BALLYBUNION man Tony O’Gorman this week made an urgent and emotional appeal for his wife Breda to be given a potentially life-saving appointment with a top neurologist in Cork University Hospital (CUH) after her original appointment – one which she had waited almost a year for – was cancelled as a result of a false positive COVID test result mere days before it was due to take place.
reda’s original appointment to see Dr Brian Sweeney was scheduled to take place on the morning of Tuesday, June 7, which meant that Breda – who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) which Tony said this week has flared up again, causing Breda high levels of pain – had a take a COVID test in the days leading up to this.
She took her first PCR test on Friday, June 3, and she was informed that she had tested positive for the virus and would have to self-isolate and so would be unable to go to her appointment in CUH.
However Breda’s daughter, who is a nurse, felt that something was not right with the result and that her mom should get tested again, which she did two days later on Sunday 5. That test revealed Breda was, in fact, negative for the virus.
But the negative result came too late for Breda.
She only received the result on the evening of June 7, nearly 12 hours after her scheduled appointment with Dr Sweeney was to have taken place.
Speaking to The Kerryman this week, Breda’s husband Tony said that they are appealing to anyone in the HSE that can help to get Breda another appointment with Dr Sweeney to please do so as soon as possible as he says that Breda will simply not survive if they have to wait another year to see the consultant.
“I reckon she’s been waiting to see Dr Sweeney for about a year now. And now, through no fault of our own, the position we find ourselves in is wondering how long more we will have to wait to get another one. We’re in limbo, we just don’t know how long it will be,” said Tony.
He was keen to stress that none of this is the fault of Dr Sweeney or his office.
“It could be [another year] before we get another appointment with him and she won’t last that long. She’s very ill at the moment. The MS seems to be occurring again. Her body is tender and sore and her appetite is almost completely gone. The sooner that we can get her into Cork, the better because without it, she’s simply not going to last,” he continued.
Tony said the appointment with Dr Sweeney is vitally important to Breda’s survival.
“He [Dr Sweeney] is a top neurologist. He’s a very busy man and it takes a long time to get an appointment with him because he’s one of the best in the country,” he said.
“It could be another six months before we get to see him, we just don’t know and unfortunately we just don’t have unlimited time to be waiting.
“We’re in limbo at the moment and it’s all through a mistake not of our own making and as result, she could die because of it,” he said, adding that it feels like they’ve been sent to the back of the line again.
“It’s very upsetting.
“She could die in a couple of weeks time because of this. That’s our big worry at the moment, that she won’t last. She can’t bear now to touch her body, she’s in daily pain and she’s sore all over. The appetite is gone completely and even travelling now in the wheelchair on the road, it kills her,” he said.
“He wants to admit her and hold her and they’ll go through the whole healing process which may take weeks. If she doesn’t get to see him, she’s gone,” he finished.