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Letter to the editor

Mayor will hear path of health treatment

Today, Jimmy Johnson will learn if tests show he is healthy enough for a double lung transplant.

By Anne Lindberg, Times Staff Writer
Published February 20, 2008

SEMINOLE - Today could be one of the most important days in Mayor Jimmy Johnson's life.

He could find out whether he's healthy enough to have a double lung transplant.

Johnson, 65, was diagnosed last December with pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal lung condition, and put on a transplant waiting list. But last week, doctors found spots on his liver and took him off the list while more tests could be run. Johnson had the last of those tests Monday night.

If the spots are negative, Johnson will go back on the transplant list to wait for lungs that are compatible with his system. If they are cancerous, he would not be eligible for a lung transplant and would have to travel a different medical path.

Despite the uncertainty, Johnson remains cheerful.

"I have a lot of faith," he said Tuesday. "I always try to keep an upbeat attitude."

Johnson's medical issues began soon after he was elected mayor last March when he developed a cough that would not go away.

Doctors initially thought he had bronchitis, but last December a specialist diagnosed the pulmonary fibrosis, which causes a progressive scarring of the lungs that eventually interferes with breathing. Doctors have found no reason for Johnson to develop the disease.

Thus far, the disease has had little impact on Johnson's public life, although he has occasionally let Vice Mayor Tom Barnhorn run council meetings because of breathing problems. But he has remained at the dais to vote on issues.

He says he plans to remain in office and continue in his job as executive director of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce. The city already has made arrangements to have Johnson attend council meetings electronically from his hospital room and while recuperating.

Johnson, a popular figure in Seminole, said he has been touched at the outpouring of concern since news of his condition broke last week. "It's very heartwarming that so many people care," he said.

The support he's getting has been a big help, he said, especially concerning his biggest fear - the incision surgeons would make for the transplant. The cut would cross his chest horizontally just below his sternum, or breastbone.

"That's a little bit scary," he said. But after talking to people who have had lung transplants, he said, "now I'm relaxed."

Johnson said he's trying to emulate other public figures, such as former first lady Betty Ford, who have used their illnesses to raise public awareness.

Johnson wants to let people know of the need to donate organs. That's one way, he said, to turn bad news into good.

"I feel real good about everything," Johnson said. "I truly believe something good will come out of all this."

[Last modified February 19, 2008, 22:49:51]