A personal journey to optimal health & wellness
Hello! I want to send a personal message because this practice is my personal, private practice. Precision Medical Care. Wow, that's quite a 180 for an emergency physician. After seeing patients on the worst day of their lives in the ER, I realized that I like to get personal with my patients, I like to know all the details of their health, family history, lifestyle, nutrition, personal goals and frustrations. I actually believe my patients when they tell me "I know my body..." I've learned a lot from my patients over the years. They certainly don't all fall under the curve of the "standard treatment response" for a certain medication or treatment. As medical doctors, we are taught to identify a pattern of disease, identity it, label it and treat it. This works for the median of patients... but how many are outliers? Most of the patients I met in the emergency departments, struggling to find recovery.
Instead of rushing through patients to "treat them and street them," I'm ready to get deep into data and analysis with my patients. I'd like to really solve some problems with my patients, really get at the "root cause" of why you don't feel well anymore. The mastery of health, nutrition and wellness requires advanced training with experts, attending conferences and researching devotedly to learn the science of one speciality that is truly our collective emergency: getting to optimal health. There are medical experts who keep our most productive athletes, performance artists and executives in peak health through advancing age... why not share these advances with motivated and resourced patients who resist the mediocrity which has defined our current healthcare system? Proactive, age management health is truly the gold standard. This is not an annual check-up, it's a lifestyle. It's data-driven with metrics of biologic health that we can measure in real time, track, trend and titrate precisely to your optimal metabolic health.
Some background: I completed my medical school training at Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine in May, 2000 after graduating with distinction from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign in 1996. I completed my Emergency Medicine Residency at The University of Chicago Hospitals, serving as Chief Resident in my final year. I stayed at The University of Chicago as a Faculty Physician with a focus on Clinical Excellence, Quality and Operations through the fall of 2010. I had given birth to boy/girl twins in 2006 so when we moved to the suburbs, I returned to Loyola University Health System as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Department of Emergency Medicine from 2008-2017.
Like many young women, I started to feel like I "lost my hustle" as I neared my forties, there were aches and pains, moodiness, irritability, weight gain and a major lack of energy. I traveled less, shopped less, gardened less and declined social invitations... this was not me. I just assumed it was aging. After all, didn't all women in their forties feel exhausted and want to lay down? Ha! You start to think so when all you hear is people telling you about their aches and pains. In 2017, I finally saw an orthopedist because I had a persistent limp with worsening pain in my right hip and back. When I saw my X-ray, I was stunned. No wonder I felt so terribly, I had been living with congenital right hip dysplasia and my right hip finally hit a threshold where I really couldn't walk another step without a cane. What a wake-up call for me, seeing that x-ray changed my life. I became committed to getting in the best shape of my life for my needed hip replacement surgery. I lost over 40 pounds of visceral fat and gained lean muscle mass which I did by self-study and focused research.
It was this experience that solidified my commitment to optimal health and wellness. I actively choose to manage my process of aging and invest "all-in" for my personal health, I encourage you to do the same. What better investment would you make with your time and money? Together, we can continue education in nutrition, fitness, health and optimal hormonal balancing. I hope to guide men and women to better health through my personal testimony and commitment to precision medicine. This is a very exciting time to participate in personalized medicine and positively shift our health span.
Because I have also been on the front lines of medicine in the Emergency Department for over eighteen years, I know it's rare to receive personalized and coordinated healthcare, especially in times of urgency and emergency. I am certain my precision medical and age management patients will benefit from my expertise as an emergency problem-solver, too.
My current Medical Staff Appointments are with Amita Hinsdale, LaGrange and Bolingbrook Hospitals. I have been an active Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and am a Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, twice certified. I will complete my certification with the Age Management Medicine Group (AMMG) by the end of 2018.
Some other things about me: I am the proud daughter of Greek Immigrants. My father died too young at 63, I tell most of my patients about him. I wish I knew what I know now about age management... his death was preventable with risk management. He was a PhD chemist at Argonne National Laboratory for over thirty years and I spent most weekend afternoons at the lab. My mother is living and quite vital as a retired biochemist for OSHA and the Department of Energy. She publishes poetry, manages real estate and helps me with my children while still challenging my medical opinions.
I really enjoy great company, conversation, travel, gardening, reading, fashion and home design. I listen to over three audiobooks a week and am a podcast lover. I host a standing Friday lunch with friends because I believe it is truly vital to have a core group of people in your life, in the present and in the past. I'm strongly committed to my husband of almost twenty years and we are devoted to our tween son and daughter. They are the true inspiration for longevity and good health!
