The next few days were a bit of a blur: conversations with OSU, letting friends know, calling the family we purchased him from, insurance and bankers, autoposy and cremation. Daniella made me promise to bring him home--a promise I quickly made and immediatly wondered how to get it done. After a conversation with Ohio State they referred me to the folks that do cremations for them. Although I was told to talk to one person and another, OSU eventually agreed to pay for it.
They were going to send me Reiley's halter, shoes, tail and a clay imprint of his hoof. They did, however it said Martini on the imprint instead of Artini or Reiley. Under normal circumstances I'm sure this would have been no big deal, but it seemed catastrophic at the time. I called OSU, asking how I could take the "M" off. After the third person I spoke to asked me if he was euthanized I believe I began to be known there as the "the crazy lady." Fortunately, a great customer of mine took it home with her and the "M' is indeed gone. Thanks, Barb.
On Saturday, three days after Reiley's passing, Daniella was supposed to go to Springfield, Ohio to run for Ohio Quarter Horse Queen. We couldn't decide even on Saturday if she was up to it. I had called the folks in charge to give them the heads up on the possibility of her not being able to come. They have to have dinner with the judges, give an interview, take a test and ride a horsemanship pattern the following day. She hadn't studied since Tuesday, she didn't know if she could get through an interview without crying, she didn't want to see all of her show friends on their healthy horses, she didn't want to talk to anyone or have anyone talk to her, and yet she just couldn't decide to not do it either. Finally we just left for Springfield, knowing we might turn around and go home at any moment. I give her all the credit in the world for going through with it. She did cry at the interview, but she did it. We'll know the results at the Ohio banquet in February.
It's amazing how quickly news travels in our quarter horse world. The support we received in Springfield, at Congress, and throughout Ohio and West Virginia is amazing. The trainers and competitors already knew and as little as we wanted to talk about it, having people cry with us helped to heal us in spite of ourselves. Our thanks to everyone that understood how emotional we were.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Please scroll to the end to read these posts from the beginning
We arrived home around 4:00 am and tried to sleep for an hour or so. Ohio State called around 7:30 to tell us he still was not standing. No one had anticipated any
problems, we were tired and getting very emotional. I had called my insurance company before the surgery started and I called back to update them. I had the wonderful fortune to find on the other end the nicest adjustor of any insurance company that you could encounter. To say my words were understandable would be an exagerration. He was patient, kind, sympathetic and truly took over for us.
My friends and customers started arriving for lessons to find us exhausted and teary.
One by one they joined us on the couch and on the porch, waited for updates and let others know what was going on. We received a call saying they were going to put him in a sling to help him stand if he wasn't up by himself at 1:00. He needed to
get up. They would call in an hour or two to let us know how it went. The time kept passing and we were getting more anxious as it passed 4:00 and 5:00. I had asked if we should come up to be with him before they put Reiley in the sling and was told that sometimes horses would fight the sling and OSU would let us know if it became time for us come up. The later it was the more I wished I had just gone back up to be with him or never to have left at all.
Finally around 6:00 I received a call from an operator at Ohio State, saying to hold for the vet and that I was being recorded. I had my phone on speaker so that my daughter, Daniella, could hear at the same time. We knew already that it was not good since the operator had not been the one to call at any other time, but when the vet came on we let out our breaths with relief when she came on with a cheerful voice. Our relief was very short lived when she continued to tell us Reiley had passed. I know that telling someone this kind of news must be horrible, but for the life of me I can't understand where the cheerful, "Hi, Marti" came from. Daniella started screaming and I know the vet could hear her. She attempted to tell us what had happened to Reiley and finally just asked if we wanted to call her back and I hung up.
For Dani's sake I have to skip the next hour. I don't know how long she laid on the bed crying and I can't repeat most of what came out of her. The one line I can never get out of my head is "I've lost my best friend, I've lost my best friend" over and over. Finally I left her in her friend's arms and went on the porch to call them back and get the details. My friends were waiting out there for me and I put them on speaker phone in case I wasn't able to talk to them.
I was told he was a good boy in the sling, cooperative and trying, although having a hard time supporting himself and they had to give him breaks and let him try again. Here, I will quote medical records, "4:00 pm-Martini [as they refer to him, it says Artini on his papers] was lowered from the sling and reattached MLK CRI for pain and IV fluids. His other medications (Naxcel and Acepromazine) were also admininstered. During this time there was an error in administration of MLK (which was administered on a fluid pump for safety) and an overdose of the MLK was given. As soon as the error was noted reversal agents and resuscitation methods (epinephrine, naxolone, nasotracheal intubation and administration of oxygen with a demand valve, and chest compressin) were intiated. Unfortunately, he could not be revived. It is still unknown how or if the pump malfuctioned and testing is being conducted." On a side note I was told that before the overdose he had never given up or stopped trying.
problems, we were tired and getting very emotional. I had called my insurance company before the surgery started and I called back to update them. I had the wonderful fortune to find on the other end the nicest adjustor of any insurance company that you could encounter. To say my words were understandable would be an exagerration. He was patient, kind, sympathetic and truly took over for us.
