TAMPA — Javar Garrett sits in an office at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, poring over meticulously organized notes on anemia and planning out his day. His backpack holds an iPad, a binder of his own illustrated notes, and a dog-eared copy of Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO.
He's 19.
He isn't a doctor — not yet — but a patient, one whose own case of sickle cell anemia has inspired him to study medicine.
"Your condition is not your conclusion," Garrett tells himself.
And so, three days a week, all summer, the University of South Florida pre-med student has followed around a doctor at the hospital, taking notes. Not just any doctor. His own doctor.
Garrett treats it like a job, arriving in a button up shirt and tie. He wears a small black cross around his neck and retro glasses. This morning, there's also a bright blue plastic hospital bracelet, a remnant of a 9 a.m. echocardiogram.
Nurses bombard him with hugs as he makes rounds with Dr. Mark Mogul, the hospital's director of pediatric hematology and oncology. Mogul, his mentor, has been his doctor for the past year, but some of the staff members have known Garrett since birth.
He knows the hospital well. He recalls, at 13, spending a month there, entertaining himself by spinning gauze and cotton balls into spiderwebs for his Spider-Man stickers. He would stack thermometer covers on top of each other to form a pole long enough to poke his nurses.
Now, about once a year, Garrett spends a week at a time in the hospital for routine examinations.
Sickle cell anemia is a lifelong blood disease that causes blood cells to change shape from a normal, malleable disc to a rigid crescent or sickle shape that can block blood flow to the body's organs. It can cause strokes and instances of intense pain.
But Garrett says his disease is a "blessing, not a burden."
He views the six doctors who have treated him throughout his life as teachers.
That's why he sent Mogul an email at the beginning of the summer asking to shadow him. Garrett noticed his doctor's wit and smile and decided to try to emulate him. Mogul is a "book on everything," Garrett said.
The doctor said his young patient is a sponge: bright, interested and full of questions. Best of all, he has an ability to connect with patients through shared experiences.
"I was so happy to hear he wanted to be a doctor because he's a very empathetic person and, because he's spent so much of his life in the hospital in pain, his empathy extends to a whole other level," Mogul said. "He really changes the mind-set of some of these kids."
Garrett's path to becoming a doctor won't be easy, Mogul said.
Years ago, those with the disease lived only to their 20s or 30s. With medical advances, life expectancy climbed to the 60s and 70s. But the only cure is a bone marrow transplant.
The attacks — pain to the joints, arms, legs, back or all over — can come out of the blue or be triggered by cold temperatures.
Garrett takes folic acid and a chemotherapy drug before his 7 a.m. oatmeal.
Coping with the pain isn't the hard part, he says. First he had to learn to control his mind.
"The pain has always been something I could manage, but what I think is really detrimental is when you're mentally hurt as well as physically hurt," he said.
"I tell myself, 'I don't want to go back to the mental hurt, so I'm going to stay here and physically hurt because that's something I can handle better.' "
He throws himself into hobbies — like playing the video game Assassin's Creed.
A classical and jazz pianist since age 6, he listens to jazz great Herbie Hancock.
He shares long talks with family, including three older sisters. His father is a retired Tampa police officer and his mother works at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. They live in Thonotosassa.
Staying busy helps Garrett cope, he said, but his biggest source of comfort and strength is his Christian faith.
He prays about his family and his future, and asks for assurance the things he does are "not for my own selfish reasons, but for a more altruistic purpose," he said. It helps him handle moments when his mind turns dark.
Mogul sees his boundless drive and passions, and knows those things can't be learned in medical school. He expects them to set Garrett apart as he pursues his profession.
"I love his strength," Mogul said. "I love his faith. I did a study, he's about 14,000 times braver than I am.
"His compassion, his integrity — it's just unique to see that in someone so young."
Contact Anastasia Dawson at adawson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3377. Follow @adawsonwrites.