By Rick Sallinger

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) – John Krasowski, 61, of Colorado Springs has quite a story to tell. In early April, he went into Porter Hospital for back surgery.

They opened him up, then his surgeon discovered a yellowish brown stain on the surgical instruments.

“He made the decision, called the hospital administration, and made the decision to abort the surgery,” Krasowski told CBS4’s Rick Sallinger.

He says he was on the operating table at least four hours until he woke up afterward.

“Did everything go okay?” he asked. “How did it go? What was up? Was something wrong? They refused to tell me,” he said.

He says he learned later there was a substance on two sets of instruments.

“Once I learned there was contaminated stuff, it scared the hell out of me,” Krasowski said.

The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Patty Howell, said bone or tissue had been found previously found on some instruments, but in other cases the yellowish brown substance was tested to be harmless mineral deposits.

In an April 13 interview, Howell said, “The staff that was specific to orthopedics and spine, their pre-cleaning processes were just not as robust.”

RELATED: Porter Adventist Hospital Resumes Surgeries After Sterilization Issue

But Krasowski’s lawyers point out patients received warnings regarding surgeries that go back further. They were told they were under a low risk of getting an infection for HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C.

“Porter already knew they were having problems with sterilization of their instruments,” said Dan Sloane who is advising Kraskowski along with lawyer David Woodruff.

Krasowski finally got his operation done… somewhere else.

“I think I am progressing like I am supposed to progress,” he said.

CBS 4 received a written waiver from Krasowski that was presented to Porter Hospital so that it could address his specific case, but the hospital issued a statement saying:

Porter Adventist Hospital does not believe it is appropriate to discuss individual patient cases, especially when litigation is pending or threatened. Porter Adventist Hospital would like to reiterate that the residue discovered on the surgical instruments was a result of increased calcium, iron and other minerals within the water. Although completely safe, any increase in minerals when flowing with the equipment can cause some mineral deposit and buildup. Once the residue was discovered, Porter Adventist Hospital immediately and voluntarily paused all surgeries in an abundance of caution.

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.