{"id":26656,"date":"2019-09-26T11:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T17:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=26656"},"modified":"2022-06-03T11:04:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T17:04:27","slug":"ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Dr.
Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon after a long, hot race in July. It was a culmination of 14 months of hard work to rehab after surgery for a rare lung iillness. Photo courtesy of Corky Dillon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard, three times a week. He worked 70-hour weeks helping run the Denver Veterans Administration hospital.<\/p>\n

Dillon, now 62, did all that until blood clots in his legs lodged in his lungs, scarred over and became something called CTEPH<\/a> (Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension). By the time Dr. Todd Bull<\/a> introduced Dillon to the team at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital\u00a0<\/span><\/a>on the Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a> (UCH), the Denver Veterans Administration executive could hardly make it up a flight of stairs \u2013 though he was still working the 70-hour weeks. Most people in Dillon\u2019s condition can\u2019t work at all, Bull told him. And without serious medical intervention, Dillon probably wouldn\u2019t be doing it much longer.<\/p>\n

That was in 2017, when the stage was set for what would be a remarkable collaboration among pulmonary specialists, surgeons, pulmonary rehabilitation experts, and not least a patient whose effort and determination was an inspiration to those who watched him overcome debilitating disease.<\/p>\n

Serious surgery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bull, a University of Colorado School of Medicine pulmonologist and the director of UCHealth\u2019s Comprehensive Lung and Breathing Program<\/a>, had run a series of tests on Dillon to arrive at the diagnosis of CTEPH. The disease is rare: with most patients, blood thinners clear pulmonary embolisms before they scar over. That hadn\u2019t worked for Dillon, so it would take surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Todd Bull<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMinimally invasive, right?\u201d Dillon asked, well aware of the wealth of catheter-based options in modern medicine. One of them, called an embolectomy, can remove lung clots. But not if they\u2019re scarred over.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Bull said.<\/p>\n

Bull then introduced Dillon to another medical term he\u2019d never heard of \u2013 a surgery called a pulmonary thromboendarterectomy<\/a>, or PTE. UCH, which has performed a half dozen successful PTEs since November 2018, is among the few medical centers in the country doing them now. But at that time, the procedure wasn\u2019t in the hospital\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n

Why did so few hospitals do PTEs? Consider what\u2019s involved. The body is chilled to 68 degrees \u2013 about 30 degrees below a normal core temperature (hypothermia kicks in at 95 degrees). That\u2019s so the patient\u2019s brain and vital organs aren\u2019t damaged when the heart is intentionally stopped and drained of blood for the roughly 20-minute sessions during which surgeons, in an open procedure, go in and remove scarred clots. If there\u2019s more to be done after 20 minutes, and there usually is, they repeat the exercise two or three more times. From start to finish, the surgery takes at least eight hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t many bigger surgeries,\u201d Bull said.<\/p>\n

To the coast<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In late 2017, Bull\u2019s team was working with doctors at University of California San Diego (UCSD) as UCHealth prepared to become the Rocky Mountain region\u2019s sole institution to offer PTE surgery. They had UCSD\u2019s strong support not only because of the long relationship developed through referring CTEPH patients for surgery, but also because UCSD\u2019s program was so busy that the waitlist had stretched to six months \u2013 which was how long Dillon would wait. Those preparations involved UCHealth cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. Jay Pal and Dr. Christopher Scott observing surgeries. They also encompassed preoperative and postoperative care and touched many medical specialties: surgery, critical care pulmonology, critical care anesthesia, radiology, nursing, operating room management and others.<\/p>\n

\"\"
CTEPH starts with one or more pulmonary embolisms, where a blood clot from the legs lodges in the lungs. Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In late 2017, during a visit to San Diego, Bull briefed the UCSD team on Dillon\u2019s case, and they agreed with Bull\u2019s and the UCHealth team\u2019s view that Dillon was a good PTE surgery candidate.<\/p>\n

By the time Dillon\u2019s turn came on May 30, 2018, he was still working more than full-time but couldn\u2019t walk up a flight of stairs without 15 minutes of gasping recovery. He was sleeping, poorly, while upright on a basement couch.<\/p>\n

