Personal Journal — June 2026
June 2026 — This has truly been a memorable month. Here are some of the reasons: 1) This month has brought my 42-year career as an anesthesiologist to an end. It has been an arduous, fulfilling, enjoyable, and stressful career, but this career has provided a wonderful lifestyle and income for our family, and has brought challenges and successes to my life. My career end could not have come at a more fortuitous time regarding my job at Utah Eye Centers, as the company has just announced that they will be transforming our center from a ‘paper-charting’ facility to a totally ‘electronic charting’ facility. I experienced sheer frustration and exasperation with electronic charting at IHC years ago, and I am so happy to be leaving before this change comes into play. They also announced that retina eye surgeons will begin practicing at our facility in the near future, which brings retrobulbar blocks and rendering patients unconscious to receive these blocks, and I stepped away from that part of the practice many months ago. To make this change even more challenging, they announced that they will not be purchasing anesthesia machines for our facility, but they fully expect that the patients will still be rendered unresponsive long enough to receive the bulbar blocks. No thank you! Not smart and not part of my life! I am grateful for my career, but have a huge smile on my face as I bring this career to a closure. Dr. Griffin, Colby Jacobsen (my anesthesia colleague), and Nancy (nursing director) were all very complimentary as they became aware of my retirement, and I am profoundly grateful for my relationship with them and the many other friends I have had during my career. 2) My foot wound, which I have been battling for almost 3 and one-half years, is making wonderful progress, and is now almost completely closed. The accompanying pain from months and years gone by is no longer part of my life. By the end of the summer I should have complete closure and healing of the wound, and I should be able to wear Altra shoes and large socks! I am also hopeful that I might be able to jog again, knowing that it will be a very slow speed. I would also be so grateful if I could hike again, one of the great joys of my life. 3) For the past 4 months I have been experiencing low back pain, and it has become a major issue in my life. In late May, Dr. Riley Stringham performed a lumbar steroid injection for me, and it has diminished the discomfort considerably. I am hopeful and prayerful that this discomfort will continue to diminish and eventually recede completely. I am very grateful for this blessing. I had an MRI of my lumbar spine in late May, and here are the results: a) Distal spinal cord – unremarkable b) Spinal canal – patent, with no significant stenosis c) L1-2 — disc desiccation, no significant posterior disc disease, facet arthropathy, no central or foraminal stenosis d) L2-3 — disc desiccation, small broad-based disc bulge, facet arthropathy, no central stenosis, mild bilateral foraminal stenosis e) L3-4 — disc desiccation, small broad-based disc bulge, facet arthropathy and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, no central stenosis, moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis f) L4-5 — disc desiccation, broad-based disc bulge, facet arthropathy and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, minimal central stenosis, moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis g) L5-S1 — disc desiccation and height loss, broad-based disc bulge, facet arthropathy, no central stenosis, moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis h) Impression — degenerative findings most significant at L5-S1 level where there are moderate central stenosis and modic-endplate changes.
June 4, 2026 — Here is a sweet texting interchange between myself and my wonderful wife on our 45th wedding anniversary, June 4th, 2026 — Michael: “Happy anniversary, sweetie! I love you so much! I hope you have a smooth morning with the dog.” Susan: “Good morning and happy anniversary. Can you believe it has been 45 years? They have been crazy yet wonderful years. Having you by my side has been the best! I am moving very slowly this morning due to my rough night. Love you.” Michael: “Sorry about your rough night. I love you dearly.” Susan: “Thank you so much for the flowers. They are beautiful and I love the lilies. I had lilies in our wedding bouquet!”
June 6, 2026 — This was a fun and momentous day for our family. Steven and Emily are expecting a baby, and today was the day of the ‘Gender Reveal’. They planned a big get-together at a park in Lehi, and they chose a unique way to make the announcement. They bought large packs of powder that was to be put under the rear wheel of a hot-rod car, such that when the car spun its wheels in a start-up skid, the bags would explode and send out either pink or blue powder. Steven had brought his ‘drift’ hotrod, and his friend Cale did the driving. At the chosen moment, the car spun its wheels and a huge plume of pink powder filled the air. Everyone yelled and cheered as Emily and Steven hugged and kissed in jubilation. They had also provided some good food and it was a very fun event. We are so happy to see the stability that is developing in Steven’s life!
