A TEEN who had to wait in hospital over 70 days for scoliosis surgery celebrated his return home with a trip to the toy shop - where he bought the Operation board game. Liam Dennehy Quinn , 13, from Fossa, Co Kerry was born with serious medical issues including Cerebral Palsy, epilepsy and is wheelchair bound, and then in March last year was diagnosed with scoliosis. Following a 12 hour operation in June he is home and ready to start secondary school - but not before his three older brothers treated him to a toy spree in Smyths.
Mum Pam Dennehy said: “He went to Smyths in Tralee - he got Batman characters, wrestlers, Goo jitzus, Lego, a bag of animals, Giant Jenga, a sword...
and Operation the board game! “I was surprised as normally he is squeamish. He loves it.” Liam’s socliosis deteriorated rapidly from a curvature of 35 degrees to 92 degrees.
He was in such pain he had to be admitted to two hospitals - firstly Kerry University Hospital and Temple Street , forcing him to leave his school and his pals behind as his mum Pam battled for the vital surgery that would change his life. He was finally operated on in Crumlin Children’s Hospita l in June. We need your help to ensure children like Liam do not have to wait so long for vital ops.
Sign our petition to make a change: The good news for the family was that because he is doing so well Liam’s future follow-ups can be done in Cork University Hospital , so they won’t have to endure the long car journey to Dublin . The lad has been making steady progress so much so that he was allowed home at the end of June, much to the delight of Pam and his three older brothers. Pam said: “He has been so brave and his recovery has been amazing.
He is well, gaining weight and is back to taking his usual meds instead of the large amount of extra ones he had to take in hospital. He is no longer suffering from reflux and is eating well. “He is anxious to return to school where he has lots of friends and he is well enough now to sit in his chair so hopefully he can begin First Year with the other students.
“But we will wait and see how it goes and if I think he is ready for it, he will go”. Brothers Conor, Ryan and Shane were thrilled to see Liam again after him being away for so many months. One of the first things they did was to take him on a shopping trip to Smyths in his sixth week of recovery as they had promised him when he was leaving.
And Liam capitalised on it all leaving with many longed-for buys. Campaigning Mum Pam had over a year long battle to get Liam his vital life changing operation which finally happened in Crumlin Children’s Hospital on June 13 last. He spent 12 hours on the operating table and made an exceptional good recovery which allowed him and Pam who was with him 24/7 to return to their Kerry home much to the delight of his older brothers.
Because of the severe and rapid curvature of his spine Pam told the Irish Sun: “His body was destroyed. If he made any move the rib cage twisted and rotated and with the deformation on his right side it put pressure on his stomach resulting in severe reflux which leads to him choking on his own fluids.” WAITING lists in Ireland have long been a national disgrace.
More than 106,000 children are on hospital waiting lists for all treatments. However, a new source of shame has emerged as 327 children wait for life changing spinal surgeries. Their conditions are getting worse while they languish on waiting lists.
Such are the delays, many child patients will be outside the therapeutic window when their treatments are approved. Earlier this month, the Seanad heard how at least one child has become permanently paralysed since the issue was raised publicly before Christmas. Their plight has been spearheaded by campaigning Senator Tom Clonan, who himself has a child with a disability.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has even admitted that the health service is failing these kids. Children are being allowed to deteriorate due to mismanagement, which has allowed the waiting lists to grow. The Irish Sun’s Kids Can’t Wait campaign aims to shine a light on how the State is failing sick children and give their families a voice.
It will also force the Government to do something to clear the backlog of operations and give these children a chance of living a normal life. “I was told what was initially supposed to be one full spinal fusion operation could potentially become two surgeries. “I feel it is being allowed to become even more complex to the extent the situation has developed to even more risk and more risk of infection, more time in the operating theatre, more time in ICU and more time for recovery.
” But life has now changed for Liam and his mum because he is well on the road to recovery and back home where he is loved by family, neighbours and friends. She said Liam had his check-up in Crumlin on August 6 and the orthopaedic surgeon was very happy with his recovery. She said “I am so proud of Liam with the way he has come through all this, still smiling.
"What a journey it has been It is so good to have the luxury of watching him building himself back up to where he was before his delayed Scolosis surgery. It all stole so much from him. “I am proud of his strength, resilience and perseverance in getting through the exceptionally tough times.
“We need timely access to Scolosis surgery for children like Liam before it’s too late for them. I want Taoiseach Simon Harris and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to give our complex children early access to surgery and then see how they shine. I want them to do the right thing for our children.
“I have met parents whose children can’t have the surgery because they have been left so long it would be dangerous for them to have surgery now.” Pam said the decision by the Government to provide many children with spinal problems including Scolosis with access to surgeries abroad in London and New York was a positive move. She said the only problem was that it was not clear yet who would provide the after care for the patients.
But she acknowledged that it would lift a great burden from parents because accommodation and flights will be paid for by the government. Pam stressed: “My message to other parents is not to hang around - avail of the chance to get your child looked after. If I had the same opportunity I would have jumped at it.
” The Irish Sun has learned that a group of doctors from a hospital in the US are set to travel to Dublin in the coming weeks to assess children before they are sent overseas for surgery. The clinical lead of the paediatric spinal surgery management unit has met with specialists from the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York to discuss Irish kids being sent abroad for spinal surgeries. It’s understood up to 17 children will initially be sent overseas for their operations as part of a bid to reduce the waiting list.
These operations are mainly being offered to children with less complicated cases that can travel overseas for surgery safely. The spinal management unit believe that this will free up surgery staff and theatre space to focus on the more complicated cases here in Ireland. We understand that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly also met with officials from another US hospital with the hopes of agreeing another similar deal.
A spokesperson for CHI told the Irish Sun: “Surgeons from New York will be travelling to Ireland shortly to meet with patients who are suitable for, and interested in, travelling to get their procedures done more quickly.”.
