UNMC physician to be on national television

John Colombo, M.D., and Erin Keitges.

John Colombo, M.D., professor and chief of the UNMC pediatric pulmonology section, will be featured on a national television segment that will run on Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. on the CBS television network. The CBS affiliate in Omaha is KMTV (Ch. 3).

The program, “CBS Sports Spectacular — Arete Honors for Courage in Sports,” will highlight several athletes who have overcome obstacles to excel in sports. One of the athletes that will be featured is Erin Keitges, a 17-year-old Allen, Neb., girl who has cystic fibrosis and is an outstanding distance runner. As Erin’s physician, Dr. Colombo was interviewed for the segment. “Arete” is a Greek word that means overcoming obstacles.

Keitges (pronounced kite-jus) was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 5-months-old. Dr. Colombo has been her physician ever since the diagnosis was made.

Keitges is one of five athletes who will be profiled on the program. Among the athletes who have been profiled in past years are Lance Armstrong, Jackie Joyner-Kersey and Pat Tillman.

“Erin is an example for all cystic fibrosis patients to emulate,” Dr. Colombo said. “She has had good luck with her disease, but I think that can be credited in large part to the good care she takes of herself and her positive attitude. She is really a sweetheart.”

Erin Keitges winning the 1600-meter run in a close race.

Keitges is a senior at Allen High School, a Class D school located in northeast Nebraska about 25 miles west of Sioux City. The school is so small that it doesn’t have its own track. The team practices a couple times a week at the Laurel High School track, but oftentimes Keitges’ coach, Denise Hingst, just drops Erin off about three or four miles out in the country and lets her run back to town.

The training program has worked well for Keitges. This past May, she won both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs in Class D at the state track meet. Her time of 11 minutes, 36 seconds in the 3,200-meter run at the state track meet was the best time posted in Class D in 2005 and the third best time in the state in all classes. Her fastest time for the 1,600-meter run was 5 minutes, 26 seconds and also was posted at the state track meet.She has won the 3,200-meter run the past two years in Class D and finished second when she was a freshman. She has lettered in track all three years and is a starter on the high school basketball and volleyball teams, lettering twice in both sports.

“Dr. Colombo has always told me that it is better (for people with cystic fibrosis) to exercise,” Keitges said. “Plus, I’ve always loved sports, so it’s fun for me.”

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States. With cystic fibrosis, a defective gene causes the body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to chronic, life-threatening lung infections. These thick secretions also obstruct the pancreas, preventing digestive enzymes from reaching the intestines to help break down and absorb food. The chronic lung infections are responsible for shortening the life expectancy for cystic fibrosis patients to a median of approximately 35 years. In addition, many cystic fibrosis patients eventually develop diabetes.

“Cystic fibrosis is really a difficult disease to treat because so many organs are affected,” Dr. Colombo said. Since last year, UNMC has been one of only 12 sites in the country participating in a study using a particular gene therapy technique to treat the disease.

Unfortunately, that specific therapy did not show significant benefit, Dr. Colombo said, but several more studies of new treatments are ongoing at UNMC, and he is hopeful that one or more of these will contribute further to improved outcomes for patients.

For 20 minutes every day Keitges wears a special vest, which compresses her lung and back area to help loosen the mucus. The routine doesn’t bother her at all. “I usually wear it while I’m on my computer checking my e-mail,” she said.

Dr. Colombo said progress continues to be made. “When I first started seeing cystic fibrosis patients in 1981, the median survival age was only 16 and now it’s 35, so the survival age has more than doubled,” he said.

UNMC physicians are currently seeing about 250 cystic fibrosis patients, with about 150 of these patients being children. “We probably diagnose about six to eight new patients every year,” he said.

Starting Jan. 2, Dr. Colombo said a cystic fibrosis test will be administered to every newborn in Nebraska as part of a battery of mandatory tests used to detect a variety of genetic abnormalities in children.

“This should be a big boost in helping us diagnose cystic fibrosis earlier and allowing us to get treatments started right away,” he said.

Erin Keitges receiving the gold medal for the 3200-meter run.

Keitges speaks highly of Dr. Colombo. “I really like him,” she said. “He’s nice. When he finds something out, he always tells me about it. I’m glad he’s my doctor.”

The upcoming CBS special has attracted lots of local attention in Allen, she said, as the local newspaper did a story about it. On Nov. 21, her entire family has been invited to attend the NFL game in Green Bay, Wis., between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. At halftime of the game, former NFL star Boomer Esiason, who is now an announcer, will interview Keitges.

Esiason, who has a son with cystic fibrosis, has created the Boomer Esiason Foundation to help raise money for cystic fibrosis research.