Deb Ramsey’s didn’t seem like a problem for a vascular surgeon, and for eight long months, it wasn’t.

It was just a problem that kept getting worse.

In February 2021, Ramsey, then 56, had her gallbladder removed. The surgery went smoothly. But when she got home, Ramsey noticed a strange, tangerine-size bruise on and around her right shin. The gallbladder surgery had done the job for her digestive system. Had it somehow damaged her right leg?

The answer, she suspected, was “no,” and her primary-care doctor and, later, dermatologists, agreed. But as they prescribed antibiotics and pondered the possibilities, weeks passed, and her entire lower leg grew increasingly bruised and inflamed. Some of the bruises turned into abscesses that wouldn’t heal.

That’s when University of Colorado School of Medicine vascular surgeon Dr. Max Wohlauer got the call. Vascular surgeons are best known for procedures on veins and arteries. But they’re also involved in wound care and limb salvage.

“Wounds that typically come through my clinic are related to blood flow. I performed a history and physical and quickly determined that her blood flow was normal and something else was going on,” Wohlauer said.

Angiosarcoma: a surprise diagnosis

Wohlauer saw Ramsey in the UCHealth Heart and Vascular Center – Anschutz Medical Campus. Ramsey had normal blood flow. But she had a wound that needed to be biopsied in the operating room. Wohlauer had an opening in his surgical schedule and did it right away. The biopsy revealed an angiosarcoma, a rare cancer of the blood vessels. Wohlauer immediately referred Ramsey to the Oncology team for further evaluation.

He also brought her case to the weekly sarcoma tumor board at the UCHealth Cancer Care – Anschutz Medical Campus. There, medical, surgical, and radiological oncologists; radiologists; and pathologists review challenging cases and come up with treatment options. Ramsey had two options. One was to amputate the leg above the right knee. The other was the try radiation treatment.

Ramsey, who loves to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and elsewhere in the mountains and foothills, went with radiation therapy. CU School of Medicine oncologist Dr. Breelyn Wilky – whose research focus is sarcomas – led Ramsey’s cancer care. She prescribed chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the latter of which CU School of Medicine radiation oncologist Dr. Ryan Lanning performed over the course of six weeks in fall 2021.

Wohlauer stayed involved in Ramsey’s would care.

“One of the things I love is continuity of care, getting to know patients,” Wohlauer said. “So that fit with Deb, even though she didn’t have a traditional vascular-specific condition. Plus, I could sense the importance for Deb to have a doctor who would stick with her throughout her illness and recovery.

Wohlauer did two surgeries to help the wounds heal, the second of which happened in November 2021.

‘Triumphant spirit’

Ramsey set a goal of dancing with her youngest son, Jason Ramsey, at his wedding that coming July. With Wohlauer’s blessing, she danced away.

When Ramsey asked him about her plans during a trip to Barbados a couple of months later, he encouraged her to make the trip. “I really want to go swimming with the turtles,” she added. She had open wounds at the time. Swimming in the ocean presented a real risk of infection.  “It’s good to have goals,” he offered but advised against it.

In November 2022, Wohlauer performed another surgery to help her leg wounds heal.

Months later now, as summer heats up, the wounds have finally closed. Ramsey’s scans show the cancer to be undetectable. Wohlauer has given the green light for swimming.

“I’m still going to swim with the turtles,” Ramsey said. “I just don’t have a date yet.”

Wohlauer appreciates what he sees as “a triumphant spirit” in this particular patient.

“She has overcome the odds. It’s been a real journey for her. It’s a pleasure to be her doctor,” he said.

Ramsey plans on getting out on the trails again this year. She credits Wohlauer with saving her leg – and perhaps her life.

Wohlauer saw somebody whose rare condition had led to many specialists but no single person for whom it seemed to make sense to take the reins to guide her care. So, he decided, he would do it.

“He always says, ‘It was a team effort,’” Ramsey said. “But I told him: ‘You don’t understand. I still have my leg because of you. I still have my life because of you.’”

Wohlauer had a different take.

“I just listened when it really mattered,” he said.