Routine Surgery Goes Terribly Wrong

A Gulfport woman is hoping her pet’s life and resulting death will help change operating policies and procedures at veterinary schools and hospitals around the country after a routine surgery went terribly wrong.
Three stockings hang at Cassandra Tyne’s Gulfport home as she prepares for Christmas. But one stocking, and family member, is missing this holiday season. Hot Stuff, the beloved pet Tynes decided to put down after a routine surgery went terribly wrong. “The surgeon said ‘something terrible has happened’. I said ‘is he alive?” and they said ‘yes, yes, yes, he’s alive but we removed the wrong eye by mistake.’ I was shocked, stunned. I didn’t know what to say because he had only one good eye.”
Instead of removing the painful ulcerated eye, the surgeon at LSU’s vet school removed Hot Stuff’s only good eye by mistake, plunging an already near deaf dog into permanent darkness both inside and out. “I would hug him and pet him. He knew I was there. He could smell me. He could hear me. It was the only time I could not console my dog. There was absolutely nothing else I could to make him feel better,” said Tynes.
Cassandra Tynes was forced to make the difficult decision no pet owner ever wants to face. “Unfortunately, it got so bad we had to end up euthanizing him.”
Tynes says a simple surgery checklist would have prevented this from happening. She hopes this is a message that will travel beyond the fence here in the Gulfport yard where Hot Stuff used to play. “If they had done a surgery checklist, I have the surgery checklist from the World Health Organization posted on lovinghotstuff.com and you can see one of the questions is ‘what site are you doing the surgery one?” and that would have changed it all for Hot Stuff,” said Tynes.
News 25 reached out to LSU, and while they turned down an interview, the university did issue this release in regards to Hot Stuff’s situation: “We reviewed and strengthened our operating room procedures based on this case. We continue to strive to make sure that all policies and procedures are followed to ensure that the best health care is provided to our patients.”
Tynes believes this is a step in the right direction but says it won’t be enough until mandatory checklists are put in place.
While Hot Stuff’s life was cut short, Tynes hopes his story will one day lead to longer lives for others going down the same path he and his owner have had to travel.
LSU offered Tynes a $17,500 settlement that would include her silence but she tells News 25 that telling Hot Stuff’s story is much more important to her.
To learn more, you can visit lovinghotstuff.com.