From cancer patient to nursing student: Norton Healthcare’s impact

Aiden Johnson has spent a majority of his life in and out of Norton Children’s Hospital.

Aiden was “always a sick little baby” his mom, Gena Johnson, said of her now 19-year-old son.

“When I say that Aiden was a Norton baby from birth, I literally mean he was a Norton baby from birth … even through today,” Gena said.

Aiden’s sickness would very quickly delve into serious matters when he was diagnosed with Dextrocardia and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, both heart conditions present at birth.

A few years later, just before he turned 3, he was diagnosed with High-Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a form of cancer. After three years of intensive treatments at the Addison Jo Blair Cancer Care Center on the seventh floor of Norton Children’s Hospital, he was declared cancer free.

“Then, two years after I was deemed cancer-free, I was diagnosed again, and was treated again,” Aiden said.

Following his relapse Aiden was also diagnosed with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, a lung disorder.

Despite the continual medical upheaval Aiden and his family faced, spending long hours in hospitals, constantly having testing done and hoping for the best, rather than grow weary of the medical field, Aiden became inspired.