Today should have been Leo's 6th birthday. And it would have been, had it not been for the negligence, unprofessional-ism, and incompetence of Dr. Ronald L. Beeley.
From the time he was a puppy, Leo would go to the park with my dad every morning. At the park, there was a group of dogs that loved to play together. There were never any problems. The owners could just let them off the leash to play. It was a dream scenario for a dog, and Leo loved it. He was a Golden Retriever, so he always has a pleasant disposition. For the most part, he was well behaved because he was very smart. The other dogs and their owners loved Leo, and he loved them...and the time he spent every morning with my father.
This activity kept Leo in tremendous shape. With the exception of some ears that sometimes got a little itchy, he had no health issues. My dad would ride his bike with Leo, and when Leo caught a glimpse of the other dogs in the park, he would drag my dad on his bike across the grass...even if my dad had the brakes applied.
Then one Tuesday in April of 2010, Leo suddenly stopped playing. He let out a slight whimper and my father knew right away that Leo had injured his rear left leg. My father rode home on his bike with Leo in his lap. My mother took him to their veterinarian of over 40 years and learned that Leo had torn a ligament in his left knee. The veterinarian, not being a surgeon, contacted the doctor that normally performed his surgeries. The doctor was on vacation and would not be available for two weeks. The veterinarian did not want to make my parents or Leo wait, so he made some phone calls and he was told to bring in Dr. Ronald L. Beeley. Leo's surgery was scheduled for that Friday. Leo went to sleep with a left leg that was causing him considerable pain, he would wake up in even more pain.
After the surgery, Leo was going to spend the night in the animal hospital, so there wasn't much thought as to how he was doing. Around 9 o'clock that night, there was a knock on my parents' door. It was their vet, and he was pale, shaking, and extremely sweaty. He could hardly get the words out as to what had happened. What he said next was incredible. Dr. Ronald L. Beeley had performed surgery on Leo's healthy right leg. So Leo went to sleep with a left rear leg that hurt and didn't work right, and woke up with two rear legs that hurt and didn't work right.
How could this happen?
When Leo went in, the technician in charge of prepping Leo for surgery shaved the wrong leg. For a capable doctor that would have been a minor mistake. But Dr. Ronald L. Beeley did not look at the chart. He knew he was there to operate on a knee, and just went right to work on the shaved leg. There was a small bit of scar tissue in that right knee from when Leo was a puppy, so Dr. Beeley figured that was what he was there to fix. He then proceeded to try a new and unproven technique to fix the knee that did not need fixing. When he was done, Dr. Beeley stitched Leo up and went on his negligent way. That was the beginning of Leo's nightmare.
My parents were upset, but their vet, who they had known for 40 years, promised to make it right. Not only would they not have to pay for the surgery, but the vet would cover the cost of the surgery needed to make Leo better.
When he came home, Leo was in a lot of pain and could hardly walk. They had to wait a few weeks to allow him time to heal before going in for the surgery to fix the original problem. It didn't take long for the unnecessarily repaired right knee to come apart. Whatever Dr. Beeley did didn't work. It probably didn't help that Leo didn't have a good back leg to stand on, and the extra strain undid whatever experiment Dr. Beeley had performed.
The injury occurred on April 13th, with the first surgery taking place on the 16th. From that point Leo underwent multiple surgeries on each leg. Each time, something happened to make them have to go in again. There was a time when he was able to get to the park, but it wasn't the same. He couldn't run with the other dogs, but he still enjoyed just watching them run around him. But every time it looked like he was getting better, he had to have another surgery. On top of the structural issues, he also got several infections. He was constantly medicated on anti-inflammatory pills, antibiotics, and pain killers. Through it all, he never seemed unhappy. You could tell he was in pain, but he always had that classic Golden Retriever smile and still made his best effort to enthusiastically greet my dad every night when he came home from work. Leo loved everybody, and everybody loved him.
On June 8th of this year, Leo just didn't seem well. He did not want to eat, and everything he did eat, he almost immediately threw up. We thought it was just an upset stomach. But that night, Leo wanted to stay outside. He spent the night digging in various places around the yard, and Leo had never dug before. In the morning, he didn't want to move. He tried to drink water, but he just threw it up. My father rushed him to the vet, and their staff sprang into action. By this point Leo couldn't move. They took care of him like he was one of their children. They made him comfortable, got the IVs going to get him hydrated, and started running tests. He was in good hands.
At 10am the vet called and said that Leo had a perforated bowel and would need surgery. At 11am he called and said that Leo had passed away.
The vet showed us all kind of test results and such, but it just came down to the fact that Leo's body just couldn't take it any more. Just 14 months earlier he had been completely healthy, but those last 14 months were spent in and out of surgery after surgery and in pain. Up until those last two days, Leo was smiling.
Leo's death has left a huge hole in our family. Even our cat Buddy is not the same. He used to spend time every night kneading Leo's side and snuggling with him. I'm not sure Leo enjoyed it as much as Buddy, but he let him do it, and they seemed happy. It was their thing.
Nothing we can do will ever bring Leo back, but I want to make sure that no other animal has to go through what Leo went through. Had he had the correct surgery on the correct leg the first time, it is unlikely that this would have ever happened. Blame needs to be placed where blame was earned. Had Dr. Ronald L. Beeley done his job then this would have never happened. Dr. Beeley just couldn't take the time to check the chart. Even if he would have just performed his shoddy brand of surgery on the correct leg, Leo would probably still be here today. Instead we have to celebrate his 6th birthday without him.
You can check out Buddy and Leo on YouTube.
I love you Leo. I hope you're running somewhere.
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