Bill Klaproth (host): Today we're getting to know Dr. Jason Johnson, Associate Chief of Pediatric Cardiology and Director of Cardiac MRI at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. This is the Peds Pod by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I'm Bill Klaproth. Dr. Johnson, welcome.

Dr. Jason Johnson: Thank you, Bill. I'm happy to be here.

Bill Klaproth (host): Well, we are happy that you are here and it's always good to get to know the person behind the doctor. So we're excited to get to know a little bit more about you, Dr. Johnson. So again, thank you so much for your time. So I want to start with a simple question. Why did you become a doctor and why specialize in pediatrics?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Well, you know, I've always been fascinated by the human body and specifically the heart and the physiology behind the heart and how it squeezes blood throughout the body. But I also have a personal story with pediatric cardiology. My brother was born with half a heart or what we would call a single ventricle. He only lived 11 months. But it was always something in the back of my mind to try and address the concerns of children with heart disease, as my career progressed.

Bill Klaproth (host): Well, I'm sorry to hear about your brother, but interesting to hear how that kind of sparked your interest in medicine. So in your position of Associate Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, what types of cases do you treat then?

Dr. Jason Johnson: So we see just about everything as far as heart problems in children or young adults or teenagers with heart problems. We take care of people who were, are born with heart problems like my brother who was born with half a heart, and, and then we take care of children who may develop heart problems later on, either after an infection or, something to that effect.

Bill Klaproth (host): I think it would be comforting for parents who are going through what you went through with your brother or something similar, another heart condition must be comforting when you tell them, Hey, I've been there, I've experienced this. Is that right?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah, it's something that I talk about from time to time. Thankfully technology is much different than it was in 1984 when my brother was born. And so we have a lot of better techniques from surgical operations to recovery in the intensive care unit to newer technologies that we can address in the catheterization lab.

So, it's just a much better time to be alive if you have congenital heart disease. And so I can speak to those differences, but I do understand the angst and the worry that families feel when their child is born with a heart problem and specifically major heart problems.

Bill Klaproth (host): So you were mentioning technology. Is it safe to say if your brother were born today, he would've lived a longer life?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah, that's absolutely correct. Yeah. So, we have much different surgical techniques which he didn't have available to him. And then the other thing is we weren't doing transplants routinely in that age group. And so even if our best efforts fail, we can still get you a new heart and we can do that at Le Bonheur.

And we've been doing that for several years. And so, multiple reasons to think that my brother would've lived a lot longer than just 11 months if he was born today.

Bill Klaproth (host): Absolutely. And if you could tell us about your position as Director of Cardiac MRI and your role in heart Imaging at Le Bonheur.

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah. So, I love to take pictures, in general, but also of the heart. Uh, Cardiac MRI is a different technique than echocardiogram, which a lot of people are familiar with, that the MRI uses a big magnet to take pictures of the heart, and it can allow us to see the tissue characterization of the heart muscle itself, which is something that Echo really can't do very well.

And so it's a, an additive test to the echocardiograms that we get routinely. And we use this for multiple reasons. If, you were born with a heart problem like my brother had, or if you have a heart muscle disease and we need to see how the heart muscle is, is there any scar in the heart or any swelling, what we call edema, things of that nature.

So it's an additive test and it's newer.

Bill Klaproth (host): So Dr. Johnson, what do you find most rewarding about being a physician at Le Bonheur?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Well, I really enjoy working with my colleagues. They're wonderful individuals who are quite intelligent and a great group of physicians to work with. Some of my best friends are right across the hall from me. So it makes it a fun work environment and I enjoy coming to work each and every day.

But we also have a very good innovative spirit, where we'll push technologies forward and try new aspects and avenues to treat patients with heart disease. So we're one of the leading institutions in closing a patent ductus arteriosis at the bedside with a small catheter device, so they don't have to have surgery in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Then we'll put in new pulmonary valves that are just coming available to the markets to avoid surgery in patients who need their valves replaced. So it's a great place to work as far as your colleagues and interacting with individuals. But there's also a fun and innovative spirit that keeps you wanting to come back.

Bill Klaproth (host): I love hearing about the innovative spirit. That is really great. So how long have you been at Le Bonheur?

Dr. Jason Johnson: I've been here 10 years.

Bill Klaproth (host): 10 years. And how did you come to us?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah, so me and my wife are originally from Louisiana. And we've always been wanting to stay in the south and keep our family in those southern roots, and so Memphis was a larger city that allowed that opportunity to occur.

Bill Klaproth (host): Yeah, that's great. So you just mentioned family. I'd love to shift gears a little bit and talk about your personal life, if you don't mind. So tell us about your family.