Despite my many interests, the practice of medicine has always been the passion and privilege of my life. I know I don't have the flashiest website, I made it myself. The bottom line is this: I am committed to empowering my patients, friends, family and anyone whom I can help on this Earth to access their best health choices and live an enriching, balanced and purposeful life.
Titrate to Wellness, Dr Cat Johnson
Instead of rushing through patients to "treat them and street them," I'm ready to get deep into data and analysis with my patients. I'd like to really solve some problems with my patients, really get at the "root cause" of why you don't feel well anymore. The mastery of health, nutrition and wellness requires advanced training with experts, attending conferences and researching devotedly to learn the science of one speciality that is truly our collective emergency: getting to optimal health. There are medical experts who keep our most productive athletes, performance artists and executives in peak health through advancing age... why not share these advances with motivated and resourced patients who resist the mediocrity which has defined our current healthcare system? Proactive, age management health is truly the gold standard. This is not an annual check-up, it's a lifestyle. It's data-driven with metrics of biologic health that we can measure in real time, track, trend and titrate precisely to your optimal metabolic health.
Some background: I completed my medical school training at Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine in May, 2000 after graduating with distinction from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign in 1996. I completed my Emergency Medicine Residency at The University of Chicago Hospitals, serving as Chief Resident in my final year. I stayed at The University of Chicago as a Faculty Physician with a focus on Clinical Excellence, Quality and Operations through the fall of 2010. I had given birth to boy/girl twins in 2006 so when we moved to the suburbs, I returned to Loyola University Health System as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Department of Emergency Medicine from 2008-2017.
Like many young women, I started to feel like I "lost my hustle" as I neared my forties, there were aches and pains, moodiness, irritability, weight gain and a major lack of energy. I traveled less, shopped less, gardened less and declined social invitations... this was not me. I just assumed it was aging. After all, didn't all women in their forties feel exhausted and want to lay down? Ha! You start to think so when all you hear is people telling you about their aches and pains. In 2017, I finally saw an orthopedist because I had a persistent limp with worsening pain in my right hip and back. When I saw my X-ray, I was stunned. No wonder I felt so terribly, I had been living with congenital right hip dysplasia and my right hip finally hit a threshold where I really couldn't walk another step without a cane. What a wake-up call for me, seeing that x-ray changed my life. I became committed to getting in the best shape of my life for my needed hip replacement surgery. I lost over 40 pounds of visceral fat and gained lean muscle mass which I did by self-study and focused research.
It was this experience that solidified my commitment to optimal health and wellness. I actively choose to manage my process of aging and invest "all-in" for my personal health, I encourage you to do the same. What better investment would you make with your time and money? Together, we can continue education in nutrition, fitness, health and optimal hormonal balancing. I hope to guide men and women to better health through my personal testimony and commitment to precision medicine. This is a very exciting time to participate in personalized medicine and positively shift our health span.
Because I have also been on the front lines of medicine in the Emergency Department for over eighteen years, I know it's rare to receive personalized and coordinated healthcare, especially in times of urgency and emergency. I am certain my precision medical and age management patients will benefit from my expertise as an emergency problem-solver, too.
My current Medical Staff Appointments are with Amita Hinsdale, LaGrange and Bolingbrook Hospitals. I have been an active Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and am a Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, twice certified. I will complete my certification with the Age Management Medicine Group (AMMG) by the end of 2018.
Some other things about me: I am the proud daughter of Greek Immigrants. My father died too young at 63, I tell most of my patients about him. I wish I knew what I know now about age management... his death was preventable with risk management. He was a PhD chemist at Argonne National Laboratory for over thirty years and I spent most weekend afternoons at the lab. My mother is living and quite vital as a retired biochemist for OSHA and the Department of Energy. She publishes poetry, manages real estate and helps me with my children while still challenging my medical opinions.
I really enjoy great company, conversation, travel, gardening, reading, fashion and home design. I listen to over three audiobooks a week and am a podcast lover. I host a standing Friday lunch with friends because I believe it is truly vital to have a core group of people in your life, in the present and in the past. I'm strongly committed to my husband of almost twenty years and we are devoted to our tween son and daughter. They are the true inspiration for longevity and good health!
Despite my many interests, the practice of medicine has always been the passion and privilege of my life. I know I don't have the flashiest website, I made it myself. The bottom line is this: I am committed to empowering my patients, friends, family and anyone whom I can help on this Earth to access their best health choices and live an enriching, balanced and purposeful life.
Titrate to Wellness, Dr Cat Johnson