My friends and customers started arriving for lessons to find us exhausted and teary.
One by one they joined us on the couch and on the porch, waited for updates and let others know what was going on. We received a call saying they were going to put him in a sling to help him stand if he wasn't up by himself at 1:00. He needed to
get up. They would call in an hour or two to let us know how it went. The time kept passing and we were getting more anxious as it passed 4:00 and 5:00. I had asked if we should come up to be with him before they put Reiley in the sling and was told that sometimes horses would fight the sling and OSU would let us know if it became time for us come up. The later it was the more I wished I had just gone back up to be with him or never to have left at all.
Finally around 6:00 I received a call from an operator at Ohio State, saying to hold for the vet and that I was being recorded. I had my phone on speaker so that my daughter, Daniella, could hear at the same time. We knew already that it was not good since the operator had not been the one to call at any other time, but when the vet came on we let out our breaths with relief when she came on with a cheerful voice. Our relief was very short lived when she continued to tell us Reiley had passed. I know that telling someone this kind of news must be horrible, but for the life of me I can't understand where the cheerful, "Hi, Marti" came from. Daniella started screaming and I know the vet could hear her. She attempted to tell us what had happened to Reiley and finally just asked if we wanted to call her back and I hung up.
For Dani's sake I have to skip the next hour. I don't know how long she laid on the bed crying and I can't repeat most of what came out of her. The one line I can never get out of my head is "I've lost my best friend, I've lost my best friend" over and over. Finally I left her in her friend's arms and went on the porch to call them back and get the details. My friends were waiting out there for me and I put them on speaker phone in case I wasn't able to talk to them.
I was told he was a good boy in the sling, cooperative and trying, although having a hard time supporting himself and they had to give him breaks and let him try again. Here, I will quote medical records, "4:00 pm-Martini [as they refer to him, it says Artini on his papers] was lowered from the sling and reattached MLK CRI for pain and IV fluids. His other medications (Naxcel and Acepromazine) were also admininstered. During this time there was an error in administration of MLK (which was administered on a fluid pump for safety) and an overdose of the MLK was given. As soon as the error was noted reversal agents and resuscitation methods (epinephrine, naxolone, nasotracheal intubation and administration of oxygen with a demand valve, and chest compressin) were intiated. Unfortunately, he could not be revived. It is still unknown how or if the pump malfuctioned and testing is being conducted." On a side note I was told that before the overdose he had never given up or stopped trying.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
It is always such a relief when you finally get a sick or injured animal to a hospital that can help them. Finally, they are in the right hands and are somewhere where someone can actually fix the problem. To have him jump out of the trailer and have so many people there and ready for him was like we could breathe again.
It would be much easier from here to simply put his medical records online and I'm sure much more accurate, but I'm not clear on the legalities of that. Nothing on them indicates that they are confidential, but I will ad lib anyway.
He was too painful for them to diagnose him, so they wanted to go straight to surgery, which I agreed to and wrote a check for $2,000 to get him on the table. To quote Ohio State, "an abdominal exploratory was performed and the displacement and torsion was corrected. An enterotomy was performed to aid in the correction and evaculate the large colon." Basically, he had 270 degree colon torsion, which was
corrected.
Everyone there during the surgery was extremelly kind to us, let us watch, spent time explaining the surgery and the prognosis. They were very encouraging and patient in explaining what they were doing and what he was going through.
When the surgery was complete everyone was very pleased and his prognosis appeared quite good. We were told he had gotten there in time, he had lost none of his intestines, blood flow was good, everything was pink and we were discussing the possiblility of him making it to Congress. They told us all he had to do was to wake up and recover, all was good and we should go home and get some rest. Since I had a barn full of horses I had left at home, that is what we did. I will regret that decision for a very long time.
It would be much easier from here to simply put his medical records online and I'm sure much more accurate, but I'm not clear on the legalities of that. Nothing on them indicates that they are confidential, but I will ad lib anyway.
He was too painful for them to diagnose him, so they wanted to go straight to surgery, which I agreed to and wrote a check for $2,000 to get him on the table. To quote Ohio State, "an abdominal exploratory was performed and the displacement and torsion was corrected. An enterotomy was performed to aid in the correction and evaculate the large colon." Basically, he had 270 degree colon torsion, which was
corrected.
Everyone there during the surgery was extremelly kind to us, let us watch, spent time explaining the surgery and the prognosis. They were very encouraging and patient in explaining what they were doing and what he was going through.
