bobdina
08-16-2009, 04:27 PM
Airman aims to serve despite loss of legs
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Aug 16, 2009 8:26:20 EDT
Airman 1st Class Colton Read is back in his home state of Texas, ready to learn to walk again so he can stay blue.
Read believes he will once again stand tall in uniform despite losing both his legs after a botched gallbladder surgery. His family and friends believe it too.
“Of course he is going to have some struggles, but from the bottom of my heart, I believe he will be able to walk on both legs again,” said Steve Read, the airman’s father.
The younger Read went to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., on July 9 for laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, an operation he wanted so he could be deployed. A resident punctured his aortic artery, which is near the gallbladder, with one of four ports that had been inserted into his abdomen. The resident hadn’t even removed the gallbladder.
After the puncture, clotted blood clogged the two main arteries to Read’s legs. Without blood, the tissue in his legs died, leaving doctors no choice but to amputate. Read’s left leg ends above the knee, his right leg at midthigh.
On Aug. 6 — after 28 days in the hospital for what should have been routine outpatient surgery and after more than 20 surgeries to stave off the infections in his legs — Read flew on a C-17 Globe¬master from Travis to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to continue his recovery. He had turned 21 two days before.
Accompanying the imagery analyst was his wife, Jessica, his father and Jessica’s mother, as well as a critical care physician, a critical care nurse and a respiratory therapist.
“It’s sort of like a portable emergency room that flies,” said Air Force spokeswoman Marcia Klein.
When Read landed, Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, director of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance agency, was there to greet him. The two-star oversees the 9th Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., where Read is assigned. There, Read analyzed long roll film collected by U-2s.
“I immediately noticed he had a fresh hair cut and he had more color in his face from the first time I saw him in the hospital,” Heithold said. “We exchanged salutes on the plane.”
‘Huge challenges’
Read went first to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland. Later in the month, he is scheduled to start his rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, the Defense Department’s newest outpatient clinic for amputees.
At Wilford, Read got into a wheelchair on his own for the first time and wheeled himself outside.
“He gets in and out of that wheelchair and just wheels around the hospital,” Steve Read said.
Col. Jennifer Menetrez, the Center for the Intrepid’s director, said she couldn’t speak about Read but told Air Force Times about what it takes for double amputees to learn to walk again.
“In general, a [double amputee] faces huge challenges in terms of energy expenditure, balance, and coordination in order to ambulate with prostheses. It’s not insurmountable, but it takes a lot of preparation and ongoing conditioning,” she said.
Menetrez said she wouldn’t put a timetable on rehabilitation, explaining that each patient is different. Ordinarily, however, recovery and rehabilitation take months. For example, what’s left of the limbs must heal appropriately before an amputee can be fitted for prostheses.
Read will start with pre-prosthetic training, such as building strength in his trunk and his arms, Menetrez said. This part will be easier because of Read’s youth and his athleticism; he was recruited to play football out of high school, his family said.
The emotional healing is just as difficult as the physical rehabilitation, Menetrez said.
“In rehab, we look at the whole person and that includes physically, emotionally and that includes the family so we can create a good plan for everyone involved in the patient because even family members can be going through different things, as well, because this is a change,” she said.
All amputees go through a grieving process, especially service members who have a certain “body image” of themselves, Menetrez said.
Read and his family will have a counselor available at all times and will go through weekly group sessions, she said.
“No matter what the cause of the amputation, this is a change to the person’s functional ability and their relationships,” she said.
‘Have to see’
Read’s story reached the chief of staff, and airmen across the service have rallied to raise thousands of dollars to help him and his family.
“We really know now why Colton felt like he had a family in the Air Force,” Terry DeBrow, Read’s grandmother, told Air Force Times earlier this month. “They have all been like brothers to him.”
Family members, though, say they still want to know why Read wasn’t transferred sooner after the gallbladder surgery from Travis’ David Grant Medical Center to the University of California Davis Medical Center, about 40 miles away. The decision to transfer took nine hours.
Air Force officials have finished three of four investigations into the surgery at Travis. The reports won’t be released publicly and no administrative or policy changes at the hospital have been announced.
Regardless of the findings, Read wants to stay in the Air Force, his family said. When he woke up from his first surgery and his wife told him he had lost a leg and was going to lose another, his first question was whether he could stay in.
The service will not make any decisions on Read’s status until he finishes his recovery and rehabilitation, Maj. Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Air Force Times shortly after Read lost his legs.
Since 1999, 54 airmen have had leg amputations and only 14 have returned to duty. Eleven of those 14 lost at least one leg below the knee. Three returned to duty following amputation above the knee, according to Air Force records.
Heithold, the general, said it’s still too early to start thinking about the medical evaluation boards that Read would need to pass to return to his job in the 9th Intelligence Squadron.
“We’re still in the phase where we just have to see how the recovery goes,” the general said.
Still, Read remains committed.
