A triumphant return to life

There are a lot of angles for this article, but not to choose the “triumphant return to life” would be an injustice to Ed Johnson, who lived to tell his story.

Johnson is back on Saipan after his successful fight against leukemia and in less than a month of being on the island, he quickly returned to action through the doubles event in the PIC tennis tournament.

He warmed up for the PIC netfest by playing badminton at least twice week and is mulling playing basketball, again. Biking and swimming are also part of his physical rehabilitation.

In case you asked how old is he? The answer is 72 years old.

About three years ago, a doctor at the Commonwealth Health Center told Johnson that “he could never recover to be active, again.”

In early part of 2006, Johnson was diagnosed with leukemia with complications of pneumonia. Despite several months of returning to the Commonwealth Health Center, his condition did not improve.

“I was dying every day,” Johnson said.

Having seen enough, his family decided to bring him to the Philippines, where Johnson’s condition improved a bit, but still he had to go to Pennsylvania for a better and thorough treatment.

Johnson was admitted to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center under the care of Dr. Nicholas Cook.

“When the doctor saw me and after running several tests, he said I had three days to three weeks to live if things will not change,” Johnson said, adding he had lost weight terribly.

“I was close to being a skeleton. I was down to almost 80 lbs.,” he said.

Fighting against time, the doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center started treating Johnson’s pneumonia first, as this was causing the fast deterioration of his immune system more than the leukemia.

“There was a point when for 21 straight days I was in isolation because despite the medications and tests, they still didn’t know if what I had was still communicable at that time,” said Johnson.

“But one thing is or sure, I had the type of pneumonia [Burkholderia Cepacia] that has an 80 percent fatality rate,” he added.

Burkholderia Cepacia is a group of bacteria discovered by Walter Burkholder of Cornell University in 1949. They are found in soil and water that are often resistant to common antibiotics. B. cepacia poses little medical risk to healthy people. However, people who have certain health problems, such as a weakened immune system or chronic lung disease, are more susceptible to infection.

Then doctors found the right antibiotic treatment for the pneumonia and after three months of painstaking treatment, Johnson slowly showed some improvement.

“I was gaining weight and when I looked at the mirror, I could now recognize my old self,” he said.

Doctors gave him another three months to regain his strength, which was needed to begin the treatment for leukemia.

When Johnson was told his borrowed time would end if his condition does not improve, sports was one of the things that made him believe he could conquer his sickness.

“All my life I have been into sports competitions. I played baseball first when I was 12. I played American football when I was in high school, then basketball, and soccer. In the Navy, I returned to football. Here, I play tennis, badminton, and basketball. After 39 years of being a merchant marine I retired and playing various sports became my avocation,” said the former merchant marine captain.

But he added there were occasions when after receiving treatment, which include having needle shots and chemotherapy, he thought of giving up.

“It was very painful, emotionally and physically. There were I think two times that I thought I should let go. After I received treatment, I was put into sedation, and I was ready to fall asleep, forever,” Johnson.

“But I would wake up. My spirit was weak, but my body would not give up. Doctors said I am fortunate that my body could take all those toxic medicine they were using to kill the cancer cells. If it would not have been to sports, to being active, I don’t know if I would be able to speak in front of you and tell you what I and my family had been through,” he added.

After three months of treating the cancer cells with a new kind of immunotherapy called monoclonal antibodies therapy, Johnson was free of leukemia with no remission.

Monoclonal antibodies therapy is the use of monoclonal antibodies to specifically target cells. The main objective is stimulating the patient’s immune system to attack the malignant tumor cells and prevent the growth of tumor by blocking specific cell receptors. A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-produced molecule that’s carefully engineered to attach to specific defects in cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies mimic the antibodies the body naturally produces as part of the immune system’s response to germs, vaccines, and other invaders.

“While I was slowly dying here and wasn’t able to fight, my wife [Delia] fought for me. She argued with doctors here about my worsening condition and wisely sought help outside” Johnson said.

In March 2007, Delia accompanied Ed to Pennsylvania. Daughter Melody later joined them.

“When Delia needed to be away, Melody was there, talking to nurses, asking if I had been given medication on time. She became my mother, my protector, my angel,” Johnson said.

Melody was about 12 when the Johnson family moved to the mainland. Ed expected their daughter would be shattered with their ordeal, but she did not. Melody became stronger and responsible at her young age.

“In more than a year of fighting leukemia and pneumonia, my daughter grew before my eyes. I had never expected her to mature that quickly. I would have understood if she will cry a lot and be lonely because of that we were going through. But she is tough,” Ed said.

“If it would not have been to my daughter and my wife and their unconditional and untiring love and support, I would be gone,” the elder Johnson said.

Several schools and many friends on Saipan also offered prayers while Johnson was away fighting for dear life.

“It is so humbling that so many people offered their thoughts and prayers for my recovery,” he said.

Johnson thanked the staff of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Asian Medical Center in the Philippines, too, for showing care and compassion during his treatment and recovery.

He also acknowledged CHC’s kind and dedicated nurses, who made up for the disappointment he felt after getting an unsympathetic treatment from a doctor.

“When you are sick and dying, the least you need was an insensitive doctor. I remember in one of my visits at CHC, the doctor shouted at me and told me to hurry up. I was very weak and could barely stand from my seat and he told me to get inside quickly because he had a lot of patients waiting,” Johnson said.

“In the Philippines and in Pennsylvania, I was under the care of kindhearted doctors and medical staff. Because of them, my family, and friends’ prayers, I am back on Saipan, and celebrating and enjoying life, again,” he said.