What happened...
Welcome to my Loving Hotstuff website. My name is Cassandra Tynes, I'm Hotstuff's mom. On Dec. 19, 2014, Hotstuff underwent surgery to remove his bad eye. A board certified Veterinary Ophthalmologist, Dr. Filipe Espinheira performed the surgery at LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and removed Hotstuff's only good eye by mistake, instead of his bad eye, even though the correct eye to be removed was the only eye prepped/shaved. This wrong side surgery left 13 year old nearly deaf Hotstuff instantly blind. We still had to have his bad eye removed as well. I later had to make the difficult decision to have my beloved Hotstuff euthanized because he could not cope with everyday life after this incident of veterinary malpractice. We believe Hotstuff was suffering from canine cognitive dysfunction which was brought on by his traumatic experience of going blind instantly. This website will detail what happened, the journey we took together and the journey I am still taking in Hotstuff's honor. The struggles Hotstuff had, and his eventual end of life are hard to see, but the reason for sharing it is to emphasize how important something as simple as a surgical checklist can be, along with the importance of veterinary licensure at vet teaching hospitals. I hope by sharing this story with other pet owners that we can prevent this from happening to someone else's pet. We can achieve this together and cause something positive to come out of this horrible experience. I hope Hotstuff's story can be a positive one and can help to explain why a surgical checklist is a very powerful tool in improving patient safety in surgery. Please share my website so this never has to happen to another pet.
Hotstuff before surgery |
Hotstuff after surgery |
Hotstuff's good eye |
Hotstuff's bad eye |
Closeup of Hotstuff's eyes. Can you tell which is the bad eye?
The night I decided it was time to have my precious Hotstuff euthanized
Hotstuff was not euthanized because he was blind
Please view the "Details" page of this website and I explain why Hotstuff was euthanized. My opinion is that it is never okay to euthanize a dog simply because he is blind. If you read the details I've posted and the above video, as well as the other "after surgery" videos in the videos section, this is my best explanation of what we were dealing with. We believe Hotstuff was suffering from canine cognitive dysfunction which was brought on by his traumatic experience of going blind instantly. This video is hard to view.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. - Dr. Seuss