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yes. I've been married for 22 years and both me and my wife have a daughter who just graduated high school from Houston High School here in Germantown, which is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, and she'll be going to University of Tennessee in Knoxville in the fall.

Bill Klaproth (host): I love it. So when you're not being a doctor, what do you do for fun?

Dr. Jason Johnson: We really enjoy being outside, you know, hiking and biking and doing activities outside, although it's been quite hot recently, so we've been doing a little bit more indoors activities over the last several weeks, but we really enjoy doing outside activities.

Bill Klaproth (host): Well, the Memphis area certainly is great for that except when the heat does roll in, and it does kind of curtail some things. But thanks for sharing that. So, is there an interesting fact that people may not know about you that you can share with us?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah, so my grandfather pitched Major League baseball for 12 years and he is an answer to a trivia question. He is the only major league pitcher to pitch a nine inning, no-hitter and actually lose the game.

Bill Klaproth (host): A nine inning, no-hitter and actually lose the game. So errors, how does that work?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yes, exactly right. Yeah. So, it was when he was with the Colt 45s, who are now the Houston Astros and they were playing the Cincinnati Reds and, Pete Rose was up and he, Pete Rose bunted the ball, and it went right to my grandfather and my grandfather threw the ball over the first baseman's head.

So there's the first error, and Pete Rose went to second. Uh, the next batter, hit the ball to the second baseman, but the ball went between the second baseman's legs. So second error. Pete Rose goes to third, and then the next batter hit a long fly ball which was caught by the outfielder. But Pete Rose was able to go home on the sacrifice, so no hits, one run, two errors and he lost the game one to nothing.

Bill Klaproth (host): Oh no. Oh my gosh. And Pete Rose too. That's incredible.

Dr. Jason Johnson: That's exactly right. Yeah. So, and for a long time when Pete Rose would see my grandfather in social situations, he would still tell him I would've been safe, even if you'd thrown it to the first basement on time. So, but it went in officially as an error. So, the record stands.

Bill Klaproth (host): That's really an interesting story. Most of us don't have a story like that, so that's pretty incredible. Did you ever, uh, follow in your grandfather's footsteps at love of baseball at all?

Dr. Jason Johnson: I had the love of baseball, but I didn't have the physical ability. So my career ended in high school. And so I can reminisce about my high school career, but that's about it.

Bill Klaproth (host): Absolutely. Wow, that's cool. So, we were speaking of Memphis earlier. I was just thinking Memphis and all, you know, Beale Street and all the great things there. I'm thinking barbecue. Do you have a favorite barbecue place you can share with us?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Yeah, every Memphian has their favorite barbecue place. And I think for me it's based upon where I'm located. If I'm closer to the hospital, then I'll usually do Central Barbecue. That's my favorite. And if I'm closer to my house, which is in Germantown, then I prefer Germantown Commissary.

But, both of those places are excellent and I really enjoy the barbecue at a lot of different places around the city.

Bill Klaproth (host): I love it. Thank you for the tips. We appreciate that. So if you could go back in time to your younger self, what kind of information would you share with you?

Dr. Jason Johnson: Oh man, that's a great question. I think I would tell myself to enjoy the process. Enjoy where you're at while you're there. Medical training can be quite the long process especially if you specialize in a different field like cardiology. And so it can take a long time to get where you want to go, and so you can constantly be looking to the future to try to hurry up and get where you're supposed to go.

But there's a lot of valuable lessons to learn along the way and I probably would have appreciated a lot of more of those lessons, if, I more reticent to live in the moment, so to speak. So that's probably the best advice I could give myself.

Bill Klaproth (host): That is great advice for all of us. Enjoy the process. And yeah, try to be in the moment more. Again, great advice for all of us. Anything else you want to share with us, Dr. Johnson, before we wrap up?

Dr. Jason Johnson: No, it's been a pleasure being with you Bill. And, thank you so much for your time. It's pleasure working here at Le Bonheur and I look forward to more years to come.

Bill Klaproth (host): Well, we're glad you're here, and thank you for sharing a little bit of time with us today. Dr. Johnson. Thank you again. We appreciate it.

Dr. Jason Johnson: Thanks, Bill. It was great to be here.

Bill Klaproth (host): And once again, that's Dr. Jason Johnson and visit LeBonheur.org/heart to learn more about Le Bonheur's Heart Institute. And be sure to subscribe to the Peds Pod on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can also check out Le Bonheur.org/podcast to view our full podcast library.

Thank you so much for listening to the Peds Pod by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Thanks again.