June 11, 2026 — Today was my last shift at the Utah Eye Centers, and my last shift as a practicing anesthesiologist. The day went smoothly, and the Lord once again blessed my incredibly in the starting of an IV on an elderly woman with very poor veins. I was able to sneak a 24-guage catheter into a very small and tenuous wrist vein. I was so grateful for this miracle on my last day, helping me remember the countless times the Lord has stepped in and rescued me during my profession. I informed Colby Jacobsen, Dr. David Griffin, and Nancy Gibbs (nursing director) of my intentions to retire and they were all very gracious. Dr. Griffin and I have joked back and forth over the years about the music he likes to listen to in the operating room, and I have compiled a ‘fake’ list of his ‘favorite’ rock bands. Here are the ‘invented’ bands that I concocted for the list:
• Better Sorry than Safe • Colonic Spasms • Condemned • Dastardly Deeds
• Demented Designs • Devil’s Doorway • Dumpster Divers • Evil Tendencies
• Excrement • Grunge • Infectious Disease • Johnny Rotten and the Sex Offenders
• Mayhem Machine • Noxious Ways • Phlegm (my favorite) • Retribution
• Sacrilege • Sinister Ways • Six Feet Under • Solid Waste
• Stench (my 3rd favorite) • Stone Cold • The Corruptions • The Demonics
• The Deviants • The Down and Outers • The Mudd Puddles • The Malignancies (second favorite)
• The Psychotics • The Satanics • Who Cares
June 19, 2026 — Some texts I received from friends at UEC — Nancy Gibbs wrote: “I am sorry I didn’t get to give you a hug goodbye. It was a pleasure working with you all these years. You will be greatly missed but I hope you can enjoy retirement to its fullest. Don’t be a stranger, and stop by.” From Dr. Griffin — “I am still not emotionally okay with this departure. The world-renowned Dr. Taylor is irreplaceable and will be desperately missed. If you change your mind, please come back.”
June 20, 2026 — I had a sweet experience with the scriptures today. I was slowly reading Alma 19:13, which is the account of king Lamoni waking up from his divine sleep, and proclaiming that he had seen his Redeemer. This alone is so remarkable, knowing that shortly before this experience he stated to Ammon that he did not know what believing in God even meant. But an incredible revelation came to me as I continued in that verse and read, “…[the Redeemer] shall come forth, and be born of a woman…” I was so enlightened as I realized that this humble king, about 90 years before the birth of Christ, saw this transcendent event in his dream or sleep, and he even saw Mary, the mother of Jesus! I contemplated upon the greatness of Mary, and what an elect, chosen daughter of God she must have been, to be selected out of millions upon millions of women to be the one and only ‘mother of Jesus’. And to think that this king actually saw HER in his dream. I basked in the glow of the spirit for several minutes as the spirit rested upon me and opened my spiritual understanding to a remarkable event in the scriptures. I haven’t seen my Savior nor his mother in this life, but I know of a surety of their divinity and greatness.
June 21, 2026 — Today was a memorable Fathers’ Day. We were able to see many members of our family in person, and we ‘face-timed’ John, Noie, Jack, and Remi in St. George. I heard from all my children and in-laws, and it was a delightful day. I received the following sweet note from my wonderful wife: “Happy Fathers’ Day to a wonderful dad and husband! You have been a beautiful blessing to all of us. Thank you for teaching our family about the Savior through your words and the way you live. You are the best. Love you so much, Susan.” I also received this kind note from my wonderful Aunt Margaret: “Dear Michael, Happy Fathers’ Day! I love you! You are such a courageous, loving, patient father. You are the best! I hope you have a wonderful day! Thank you for all you do for me. Love, Margaret.”
June 27, 2026 — I witnessed the Lord’s hand in our lives today. Anne, who is serving as a counselor in her stake’s Primary presidency, had asked me to participate in a stake-wide Primary activity in which various stations or booths would be used to teach the children gospel principles. My booth or activity was center on astronomy and God’s hand in creation, life, and the blessing of His children. She wanted me to set up my telescope and show the children the grandeur of the heavens. Since the activity was in the day time, I decided to center our attention on sunspots, and then relate this information to Heavenly Father. When I started looking at the Sun earlier in the week, there were only two very, very small spots on the Sun, barely visible. I asked Anne and Susan to join with me in petitioning the Lord to bring some sunspot clusters to the surface so the children could get a better feel of these incredible storms. I looked again on Thursday and Friday, and the Lord had indeed brought a few more small spots into view. We were also praying for good weather as we had had wind, dust, smoke, and clouds for many days leading up to the activity. Lo and behold, on the designated Saturday morning, we had blue skies, minimal dust and smoke, and no wind. And when I looked through the telescope on Saturday morning, I was overcome by the Lord’s blessings. There were now FOUR large clusters of sunspots, beautifully visible through the telescope and my sun filter. I was overjoyed and thankful to the Lord. I was able to share wonderful facts and joys about the Sun, our solar system, and sunspots, and then the children looked through the scope, one by one. I loved seeing their eyes and countenances light up as they saw the Sun and the glorious sunspots. I received many thanks, but all thanks were due to the Lord for His intervention on that special day.
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