When the surgery was complete everyone was very pleased and his prognosis appeared quite good. We were told he had gotten there in time, he had lost none of his intestines, blood flow was good, everything was pink and we were discussing the possiblility of him making it to Congress. They told us all he had to do was to wake up and recover, all was good and we should go home and get some rest. Since I had a barn full of horses I had left at home, that is what we did. I will regret that decision for a very long time.
Monday, December 28, 2009
We purchased Reiley in June and showed him the following weekend. He had not been shown since Congress and Daniella had only ridden him a few times, but it was show season and that's what we did. He won the first class she was in (senior HUS and she is a first year amateur) and was in the points every weekend she showed him. At the Region 4 Regional Experience she was 4th in the amateur HUS and 3rd in the senior HUS. She put his ROM on him and came close to qualifying for the open world in just a month. We were looking forward to Congress and having a good time.
The day he coliced could not have been more normal. Daniella rode him, worked on lead changes, hosed him off and tied him up. I let him dry and untied him, went to the house for half an hour and went back down to feed. He laid down. Never a good sign. I gave him banamine, walked him, and called our local vet to give the heads up in case we needed him but then Reiley began to look like himself. Half an hour later he was in trouble and I called the vet back.
It didn't take long for him to send us to Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital.
He wasn't hearing any gut sounds and the trailer was ready. OSU said they would need $600 to meet us there since it was night and they would be waiting for us. When we arrived at OSU they had the doors open and were indeed ready. Reiley had a hard trip up and we didn't know what we would see when we opened the trailer doors, but to our relief he got up and jumped out.
The day he coliced could not have been more normal. Daniella rode him, worked on lead changes, hosed him off and tied him up. I let him dry and untied him, went to the house for half an hour and went back down to feed. He laid down. Never a good sign. I gave him banamine, walked him, and called our local vet to give the heads up in case we needed him but then Reiley began to look like himself. Half an hour later he was in trouble and I called the vet back.
It didn't take long for him to send us to Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital.
He wasn't hearing any gut sounds and the trailer was ready. OSU said they would need $600 to meet us there since it was night and they would be waiting for us. When we arrived at OSU they had the doors open and were indeed ready. Reiley had a hard trip up and we didn't know what we would see when we opened the trailer doors, but to our relief he got up and jumped out.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
I have never lost sleep before over equine law or veterinary malpractice. I've had a barn full of horses for 30 years and have been fortunate and I'd like to think diligent in having very few accidents and good outcomes when there is one. Years ago one horse coliced in the middle of the night and my vet was unable to save him. Two successful colic surgeries-both went on to have long careers and our 24 year old Polly still gives about 4 lessons a week and suffers through the county fair to give a few more trophies to a novice rider. The closest to this experience I can say I've had is when a local vet came out to the barn to do some work on a young stallion we had and when he started to get up before the work was done he was given one more injection to keep him down that proved fatal. I can still remember him jumping up and down on him, cussing at him not to die. When nothing he did changed the outcome he asked me what I thought the value of him was. I was fair and he wrote me a check. We remain friends to this day. The accident was not intentional, yet still a mistake was made. At any rate, I do lose sleep over equine law now, and it can be complicated. There are cases that are cut and dry though, and Reiley's case certainly seems to fall into that catagory. No one denies what happened to him.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Artini On The Rocks aka Reiley
With luck and fairness the subject of this blog will change and it will focus on the success of our horses and riders, but for now it is to follow our unfortunate journey with Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital. On August 10 our gelding, Artini On The Rocks, died following a successful colic surgery when the morphine pump he was on malfunctioned and overdosed him.
OSU has admitted fault both verbally and in writing, yet still has sent me a bill that includes the morphine that killed him and have not offered to compensate me for the loss.
As horse owners we know all the things we must always be concerned about--diseases, legs, joints, feet, the ability for their intestines to turn on them at any moment, the dangers of surgery and the complications of recovery, the list is endless. But I believe that the responsibiity for faulty medical equipment and the professionals that run them should lie in their hands and not ours. We can never predict the outcome of any surgery but surely we should not have to add either incompetant equipment or major human error to our list of owner worries.
This is my attempt to not only document whatever the outcome will be, but to also seek advise, concern, or other owners' journeys and experiences.
OSU has admitted fault both verbally and in writing, yet still has sent me a bill that includes the morphine that killed him and have not offered to compensate me for the loss.
As horse owners we know all the things we must always be concerned about--diseases, legs, joints, feet, the ability for their intestines to turn on them at any moment, the dangers of surgery and the complications of recovery, the list is endless. But I believe that the responsibiity for faulty medical equipment and the professionals that run them should lie in their hands and not ours. We can never predict the outcome of any surgery but surely we should not have to add either incompetant equipment or major human error to our list of owner worries.
This is my attempt to not only document whatever the outcome will be, but to also seek advise, concern, or other owners' journeys and experiences.
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