Joy finally given date for life-saving heart op
Friday November 27 2009
The seriously ill tot who was at risk of heart failure while she was awaiting vital surgery has finally been given a date for the operation.
The parents of Joy Lawlor-Doyle (2) from Carlow were told by doctors yesterday that their little girl is now scheduled for an operation next Friday, December 4.
Joy, who was adopted by Gemma and husband Mark when she was six months old, has a hole in her heart, pulmonary stenosis -- where the pulmonary valve in the heart does not allow enough bloodflow to the lungs -- and an enlarged heart.
Last January her parents were told Joy would need open-heart surgery, and she has joined more than 150 children on the waiting list for cardiac surgery at Our Lady's Hospital Crumlin ever since.
"She's in good form. She's had one or two episodes where she's gone blue but not to the extent that we had to give her oxygen. She's still taking two naps per day and going to bed early."
Though Gemma is happy that Joy has been called for the operation, she is also facing the possibility that the operation could be cancelled at very short notice.
"If I put money on it, I'd say she's going to be cancelled. Fifteen surgeries were done last week and only one of those was an elected one. The rest were emergencies. We have to bring her up for bloods to be done on Wednesday, then go back home and bring her up on Thursday night where a cannula will be done."
The worried mother says the disappointment will be hard for herself and her husband to deal with, but the fact that she got on the waiting list is still positive.
"It's been a horrendous few months, and the next week is going to be a huge rollercoaster. But it's definitely positive."
hnews@herald.ie
- Geraldine Gittens
