Colton had his 11th surgery last night between 7 and 9 p.m., and they removed more tissue from the right leg.  He rested well last night.  This morning, he is in and out of awareness.  We like to believe that sometimes, he recognizes us all.  He responds to us to some degree. 

Yesterday, Colton received a visit from Major General Glenn Bradley A. Heithold.  Colton was not able to communicate well, but he was able to tell his father, Steve Read, Tractor Papa, David Beasley and Grandmother, Terry DeBrow, early in the morning that he had to get up and clean his room for the visit. 

When Major General Heithold arrived, Colton recognized his name and saluted the Major General with his left hand.  Major General Heithold “coined” Colton with a coveted Air Force coin, and Colton held it for hours.  We had a visit from Chief Master Sergeant Suzan K. Sangster, also of the USAF.  She “coined” Colton, too.  Colton had briefed both Heithold and Sangster recently at their unit on visits, and both reported that he did an outstanding job.

Colton slept last night and is resting now. They are taking him into surgery this afternoon.  He still has a fever, but they have started antibiotics.

The original surgery happened two weeks ago today.

Colton's family and I would like to extend our thanks to Beale Air Force Base for the continued support during this difficult time.

Colton had a surgery last night, and he will have another today.
His left leg is sealed, but there are still problems with his right leg. His kidneys are functioning at 60 percent.
The breathing tube has been removed, but Colton is still heavily sedated and unable to speak.

Not good news for today.Colton's fever is
103.9 degrees.

It is not his blood, his sputum or his bile - that leaves the right
leg, which means we may lose it to the hip.

He is in a catatonic state now and does not respond at all - no talking, no moving, just lies there
while tears drip down his face. It is like shock, but the doctors are saying
no. They ran a cat scan on his head and found no blood clots and "normal
brain activity." 

They are still concerned about his gall bladder, his liver and stomach.  They can't do a contrast MRI because his kidneys are not strong enough to take the contrast. They are going to try an ultrasound prior to surgery in the morning. He is scheduled for 12 noon here to go in and
evaluate and decide on the leg. Please pray. Without that thigh leg,
there will be no hope for walking on prosthesis.

There is just nothing we can do to help him except take turns sitting with him and praying.

Colton and his bride, Jessica, pose for a photo on their wedding day in March 2008.

July 9, 2009

 6:30 a.m.
Colton went in to the Travis Air Force Base, David Grant Medical Center operating room for preparation for a gallbladder-removal surgery. His Paper work was missing, so he had to re-sign the pre-operation and medical release, which delayed the surgery.

9:00 a.m.
Jessica Read, Colton's wife, was informed that Colton went in to the operating room for surgery.

10:00 a.m.
A nurse ran out or the operating room yelling, “We need blood, now!”   

10:15 a.m.
Anesthetist came out of the operating room and asked for Colton’s blood type and ID card.  When Jessica asked why, the anesthetist he said that they ran into a complication during surgery, and Colton would be administered blood.

11:00 a.m.
Dr. Pichakron and Dr. Clay came explained to Jessica what happened during surgery.  They told her that too much pressure was applied during surgery, and they hit the aortic artery which caused Colton to lose a lot of blood.  Dr. Pichakron cut into Colton to clamp the aortic artery while she sewed the back together.

12:00 p.m.
Jessica saw Colton in the ICU at Travis Air Force Medical Center and contacted Beale A.F. Base 9th I.S. with Sgt. Dawson’s roommate.  He contacted Sgt. Dawson.

1:00 p.m.
Doctors decided to do an ultra sound of the aortic artery.

1:15 p.m.
Jessica had to leave the ICU with no explanation.

2:20 p.m.
They called and took him to intravenous radiology to insert dye in the catheter to check the function of the aortic artery.

2:30 p.m.
Sgt Dawson and Lt. Hubbert-Cerna arrived at the medical center and were escorted, with Jessica, into a private room. 

3:15 p.m.
Colonel Dye, Dr. Pichakran, and an unidentified Air Force gentleman met with Jessica, Sgt Dawson, Lt. Hubbert-Cerna and explained what happened during surgery.  At this point, they advised air lifting Colton to UC-Davis in approximately 20 minutes, and they said that a person can go six to eight hours without blood flow to his or her legs.  At this point, Colton’s legs had been without blood for 5.5 hours,

3:30 p.m.
A female quality control manager led the group upstairs to get directions to UC-Davis Medical Center. At this point, Colton’s legs had been without blood flow for 6.75 hours. 

4:00 p.m.
Sgt. Dawson and Jessica left for UC-Davis Medical Center. 

4:23 p.m.
They loaded Colton in the helicopter for UC-Davis.  Lt. Hubbert-Cerna left for UC-Davis.
We are now at approx. the 7.75-hour mark

5:30 p.m.
Sgt. Dawson and Jessica arrived at UC -Davis Medical Center.  We are now at approximately the 8.75 hour mark.

