Doctor cancels tonsil surgery at last minute – due to boy’s autism
Mother’s anger after doctor said her boy may refuse food
THE MOTHER of a five-year-old boy with autism has hit out at the way an operation to remove his tonsils was cancelled minutes before he was due to go to the operating theatre, because of his autism.
Now she has been told that it will be weeks before it can be done at an acute HSE hospital.
Emma Cosgrove and her son Ryan spent hours travelling by train and taxi to get from Dundalk to St Francis Private Hospital in Mullingar.
‘I have been left very angry and hurt at the way my son has been treated,’ she said. She has received a written apology from the doctor for cancelling the surgery but said it is not enough.
Ms Cosgrove said Ryan has high functioning autism and that this was made known to the hospital last week when they rang to say his operation was scheduled for Friday, July 15. ‘I was told that because he was on the autism spectrum that he would be first on the list to be operated on, and that he would be given a private room. I felt so much more at ease when I heard that.’
She began to prepare Ryan for the hospital visit and also for the long journey to the hospital. ‘I got him up at 4.30am, having fasted him first. We used taxis and trains to travel from Dundalk to the hospital for the check-in time of 9.30am.
‘He was admitted to his private room and the nurse put a local anaesthetic on both his hands.
‘Around 10.30am the surgeon came to the room and told me he could not perform the tonsillectomy on my son as a result of his
Ryan asked, ‘Are we the wrong people?’
ASD [autism spectrum disorder]. I was completely shocked.
‘He went on to say that my son is likely to refuse food after the surgery as part of his ASD and would need additional care that only a public hospital could provide.’
Ms Cosgrove said she told the doctor that Ryan had no problem eating – but to no avail. ‘I have been treated poorly. No two children on the spectrum are the same and we should never have been treated this way,’ she said.
She added that Ryan’s grandmother, who died last year, had made a special effort to help Ryan have the operation.
‘Mary, who is my husband Jamie’s mother, had Ryan on her health insurance so he could have them removed. It was her wish,’ she explained.
Ms Cosgrove said that Mary would have been thrilled to know the operation was to take place as Ryan has suffered with tonsillitis for over two years. She said that as she packed up and prepared to leave the hospital room Ryan asked her, ‘Are we the wrong people?’
In the apology, received last Tuesday, the doctor said: ‘I would like to apologise that we had to cancel Ryan’s surgery on Friday, July 15, 2016, in St Francis Private Hospital in Mullingar.
‘In the best interest for Ryan’s welfare I am arranging admission to Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda in the coming few weeks. He will be admitted to the children’s ward where there will be comprehensive paediatric backup care available for him, should it be needed.’ Ms Cosgrove said: ‘The written apology referred to the operation being done in the coming few weeks but I want it done before he goes back to school in September. It is important that he does not miss school.’ She said the hospital has told her it is investigating the matter. A spokesperson for the hospital said it had no comment to make at this time. Irish Autism Action has not been in contact with the hospital but said that the experience as described by Ms Cosgrove ‘is another piece of evidence of why we are working on creating autism-friendly environments’.