The procedure took 10 hours. Dillon\u2019s heart was empty, cold, and still for 52 minutes of that. Before his wife Bonnie, daughters Candace and Cara and their husbands entered the ICU afterward, staff warned them that he\u2019d look rough. His family instantly noted his color and realized how ashen their husband and father had been.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing how quickly his color came back,\u201d Bonnie said. \u201cHe looked so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pump up the oxygen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But this had been a stem-to-stern incision, and the recovery early on was, as Bonnie put it, \u201ca long journey.\u201d The UCHealth Pulmonary Rehabilitation<\/a> team would play a big role along the way. On Mondays and Wednesdays from late June through late October, Dillon worked with respiratory therapists, exercise physiologist Brian Hemenway, and even dietician Holly Prehn at various times. Among their approaches was to boost the flow of supplemental oxygen while Dillon was on the treadmill stepping to tunes ranging from Roger Miller\u2019s \u201cKing of the Road<\/a>\u201d to One Republic\u2019s \u201cI Lived<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a
Dr. Corky Dillon\u2019s excised CTEPH blockages. Dillon\u2019s sister, upon seeing this image, said \u201cThey look like birds \u2013 birds in his lungs\u201d Photo courtesy of University of California San Diego and Corky Dillon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the goal is to minimize the need for added oxygen, why pump it up during exercise? Because that lets pulmonary rehab patients work harder than the weakest link their cardiovascular system \u2013 their lungs \u2013 would otherwise allow, improving the patient\u2019s overall fitness. Then with time, the pulmonary rehab team can cut back on the supplemental oxygen, says Alexandra Worl, a respiratory therapist and UCH\u2019s Pulmonary Rehabilitation coordinator. She adds that her team closely monitored Dillon\u2019s blood oxygen levels, keeping them at around 90 percent even with the added oxygen.<\/p>\n

Dillon was a model patient and an inspiration to her team as well as fellow patients, Worl says. He wanted to improve at least a bit each session \u2013 maybe he would go faster; maybe he would boost the slope of the treadmill\u2019s incline. He got back into his basement weight-training routine and did that three times a week in addition to treadmill work and long walks at home and around the neighborhood. He became a rare pulmonary rehab patient who jogged, not walked, on the treadmill. By his last session on Halloween day 2018, he had to be told to walk, not jog, the six-minute walking test. He had stopped using any supplemental oxygen at all by September. Dillon had managed 360 meters during the test when he had started four months earlier. The treadmill band rolled through 630 meters this time, and Dillon was just getting started.<\/p>\n

Climbing his first 14er – in the snow<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At the beginning of 2019, he set a goal of walking 11,000 steps a day despite his hectic schedule as chief of staff at the Denver VA hospital. Anyone with a sports watch will recognize this as a number you hit only with help from a five-mile run, a solid hike, or a very long walk. He kept getting stronger, and, by early June, had set his sights on a solo trek up Mount Bierstadt, a Colorado fourteener. It would be his first.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dillon during his solo trek up Mount Bierstadt on June 3, 2019. Photo courtesy of Corky Dillon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bonnie wasn\u2019t enthusiastic about the idea, but she had also been married to the man for 39 years. She teed up a smartphone family-tracking app and insisted that Dillon text updates as long as there was wireless coverage. The snow lay so thick it masked the trailhead \u2013 and, much of the way, the trail itself. Predecessors whose tracks he followed had opted to head more or less straight uphill. Borrowed snowshoes saved the day until about 13,500 feet, when thunderclaps turned him around. There had indeed been no coverage as the ascent had continued. She got a text from her husband when he was back at the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a nervous wreck,\u201d Bonnie said.<\/p>\n

Dillon\u2019s next conquest would be the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta, which he didn\u2019t tell Bonnie about until after he\u2019d already entered, either. That race, which he had run years earlier, was in early July. Despite temperatures in the mid-80s and high humidity combining for red-flag conditions, Dillon finished that one in an hour and a half \u2013 in the middle of his age group. He continues to walk, run, and work out and has his sights set on getting back on that KTM 300 dirt bike.<\/p>\n

