"Delighted, relieved and exhausted," Damien O'Hare described himself yesterday when his two-year-old son, Dillon Smyth, finally had a lung operation after five cancellations in 10 days due to a shortage of nurses.
"We finally got the news at about half past eight this morning that it was going ahead," Mr O'Hare said. "Then it was just time to hand over to the professionals and hope the operation would go well. "It seems to have been a success. They say it went well. He is heavily sedated now in the IC [intensive care] unit." One of four children of Tallaght couple Lisa Smyth and Mr O'Hare, Dillon had first been admitted to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children last Monday week for an operation to remove scar tissue and fluid from his left lung.
He had spent six weeks in Tallaght hospital from the beginning of June suffering with pneumonia. Though scheduled for last Monday, his operation was cancelled because of a shortage of nurses in the intensive care unit to care for Dillon after the operation.
The operation was rescheduled for the following Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then Tuesday this week. It was cancelled each time and on each occasion Dillon had fasted from the night before.
Dillon was allowed home over the bank holiday weekend and was readmitted on Tuesday morning. He was "OK" when he woke yesterday morning after his sixth overnight fast, Mr O'Hare said.
"He was looking for his `boh boh' [bottle] at about 8 o'clock but he went down to theatre at about nine so it wasn't dragged out too long."
The operation took about 2 1/2 hours. "He'll be a day or two in intensive care and then he'll be allowed to the ward," Mr O'Hare said. "Lisa is down there with him now. I'm going to get something to eat and then give her a break. We'll be with him in shifts."
Dillon's twin brother Jordan, sister Jade (5) and brother Niall (8) will be allowed to visit him in two or three days.
Mr O'Hare has been spending nights in the parents' sleeping area of the hospital while Ms Smyth stayed at home. She is eight months pregnant and had been worried that she would be in hospital by the time Dillon had his operation.
"We're obviously all delighted Dillon got the operation at last, but the question is how many kids are still waiting for their operation. How many families are going through what we've had to endure over the past few weeks?" Mr O'Hare asked.
