew that because I asked him, he got much more enjoyment of zinging someone than bragging about his accomplishments. So we had a son who was officially a rocket scientist. We all know what we got from him out of medical school, an amazing physician. A few of us know what we got out of him from his aerospace engineering degree, a potato launcher, one that he could, and did, harass cows at 250 yards. He also was curious as to what a launched potato would look like after smacking a fiberglass backboard on our basketball hoop, we never found out as it disappeared somewhere behind the backboard after smashing a 6 inch hole through it. His mastery of physics failed him on that one, or did it?
Because the Cold War was ending about the time he was going to graduate and engineers at places like Lockheed told him their jobs were in jeopardy as congress was cutting defense budgets. He told us that he was thinking about going to medical school. He came home to stay with us while he studied for his MCATs and applied to several med schools, all big names in that field, Stanford, the University of Washington, Utah and some others. He got invitations to most if not all of them. So I again, had to ask him, how did you do on the MCATs and he acted like he didn’t want to say but I persisted. 3 parts, 98 percentile, 98 percentile and 96 percentile. He could pick where he wanted to go. As all of you know, he chose Utah Medical school. At San Diego State, he surfed, at Utah he skied. Michael always found ways to enjoy and like wherever he was.
During summers Michael came home and worked for me, logging. Loggers are a different bunch. Hard work is in their blood, and if a new hire doesn’t have it in their blood, the crew would tell me they didn’t need or want them, even if it left them short handed. So, how is the son of the owner going to work out? In my case, all 3 sons had it in their blood and quickly earned the respect of the crews. They got up at 4am all summer and worked as hard as anyone else I had and I had great crews. But I was also glad each one of them followed a different life path.
During Med school he had to write a personal statement and he wrote this. I’ll let his own comments here tell you about him.
Listless. The word came immediately to mind when Farrin and I first made eye contact. While I was familiar with the academic definition: languid, lethargic, lacking spirit—the word gained new meaning to me late one night after admitting the two-year-old girl to the infant unit at Primary Children’s Medical Center. She just stared at me through the bars of her crib—too weak to cry, too nauseated to smile, and probably too encephalopathic to turn away. Her eyes seemed to be missing that ability to reflect the state of the soul, which in her case I can only guess, was fear. While closely watching her hematocrit, platelet count, electrolytes, urine output, and mental status, our treatment options were largely confined to supportive care. Farrin knew nothing about the nature of her evolving Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. She did know that she was sick, and the look on her face appeared to be one of resignation.
“I was only in my first week of pediatric medicine as a third-year medical student working as an intern, so to say that I was concerned would be understating the truth. Although merely a student, I couldn’t help but assume as much responsibility for her care as was allowed. I felt a strong sense of commitment to take care of this sick little girl, and her helplessness was for me even more motivating. I was experiencing the unique sense of devotion that physicians feel when treating a patient and learning how the complexity and sophistication of a doctor can be humbled by the simple innocence of a defenseless child. After spending that night frequently checking in on Farrin, praying each time that there would be at least a drop of urine in her foley bag, I watched her gradually improve. Her eyes began to glimmer with signs of the life that was slowly being restored in her. After two weeks and several units of packed cells and platelets, Farrin had made a full recovery. Seeing her walk out of the hospital with her family gave me a greater satisfaction than I had dreamed medicine could afford, and it was a happy ending to one of my most rewarding experiences I have had while pursuing medicine.
It wasn’t after this encounter that I decided to become a pediatrician. In fact, there was no single life-changing experience after which I knew that I wanted to commit my life in the service of children. It was my fondness for Farrin and kids like her, the resilience with which children rebound from illness, the zealous role most parents take in their child’s care, and my fascination with the science of pediatric disease processes. And with the satisfaction I glean from seeking a skill set that shall culminate in a commitment to practice pediatric medicine. My decision, which though forged more by deliberate rather than spontaneous reasoning, has given me a genuine enthusiasm for both the practice of medicine, and the study of its science.
My involvement in science over the past 10 years has been somewhat diverse. During my undergraduate work in aerospace engineering, I conducted research in multiple areas of aerodynamics, including computer modeling of test structures followed by their construction and ultimately wind-tunnel testing of their design. Following graduation, I was a co-investigator for a project in which we attempted to digitally characterize the vibratory response of the human thorax, and information from this response could be used to detect pulmonary anomalies. The year before entering medical school, I worked with a group investigating potential mechanisms for the cardiotoxicity of anthracycline antineoplastic agents. In addition to learning how the scientific method is applied to medical science, this allowed me to acquire a proficiency in many different laboratory techniques and methods used in biomedical research. This transition from engineering to medical science was a rather natural one, and served as a profound confirmation of my aspirations to become a physician. I believe that the combination of my research experience and extensive study of existing medical wisdom has left me with a solid foundation in the fundamentals of medicine.
While I have found medical school to be somewhat labor intensive, I have made it a priority to pursue other interests. I enjoy snow skiing, mountain biking, running, basketball, softball, and am an avid fan of Major League Baseball. Two years ago a fifteen day backpacking trip through Mexico took me to some fascinating places, including the peak of the 17,343 foot volcano Iztaccihuatl. I have been SCUBA diving in the Mexican waters off the coasts of the Yucatan Peninsula and mountain biking on the Slick Rock trail in Moab, Utah. This past summer I completed a six-day, 420-mile bicycle tour of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which took us over several mountain passes above 11,000 feet and through some fantastic terrain. I have found that my experiences both in and outside of medicine have been mutually complementary, each contributing something in time to the other.
The specific plan for my future in pediatrics has been slow to evolve due to my many interests within the field. While I have enjoyed my primary care experiences, I am also very interested in subspecialty areas of specialty medicine. I am seeking a program which can provide me with sound training in a wide variety of fundamental pediatric problems, as well as proficiency in the treatment of more tertiary care issues. I sincerely hope that my enthusiasm for the practice of medicine will allow me to develop not only into an effective resident, but ultimately a physician who will truly be an asset to his patients.”
And of course he became a doctor and with two of his fellow classmates started their own pediatric clinic that went from that 1st single patient to thousands of patients.
In 1999 he met AnnMarie Mounts. All of his girlfriends were sharp and pretty girls, but this one was different. He brought her on trip to Idaho to introduce her to us. I still remember when I thought, this one challenges him. He was in the process of teasing her and she looked at him and said “Bring it on cowboy” and meant it. They were married in 2000 and had 5 great kids. I don’t know that I’ve seen a family of 5 kids where the kids were all SO different from each other. At times I wonder if Michael OR AnnMarie either one are the parents. Michael’s commitment to God was undeniable and his love for his family had no limit. In 2006 Michael joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints and stayed active and involved with all his family.
5 1/2 years ago when he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, he said to me in a one on one conversation “I’ve lived a good life, I have no complaints, but I sure would like to see my kids grow up”. God granted him that wish and in that 5 good years he made sure his wife and kids would have more great memories than some people get in a lifetime.
When we were visiting Michael and the family a couple of weeks ago and when Michael had very very little vocabulary left, we were looking at my photo albums on my iPad, old logging pictures among other things, he could only stop me at times from going to the next picture. A picture of AnnMarie came up and he stopped me by pointing at her picture, there was a few second pause and he spoke the only sentence I had heard him say for months, and the last sentence I ever heard him say, simply “I love her”.
My last comment, NO one could have taken better care of Michael in the last year than AnnMarie, she was patient, she was loving, she sacrificed. As his parents we never once had to be concerned about his care. Thank you AnnMarie. His kids were so good with him during this tough period, I’m very proud of them. |
