A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy who can suffer as many as 400 epileptic seizures in a day is expected to receive vital surgery in the next four to five weeks.
Kate O’Brien from Upton, Co Cork, went public on the plight of her son Cian last week in a bid to obtain life-saving surgery for the young boy, who will turn five next month.
Cian, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy when he was two. The epilepsy was under control with medication until earlier this year. However, his condition has gone downhill over the last few months.
Cian wears a helmet to protect his head during seizures. He is permanently in nappies and his young mother has to feed and dress him.
After a series of tests earlier this year, consultant neurologist at Cork University Hospital (CUH), Dr Olivia O’Mahony, decided brain surgery was the only option for Cian.
The procedure, which would involve neurosurgeons splitting the damaged right side of Cian’s brain from the left side, can only be performed in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
In August, Ms O’Brien was told the surgery would take place during the first two weeks of September. However, the surgery was cancelled with a week to go because no paediatric anaesthetist was available.
Ms O’Brien met Dr O’Mahony yesterday at CUH. She was told of a commitment made by Beaumont Hospital over the weekend to carry out the surgery on Cian in the next four to five weeks.
“I hope that we are going to get a more specific date. I am a bit sceptical, but we have to take what we can get at this stage. But my consultant [in Cork] is confident because the hospital gave the commitment.”
Cian’s mother said she was very appreciative of the groundswell of support from the general public in the wake of her son’s case coming to media attention.