Prayers and five operations give Hawai'i man new lease on life

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

There was no pain, no warning sign. It just happened one day in July 1999, a month before Marc Colozzi's 29th birthday.

Marc Colozzi jumps for joy in front of the Hawai'i Convention Center. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

At first, Colozzi ignored the symptom, hoping it would pass. His condition, however, only got worse.

"After a month, I wasn't fooling anyone," he said. "I was in Waikiki one night and couldn't walk two blocks without leaning on a friend."

Colozzi visited a chiropractor, an orthopedist and a neurologist before neurosurgeon William Obana finally diagnosed his problem as a rare form of debilitating birth defect called Type III spinal arteriovenous malformations, or AVMs, from which there is little hope of full recovery.

"AVMs are a tangled bunch of blood vessels, like a hairball," said Colozzi, co-owner of GCI Wireless and a photographer who produces the annual "Kiss Me Aloha" swimsuit calendars. "The blood flows in and they start to expand. Eventually, they'll burst.

"Most AVMs are in the brain but mine was pressing against the spinal cord, just below the neck."

Five months after experiencing the first symptom, however, Colozzi was walking normally again and shopping for Christmas gifts at Ala Moana Center.

"For one as far along as he was, it's very rare," said Dr. Robert F. Spetzler, chairman of neurology and director of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center's Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. "He's very fortunate."

The turning point occurred before Spetzler and his staff performed five operations — each lasting about six hours — on Colozzi in November 1999. Colozzi believes the difference was the strength he had gained through prayer, hope and the support of loved ones.

Of the four categories of spinal AVMs, Type III are the most difficult to remove because of their size and location on the spine. High-risk surgery can prevent death but often cannot forestall severe paralysis.

When his problem was discovered, Colozzi decided not to have surgery and to keep the condition a secret from everyone except his stepfather, retired Honolulu deputy police chief William Clark.

"I was more afraid of paralysis than death," he said. "I didn't want to sit the rest of my life.

"Dr. Obana told me the chance of a successful surgery was 20 percent to 30 percent. I found out that about 80 people in the world had what I had, and only six had been operated on successfully. 'Successful' means you're not going to get any worse than you were before surgery, not that you're going to get better."

Colozzi said that deciding whether to have surgery was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

"I thought by December I either wouldn't be walking or be dead. I had made plans to donate my organs. I thought why not enjoy my last few months and not be a burden to anyone."

But Colozzi's condition deteriorated more quickly than he expected, giving him cause to consider surgery. At the same time, Colozzi decided to tell the rest of his family about his condition in late August.

"As a mother, my first reaction was to protect my child," said Joanne Clark, the University of Hawai'i's executive director of community relations. "I called around and the more I found out about AVMs, the more depressing it got. There was no cure, and the odds were bad.

"Marc's first reaction to my telling him to have the surgery was, 'This is my problem, I'll deal with it.' It was really hard for us to realize he was an adult, and it was important for us to stand back and respect his wishes."

Ed Colozzi, who moved to Massachusetts after he and Joanne Clark divorced in 1989, agreed. "We were urging Marc to have it done, but it had to be his decision," he said.

The family's concern and his worsening condition made Marc Colozzi decide to have surgery.

"For the two months when we had made the bad decision not to have it, I could still walk," he said. "But I realized things were not working out in my favor. I was getting worse and by the time I went to have the surgery, they were pushing me around in a wheelchair. I had nothing more to lose."

Joanne Clark and Ed Colozzi went to Phoenix to be with their son.

"I think our attitude was if his organs were going to someone else, let it be," Ed Colozzi said. "And if he was paraplegic, then we'll all chip in and do what we can."

The delicate procedure involved several stages.

"Basically, they had to crack my neck bone open, like breaking an egg, just to get to it," Marc Colozzi said. "I was hopeful after the first surgery,"

"We prayed so much," he added. "There were hundreds of people e-mailing me. I had no idea there were that many people who cared for me."

By the third day, feeling had returned to his legs.

"We're so thankful, it was a blessing for everyone," Ed Colozzi said. "We prayed a lot. I think where God is concerned, all you need is Him on your side to beat any odds."

Joanne Clark says the whole experience turned out to be "a wonderful time to reconnect to my son."

"It gave us the opportunity to examine life," she said. "As the process unfolded, I realized how much pride I have in this kid for taking responsibility.

"Because of that, whatever was going to happen, we were ready to accept it."

Rod Ohira can be reached by phone at 535-8181, or by e-mail at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.