Bull described Dillon\u2019s turnaround as \u201cjust an amazing clinical response.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a lot of people climb 14ers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see and very rewarding to be able to have participated in his care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holly considers it more than participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a miracle from God, because probably if we were anywhere else, another doctor might not have recognized what he had because it\u2019s pretty rare,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Moving to Denver\u2019s rarefied oxygen environment challenged his lungs, Dillon said, but in the end saved his life. He described care as \u201cremarkable in every facet,\u201d from the diagnosis to the surgery on through intensive care and pulmonary rehab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t thank them enough. I\u2019m about to have some tears, here,\u201d said a man who once ejected from a doomed military jet. \u201cI thought about it, and the mot juste<\/em> that comes to mind with regard to my medical care is \u2018splendiferous!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard, three times a week. He worked 70-hour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":26672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2597,82,811,2737,1497],"class_list":["post-26656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-comprehensive-lung-and-breathing-program","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiology","tag-heart-disease","tag-pulmonary-rehabilitation","tag-uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard, three times a week. He worked 70-hour […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Neff, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Neff, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Todd Neff, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/da7733ff5562e48e55c027d111ee5911\"},\"headline\":\"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\"},\"wordCount\":1680,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Comprehensive lung and breathing program\",\"Heart care\",\"heart disease\",\"Pulmonary Rehabilitation\",\"UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\",\"name\":\"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp\",\"width\":1190,\"height\":845,\"caption\":\"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon after a long, hot race in July. It was a culmination of 14 months of hard work to rehab after surgery for a rare lung iillness. Photo courtesy of Corky Dillon.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/da7733ff5562e48e55c027d111ee5911\",\"name\":\"Todd Neff, for UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Todd Neff, for UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Todd Neff has written hundreds of stories for University of Colorado Hospital and UCHealth. He covered science and the environment for the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado, and has taught narrative nonfiction at the University of Colorado, where he was a Ted Scripps Fellowship recipient in Environmental Journalism. He is author of \u201cA Beard Cut Short,\u201d a biography of a remarkable professor; \u201cThe Laser That\u2019s Changing the World,\u201d a history of lidar; and \u201cFrom Jars to the Stars,\u201d a history of Ball Aerospace.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/tneff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race - UCHealth Today","description":"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race","og_description":"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon had flown Air Force fighter jets before going to medical school and specializing as an ophthalmologist. He rode his KTM 300 dirt bike harder than a man in his seventh decade probably should. He ran in 10-mile bunches. He worked out with weights, hard, three times a week. He worked 70-hour […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Neff, for UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Neff, for UCHealth","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/"},"author":{"name":"Todd Neff, for UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/da7733ff5562e48e55c027d111ee5911"},"headline":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race","datePublished":"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/"},"wordCount":1680,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp","keywords":["Comprehensive lung and breathing program","Heart care","heart disease","Pulmonary Rehabilitation","UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/","name":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp","datePublished":"2019-09-26T17:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-03T17:04:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/26103914\/Peachtree-run.webp","width":1190,"height":845,"caption":"Dr. Harold \u201cCorky\u201d Dillon after a long, hot race in July. It was a culmination of 14 months of hard work to rehab after surgery for a rare lung iillness. Photo courtesy of Corky Dillon."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ten-hour-heart-stopping-surgery-puts-air-force-doctor-back-in-the-race\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ten-hour, heart-stopping surgery puts Air Force doctor back in the race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/da7733ff5562e48e55c027d111ee5911","name":"Todd Neff, for UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba17a8f1358d39c104ff6cb59da7fe21b9bfc792948447c3ac964e93b37aa49f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Todd Neff, for UCHealth"},"description":"Todd Neff has written hundreds of stories for University of Colorado Hospital and UCHealth. He covered science and the environment for the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado, and has taught narrative nonfiction at the University of Colorado, where he was a Ted Scripps Fellowship recipient in Environmental Journalism. He is author of \u201cA Beard Cut Short,\u201d a biography of a remarkable professor; \u201cThe Laser That\u2019s Changing the World,\u201d a history of lidar; and \u201cFrom Jars to the Stars,\u201d a history of Ball Aerospace.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/tneff\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":23,"name":"Todd Neff","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/tneff\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26656"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64172,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26656\/revisions\/64172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}