Peritoneal Mesothelioma Victim Testimonial

Robert (Bob) Johnsen - “In April of 2005, I was astonished to be diagnosed with mesothelioma and the maximum 8-month life expectancy term that I was given by my doctors.

I have two types of cancer:  lung cancer and abdominal mesothelioma cancer.  Since I saw no hope in the U.S. for mesothelioma victims, I immediately left for Korea to visit a friend who was a pharmacist.  He suggested that I exclude red meat from my diet and avoid other foods slowing down my metabolism.  He indicted that I would live past the 8 month projection if I remained alive six months from then and followed his dietary instructions.

I then traveled to the Philippines to learn more about oriental medicine so that I could employ some of their practices.  In the past year, I feel stronger than I have in a long time. Over this past year, I had become increasingly concerned about the financial outlook for my medical treatment.  I must undergo a medical procedure every three weeks to remove 2-3 gallons of excess water from my stomach.  This procedure costs $5000-$6000.  I also have to go for CAT scans on a regular basis.

At the same time, I was able to join the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America to join the clinical trial program led by Dr. Gill and now receive Veglin treatment at Stanford University.  Managing my healthcare is time intensive.

Without the help of the team of lawyers at Paul & Hanley LLP, and my wife, I don’t know how I would manage it.  He, of Paul & Hanley LLP, has truly done a superb job in meeting my requests.  He helped me to establish my projected earnings loss and medical treatment costs - every aspect of managing the disease from the financial prospective.

During the research aspect of my case, Phil (Harley) sent T. Scott Hames, another Paul & Hanley LLP attorney, to the house so that we could comfortably review the materials in the convenience of my home.  During this visit, it was clear that team members of Paul & Hanley LLP had done substantial research in order to fully support my case; research that I would not have been able to do on my own.  I had initially thought that I had been exposed to asbestos when I was in the Navy.  However, I learned that I was exposed throughout school and my career.  I performed brake repairs to cars in high school and finished basements as an adult later on.

I learned from Phil that basements and car breaks are full of asbestos.  In fact, he never gave up on me.  He proceeded with accommodating my requests to pursue litigation against every firm who exposed me to asbestos.  His team aided my wife and me in every step of the deposition process that followed and gathered settlements for me very quickly, providing great financial relief to me. There is one firm who has not accepted responsibility for my illness.  In this case, he fulfilled my request to try the case and made exceptional presentations in court.  This led me to firmly believe there is no better person to represent you in court.  Phil was able to penetrate every expert witness the defense presented and at all times showed a superior medical knowledge to those being questioned.

I have found great comfort because of and have been more than pleased with the services provided by Paul & Hanley.”

Tess Johnsen, Wife of Robert Johnsen - "In 2000, I attended a co-worker’s wedding party and was told by a co-worker that Bob’s abdomen appeared extended beyond reason. This prompted us to visit a primary care doctor who uncovered the accumulation of fluid in Bob’s stomach.  We were referred to a GI specialist to rule out cancer.  This doctor decided that Bob had cirrhosis of the liver and that the fluid accumulation was of an unknown cause. Yet, over the next three years we were not seeing much medical improvement and faced with an operation or possibility a liver replacement.  Since this was the case, we were encouraged by our son to obtain a second opinion.  We were referred to Dr. Cooper, a hepatologist at Stanford University, who discovered a tumor on Bob’s lung.  We were then referred to Dr. Rosen, a pulmonologist, for a biopsy that conclusively reported cancer in the upper lung.  Dr. Rosen then referred us to the Stanford Cancer Clinic for further analysis.

Finally, we met with a team of seven oncologists who discussed removing the tumor, providing Bob passed three prerequisite tests. The tests were a stress test, pulmonary function test, and P.E.T test. The stress and pulmonary tests were no problem but the P.E.T. turned out to be a major problem. Bob’s entire abdomen lit up everywhere which was indicative of cancer everywhere. A laparoscopy was ordered and the result of that operation plus the subsequent radiology report concluded that Bob had malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. After the report findings, we were told that Bob’s case was untreatable and incurable, and that they believed Bob only had six- to nine-months to live. The doctor explained the reason for the problem in diagnosing mesothelioma was because Bob had no tumors, but a spider web appearance across the entire abdomen. In these first fours years, access to healthcare was difficult for us - both very costly and totally time consuming.

Our access to healthcare issue was resolved when we called. He was able to refer us to Jerry Paul of Paul & hanley LLP so that Bob could join the Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America to receive a Phase 1 clinical study program at Stanford which was being conducted at Stanford and the Mayo Clinic by a fledging pharmaceutical company. Jerry and Phil referred us to the USC program with Dr. Gill. Bob received immediate treatment in the clinical trials. It is difficult to say how much the program is helping, but Bob’s quality of life continues to improve. It has been one year and six months since we received the grim prognosis for Bob, so something seems to be working. We have noticed significant improvements to date.”