Grandfather Sends Annual Letter of Gratitude After Life-Saving Hip and Heart Surgeries

Randoll and Sharon Colwell of Miamisburg, Ohio, will celebrate their 57^th wedding anniversary in August 2025. They’re both retired and have two adult children, six adult grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

The couple have adopted a philosophy of living in the moment. “We wake up in the morning without a plan and do whatever happens until we go back to sleep. We take it one day at a time.”

Behind that outlook lies a profound resilience shaped by a challenging health journey Randoll and Sharon navigated side by side.

In 2015, Randoll had total hip replacement surgery at a hospital near his home that resulted in ongoing complications. The following year, he became gravely ill and was hospitalized.

On the advice of physicians, Sharon agreed Cleveland Clinic was where Randoll needed to go for care. It was February 2016, and a blizzard had closed many airports in the region. Randoll was transported by ambulance about 40 miles to the Cincinnati airport where Cleveland Clinic Critical Care Transport flew him to Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland, Ohio.

“He may not make it,” Sharon remembers being told.

“They said I was in bad shape,” Randoll recalls.

His heart was failing – working at less than 10% normal capacity -- and there was an infection in his bloodstream. Physician specialists in cardiac and orthopaedic surgery discussed the options. They decided the infection in his hip had to be treated first before his heart could be repaired. If not, the repaired heart would be reinfected.

Two days after Randoll’s arrival to Cleveland Clinic, he was in the operating room with orthopaedic surgeon and Section Head of Orthopaedic Oncology Nathan Mesko, MD.

“The hip implant was well healed to the bone, but it had to be removed to resolve the infection source,” Dr. Mesko says. “The only way was to break the femur (thigh bone) through a controlled technique called an extended trochanteric osteotomy. It’s a huge surgery with a lot of blood loss,” he continues. “I put in a spacer where the hip implant was until a new prosthetic hip could be implanted at a later date, if all went well with his heart surgery.”

An antibiotic spacer is frequently used in cases of infection or complex reconstructions. It helps deliver antibiotics directly to the infected area while maintaining tissue tension for future surgery.

According to Dr. Mesko, “The whole reason for doing the hip surgery was to get Randoll a ticket to the cardiac operating room. The challenge was enabling Randoll’s heart to get him through the orthopaedic procedure so he could be a candidate for heart surgery.”

Dr. Mesko says every minute matters in the operating room, especially during high-risk surgeries. The orthopaedic surgery took place in a specialized cardiac operating room where a cardiologist and cardiac anesthesiology team focused on maintaining Randoll’s heart function throughout the surgery.

Prior to the start of the four-hour operation, Dr. Mesko says every team member lined up and talked through exactly what they would do and when. “It’s like a symphony. You rehearse and then start the performance. Most surgeries are not quite as orchestrated on such an urgent timeline, but that’s how we did it. Every person knew their cue and when to come on stage; it was a flawless performance.”

Four days after his hip surgery, Randoll underwent heart surgery. It was Feb. 15, his 69th birthday.

Jose Navia, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon, “overhauled Randoll’s heart,” Sharon says. Dr. Navia replaced three valves, performed two bypasses and repaired a perforated septum.

Sharon says Randoll was in the cardiac intensive care unit for about two weeks before he was transferred to a stepdown unit. Cardiologist Steven Nissen, MD, oversaw Randoll’s care in the intensive care unit.

Randoll was then transferred to a post-acute care facility near his home, where he stayed for 19 days receiving physical and occupational therapy.

“I spent 50 days combined at Cleveland Clinic and the post-acute facility,” Randoll says. In March 2016, he went home to continue his recovery and rehabilitation therapies.

In August, Randoll and Sharon returned to Cleveland Clinic, where Dr. Mesko performed a second orthopaedic surgery to remove the hip spacer and give Randoll a new prosthetic hip.

Randoll faced a long road back from his hip and heart surgeries. “You do what you have to do," Sharon says.

“We don’t have answers,” Randoll says. “We were just along for the ride.”

In good health, Randoll now walks about 300 feet to the mailbox and back each day. He cuts grass on a riding lawn mower, teasing Sharon he does “all the work around here.” With nothing but gratitude, Randoll shares that Sharon “did everything” for years.

Although his body has healed, Randoll says it took several years for him to mentally process everything he went through.

The year after his three surgeries, Randoll celebrated his birthday with cake and ice cream. He says he had a strong feeling he should send Dr. Mesko a note of thanks. “I sent him an email with the subject line -- Checking in. It didn’t end in 2016,” he remembers writing.

Sharon said it was important because Randoll would not be here without Dr. Mesko. “There’s always hope.”

“You’ve got to believe in a higher power after what we’ve been through,” Randoll says. “It comes from the inside out, not from the outside in.”

Randoll and Sharon now relish each day and their time with family. “We are not going to travel to Europe. We are not going to jump out of a plane. We don’t have a bucket list. We enjoy each day as it comes. We wish everyone could do that.”

Dr. Mesko says Randoll’s birthday notes are special for him and other providers. “It’s an annual reminder of the impact we have and the ripple effect that extends far beyond the surgery or clinical encounter.” Randoll beat the odds and is thriving, according to Dr. Mesko. “It’s a true message of gratitude. Not every day is promised to us.”