5:40
Sgt. Dawson and Jessica arrive at the ICU at UC Davis Medical Center and were informed Airman Colton Read arrived in the ICU 15 minutes prior to their arrival, at approximately 5:25 p.m.
We are now approaching 9 hours.

5:45 p.m.
Colton went straight into surgery at UC-Davis.

7:45 p.m.
Dr. Dawson repaired the aortic artery and conducted an angiogram to check his legs.

Friday, July 10, 2009
 
2:10 a.m.
Dr. Dawson told Jessica that he needed to remove Colton’s right leg past the knee.

2:40 a.m.
The leg was removed, and he was in recovery and on the way back to ICU.  The kidneys had taken a hit; there was a need to use a prosthetic aortic artery.  They were going to watch the legs closely.          

4:30 a.m.
Colton was taken back to ICU

6:30 a.m.
Colton continued to be in very critical condition

12 p.m.
Dr. Dawson informed the family that Colton’s kidneys were tiring and showing signs of a potential problem.  They were going to take him back in the operating room to check the left leg and the right leg.

5 p.m.
Colton stabilized and woke from a medical-induced sleep. However, doctors have had to do surgery to repair and replace the aortic artery stem. They amputated his right leg at the knee, because they severed the supply of blood to both of the femoral arteries.
  They have not stitched Colton, because they are waiting to get the results on the left leg and foot. He may lose the left, too. They have him on a breathing machine now, and he is very swollen from pushing fluids and blood.
  We told Colton about his leg, and he is very upset - as you can imagine.
  And, yes, the gallballder - which was supposed to be removed, is still intact.


7:30 p.m.
Dr. Dawson said Dr. Nasim Hedayati, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, (916)734-2026 was going to finish the surgery, and said they had to remove the right leg to the thigh. They also needed to remove the left leg.

10:00 p.m.
Dr. Hedayati informed the family that they removed the left leg.  They removed the bad muscle and tissue.  The kidneys were still in trouble, and the lungs had fluid in them. 

Saturday, July 11, 2009
8:00 a.m.
 Dr. Hedayati said that the fluid was still in the lungs, and the kidneys were better but still not out-of- the- woods.  The tissue in Colton’s right leg was still questionable, and although they would like to leave as much as possible for prosthesis, it may have to come off at the hip level.  Kidney dialysis was a temporary option, but the doctors did not want to add any additional potential for infection. At this time, he was still in critical condition, and they were concerned about blood clots in the arota, lungs, the legs and the kidneys.  While progress was better, it is not where they wanted it to be yet.

Colton has been in and out of deep induced drug induced sleep.  Dr. Hedayati wants to keep him comfortable and unaware, since they are taking him back and forth to surgery so often.

Sunday July 12, 2009
Dr. Hedayati said that she had contacted the rehabilitation group for consult on how much leg was necessary for the prosthesis, and they would be in Monday.  They were going to give him a second day of rest from surgery and try to get some of the fluid from the lungs.  The diuretic was working, and he dropped another 200 cc of output.  Therefore, there would not be a need for the dialysis at this time.

Monday July 13, 2009
Dr. Dawson said Colton was very critical but stable.  The kidneys had leveled out and stopped producing creatinine.  Over time, Dr. Dawson believes that Colton’s kidneys may heal to 100 percent, but he can’t be 100 percent sure

Dr. Dawson advised that he is going to be monitoring Colton for the rest of the day, but they are letting him rest. 

Tuesday July 14, 2009
1:30 p.m.
Colton is in surgery until 3:00 p.m.  The left leg is sealed with a wound vac.  They removed more bad tissue from right side and sealed it with a wound vac also.  The left side still at the knee at this time.  The right side still has debris in it, and the muscle in the thigh has deteriorated.   Tracking in a way predicted, when the early days were unpredictable. Colton is settling down.  New problems may crop up, fever is getting better.

Fluid is a problem in the lungs.  Over the next few days, it will get better.  Kidneys are better.  Urine is getting better, and there is no more muscle breakdown in the kidneys.  They’re not getting worse, not better, but are stable. Intravenous feeding will be starting in the next few days; may insert a feeding tube in the nose. Colton still has the effects of the anesthesia and sedation.  

 Wound care and dressing changes are done in the OR.  They make sure that there is no dead tissue.  The left side will take days to a week, but the right side will take more time.

Once side is more affected than the other, it could have been more clotting.

The kidneys have stabilized, and they have begun filtering.  They lost some of the reserve, but there is some hope for recovery.

Will he have problems with his kidneys?

Not necessarily. There may be some residual effect, acute renal injury, but they are not making promises.  Colton is heading toward improvement.  It’s hour to hour , day to day, with fluxuation.

Colton is watching and responding.  The breathing tube is to be left in until the surgeries are complete.