Mum fears for five-year-old facing year-long MRI wait for scoliosis
Carolann Walsh from Kilkenny - who as a teenager fought her own battle with the health service after her planned spinal fusion surgery was cancelled in 2009 due to ward closures - now says she is 'fighting the exact same fight' - this time for her own daughter, Hannah..
Her daughter Hannah was recently diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition where the spine curves abnormally.
In Hannah's case, Carolann says the pressure on her spine is causing relentless headaches, sometimes escalating into migraines.
'Yet we have been told it will be nine to twelve months before she can have the MRI scan needed to guide her treatment,' Carolann told Irish Mirror.
At the time Carolann's planned surgery was cancelled back in 2009 she couldn't even get an X-ray.
'It took media attention and a huge public outcry before I finally got my surgery date,' Carolann recalls. That was September 2009 — and it changed my life. "
But now, 16 years later, I'm fighting the exact same fight — this time for my own child.'
'I am terrified for her future,' says Carolann. 'I've lived this. I know what untreated scoliosis can do. I've already got one child with generalised epilepsy, another with sensory issues — and now my middle child is facing what I went through. How can it be that nothing has changed after all these years?'
Carolann is calling for urgent action to address the growing backlog of children waiting for spinal assessments and treatment.
'No child should have to wait in pain. No parent should have to beg the system for care. If the health service could find a way in 2009, it can find a way now.'
Children's Health Ireland said in a statement to this paper: 'I cannot comment on individual cases. Every child's care plan is different. An MRI may be postponed to allow for a growth spurt or other clinical factors - these are clinical decisions. There is no waiting list for an urgent MRI for scoliosis treatment.'
However, Carolann argues there 'absolutely is' a waiting list.
'My five-year-old experiences headaches every single night, and sometimes they escalate into migraines, caused by her spine putting pressure in the wrong place.
'I went through the same thing as a child and needed an MRI at just four years old. In this case, an MRI is indeed essential.
'When I rang Waterford hospital it stated her GP referred her for an MRI and I asked where she was on the waiting list - I was told there was a waiting list from 8 months to a year, and that was the fastest list available to her I was told.'
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