Celene Olanyk

Celene Olanyk, 17, left, helps her father, Whately Selectman Charles Olanyk, in his recovery at home from his collapse into a coma last summer.She is a student at Frontier Regional School and Greenfield Community College.

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Olanyk was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, and later to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he was diagnosed with a gangrene infection on his foot as a result of diabetes he didn't know he had.Olanyk had his right leg amputated below the knee at Baystate.In August, he was sent to Heritage Hall in Agawam for rehabilitation.

With the support of his family, friends and co-workers, Olanyk came home March 1 with a prosthetic leg - and minus the 128 pounds he had to lose to be a candidate for a prosthesis.

Although he is still recovering, he has been back twice to work at Leader Distributing Systems Inc. in Brattleboro, Vt., where he is an operations manager.He hopes in a few weeks to be back part time at his job and attending selectmen's meetings, where he serves as chairman.

Before his collapse in July, Olanyk knew he had lymphedema, a disease that affects the blood vessels and blocks arteries.If the arteries in the legs are affected, lymphedema sufferers can lose feeling in their feet and toes; if left untreated, gangrene can set in and amputation must occur.

Olanyk didn't realize he had lost sensation in his foot, a common occurrence among people with diabetes, and an ulcer developed.Diabetes compounded the problem because it affects the circulation.

Diabetes had caused the gangrene that released toxins into his body, creating a condition that caused organ failure and sent him into the coma.

"To save his life, his leg was amputated below the knee," said Dr. Robin Gottlieb, who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation and met Olanyk at Baystate after his three rounds of surgery.
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"When I woke up from the coma, I had lost all my muscle tone and I couldn't even lift my head or feed myself," Olanyk said."I was weak, depressed and mourning.I didn't want to be called an amputee."

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After the amputation, it took two months for Olanyk to gain the strength to begin prosthetic training and to stabilize his lymphedema through a weight-loss program at Heritage Hall.He was put on a special diet at his request and met regularly with a dietitian.

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Olanyk slowly worked up to two hours a day of physical therapy five to six days a week.

Gottlieb credits Olanyk's thorough recovery to a positive attitude as well as a supportive employer and cooperative insurance carrier.But Olanyk said he wasn't so motivated when he first arrived at the hospital.

According to Olanyk, he doesn't remember being taken to Baystate and only vaguely recalls doctors talking to him about a possible amputation.

"At first they said 'just a couple of toes,' " Olanyk said."I remember telling them that if it was going to be anything more than that, my choice was to die."

But because Olanyk had fallen into a coma and was in a critical-care unit for three weeks, doctors spoke with his wife, Carol, and daughter Celene, 17, who chose the amputation to save his life.

"I'm thankful now that they made that choice," Olanyk said."They think the world of me and love me."

After surgery, Olanyk does remember asking for some pineapple to eat.He says he might have been harking back to a time decades ago when he worked in the Dominican Republic with his wife.He received apple juice instead, and was told that his leg had been amputated.

But Olanyk and his wife agreed that he wouldn't come home until he could walk.

"I was pretty down for the first 90 days," Olanyk said."But then I thought, my daughter and my wife are great and my family and friends all support me.The only one feeling sorry for me is me."

Sarah Connelly, Heritage Hall's short-stay rehabilitation director, said Olanyk faced a long road from amputation through rehabilitation and that his attitude helped speed his progress.
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"He surprised us all at how far he has progressed," Olanyk said."As a rehabilitation team, we can only educate and assist.It takes a person to be actively involved to succeed. (Olanyk) is really achieving his goals and that's our biggest reward."

While he is now walking with a prosthetic, Olanyk says he can still feel sensations that seem to be where his toes once were."I can feel my toes wiggling right now," Olanyk said."Those nerve endings never go away."

Olanyk is closely watching his other leg to make sure it doesn't develop any sores and is also looking into obtaining a vehicle with a gas pedal beneath the left foot or hand controls.He has nothing but praise for Gottlieb, specialist Gerda Maissel and physical therapists Neha Dean and Michelle Payson, along with everyone else who assisted in his surgery and rehabilitation.

"Everyone at Heritage Hall is such a good person," Olanyk said."I can't say enough about them.

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