When Surgery’s Go “VERY BAD”…Airman loses legs after gallbladder surgery
July 23, 2009 by Da-Chief
Filed under Air Force News, Army News, Coast Guard News, Marine Corps News, Military Information, National Guard News, Navy News
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An airman lost parts of both legs and was in critical condition after routine gallbladder surgery at Travis Air Force Base went terribly wrong, his family said.
Airman 1st Class Colton Read was supposed to get his gallbladder removed laparoscopically — via a small incision — at Travis’ David Grant Medical Center on July 9.
During the procedure, surgeons nicked or punctured his aorta, a large artery that carries blood from the heart throughout the body, according to his wife, Jessica Read. The surgeons repaired the breach enough to save his life, but the repair began leaking and disrupted the blood supply to his legs, she said.
Read was flown to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where doctors told the family that damage from the lack of blood required amputation. Family members say he’s undergone 10 surgeries to remove dead tissue from his legs, leaving him without much of his right leg and the lower portion of his left.
And Read still hasn’t had his gallbladder removed because of the surgery complications, relatives said.
Travis officials would not comment on specifics, only saying a “serious medical incident” occurred at the hospital. The case is under investigation by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. surgeon general.
This is absolutely horrible! We were stationed at Travis for seven years. Both our daughters were born there. I had a wonderful pregnancy and delivery experience with our first daughter born in 2004 thanks to Dr.Coyne. My second pregnancy in 2007 was the complete opposite. We received a phone call from our doctor, we were told that our daughter had several cysts in her brain and that she was going to have Trisomy 18. We asked for a second opinion and we were told that their was no need. We were told that we could have an amneosentices ,but at the time the baby was still to young and having this could put me into labor and she might not survive. We received another phone call from a different doctor telling me that they knew for sure the baby had Trisomy 18. She went on to tell me that we had a couple of options, we could terminate the pregnancy now,or have our baby and she could die shortly before delivery,shorty after delivery,or she could live to be a few weeks or months old. This lady told me that god is giving this baby to us and that god will be taking this baby from us. She will be in a better place and one day we will see her and she will know who we are. I don't think I have the words to describe how we felt. Who tells someone this without even having a second opinion and especially over the phone! We insisted that we see a specialist at UC Davis,and we did! What happend next was mind blowing, their were NO cyst, our baby was healthy. We were in shock that any of this could have happend. Of corse when baby Rylie was born,we checked her out completly and we loved her that much more. We never once received an apology from our doctor or the lady from the phone call. We took away from this experience that doctors are not always 100% correct and it's okay to demand a second or sometimes third opinion. Our hearts go out to this family.