“He just told me he’s going to do the best he can,” Steve Read said.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/08/airforce_colton_read_081609/
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Aug 16, 2009 8:26:20 EDT
Airman 1st Class Colton Read is back in his home state of Texas, ready to learn to walk again so he can stay blue.
Read believes he will once again stand tall in uniform despite losing both his legs after a botched gallbladder surgery. His family and friends believe it too.
“Of course he is going to have some struggles, but from the bottom of my heart, I believe he will be able to walk on both legs again,” said Steve Read, the airman’s father.
The younger Read went to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., on July 9 for laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, an operation he wanted so he could be deployed. A resident punctured his aortic artery, which is near the gallbladder, with one of four ports that had been inserted into his abdomen. The resident hadn’t even removed the gallbladder.
After the puncture, clotted blood clogged the two main arteries to Read’s legs. Without blood, the tissue in his legs died, leaving doctors no choice but to amputate. Read’s left leg ends above the knee, his right leg at midthigh.
On Aug. 6 — after 28 days in the hospital for what should have been routine outpatient surgery and after more than 20 surgeries to stave off the infections in his legs — Read flew on a C-17 Globe¬master from Travis to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to continue his recovery. He had turned 21 two days before.
Accompanying the imagery analyst was his wife, Jessica, his father and Jessica’s mother, as well as a critical care physician, a critical care nurse and a respiratory therapist.
“It’s sort of like a portable emergency room that flies,” said Air Force spokeswoman Marcia Klein.
When Read landed, Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, director of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance agency, was there to greet him. The two-star oversees the 9th Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., where Read is assigned. There, Read analyzed long roll film collected by U-2s.
“I immediately noticed he had a fresh hair cut and he had more color in his face from the first time I saw him in the hospital,” Heithold said. “We exchanged salutes on the plane.”
‘Huge challenges’
Read went first to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland. Later in the month, he is scheduled to start his rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, the Defense Department’s newest outpatient clinic for amputees.
At Wilford, Read got into a wheelchair on his own for the first time and wheeled himself outside.
“He gets in and out of that wheelchair and just wheels around the hospital,” Steve Read said.
Col. Jennifer Menetrez, the Center for the Intrepid’s director, said she couldn’t speak about Read but told Air Force Times about what it takes for double amputees to learn to walk again.
“In general, a [double amputee] faces huge challenges in terms of energy expenditure, balance, and coordination in order to ambulate with prostheses. It’s not insurmountable, but it takes a lot of preparation and ongoing conditioning,” she said.
Menetrez said she wouldn’t put a timetable on rehabilitation, explaining that each patient is different. Ordinarily, however, recovery and rehabilitation take months. For example, what’s left of the limbs must heal appropriately before an amputee can be fitted for prostheses.
Read will start with pre-prosthetic training, such as building strength in his trunk and his arms, Menetrez said. This part will be easier because of Read’s youth and his athleticism; he was recruited to play football out of high school, his family said.
The emotional healing is just as difficult as the physical rehabilitation, Menetrez said.
“In rehab, we look at the whole person and that includes physically, emotionally and that includes the family so we can create a good plan for everyone involved in the patient because even family members can be going through different things, as well, because this is a change,” she said.
All amputees go through a grieving process, especially service members who have a certain “body image” of themselves, Menetrez said.
Read and his family will have a counselor available at all times and will go through weekly group sessions, she said.
“No matter what the cause of the amputation, this is a change to the person’s functional ability and their relationships,” she said.
‘Have to see’
Read’s story reached the chief of staff, and airmen across the service have rallied to raise thousands of dollars to help him and his family.
“We really know now why Colton felt like he had a family in the Air Force,” Terry DeBrow, Read’s grandmother, told Air Force Times earlier this month. “They have all been like brothers to him.”
Family members, though, say they still want to know why Read wasn’t transferred sooner after the gallbladder surgery from Travis’ David Grant Medical Center to the University of California Davis Medical Center, about 40 miles away. The decision to transfer took nine hours.
Air Force officials have finished three of four investigations into the surgery at Travis. The reports won’t be released publicly and no administrative or policy changes at the hospital have been announced.
Regardless of the findings, Read wants to stay in the Air Force, his family said. When he woke up from his first surgery and his wife told him he had lost a leg and was going to lose another, his first question was whether he could stay in.
The service will not make any decisions on Read’s status until he finishes his recovery and rehabilitation, Maj. Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Air Force Times shortly after Read lost his legs.
Since 1999, 54 airmen have had leg amputations and only 14 have returned to duty. Eleven of those 14 lost at least one leg below the knee. Three returned to duty following amputation above the knee, according to Air Force records.
Heithold, the general, said it’s still too early to start thinking about the medical evaluation boards that Read would need to pass to return to his job in the 9th Intelligence Squadron.
“We’re still in the phase where we just have to see how the recovery goes,” the general said.
Still, Read remains committed.
“He just told me he’s going to do the best he can,” Steve Read said.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/08/airforce_colton_read_081609/