Cancer and Clinical Services Patient Stories

John Johnson, affectionately called “Coach” by his wide circle of friends in the Columbus community, knows a thing or two about odds.

He was coach/manager to boxer Buster Douglas during his 1990 match against heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. The odds were stacked heavily against Douglas — 42 to 1, to be exact.

But Douglas persevered, knocking out Tyson in the 10th round. And today, Coach Johnson is knocking out lung cancer thanks to a fortunate referral from his heart doctor and exceptional care from the OSUCCC – James.

Thomas Ryan, MD, MBA, executive director of The Ohio State University’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital, recommended that Johnson, a former smoker, be screened for lung cancer during a routine stress test. He referred him to Gretchen Whitby, APRN-CNP, who sent him for a low-dose CT scan that is able to catch lung cancer early. His first scan showed nothing, but a subsequent scan during a return visit the following year revealed a nodule on his right lung. Johnson and his medical team waited three months, as is standard for a nodule, then re-checked it through a positron emission tomography (PET) scan at the OSUCCC – James.

“I just knew that spot would show up,” recalls Johnson, who coached for the Ohio State Buckeyes under Woody Hayes and counts Buckeye legends like Archie Griffin and Eddie George as friends. “And I said to the young lady that did the scan, ‘I’m worried; I’m scared.’ And she said, ‘Sir, putting it off is not going to make it go away.’ I said, ‘All right, let’s do it.’”

As he predicted, the nodule had grown; it was lung cancer. But knowing the tumor had been caught early — and being under the care of an exceptional surgical oncologist in Robert Merritt, MD — went a long way toward calming Johnson’s nerves. Says Johnson, “I was invited to a Buckeye football practice on Friday before my surgery on Monday,” where Raymond Pongonis, DO, joined Dr. Ryan in praising Dr. Merritt. “They told me that people come from all over the world to have him do their surgery.”

The following week, Merritt removed the upper lobe of Johnson’s right lung along with some lymph nodes. “After my surgery, he came in my room and said, ‘Coach, the cancer is gone,’” Johnson recalls. “I said, ‘Man, you just went way up high on the who-I-love-most list.’”

Johnson spent 33 days recovering at the OSUCCC – James. Nearly a year after his release, there’s no sign of cancer. Along with Merritt, he’s spreading the word that lung cancer is a less formidable opponent when detected early.

“The key thing was Dr. Ryan getting me to go and get that CT scan,” he says. “Otherwise, it's a silent killer. People can have stage 3 or 4 lung cancer before they know they have it, because they won’t show any symptoms.”

Johnson is incredibly grateful to the OSUCCC – James. “Even though I wouldn’t like to get cancer again, I’m thankful because I couldn’t have had a better doctor or nurses and other staff. I am ecstatic about saying how much I love the people at The James.”