'I'm crying myself to sleep': 10-year-old waiting over four years for urgent surgery 

Adam Terry from Whitechurch in Cork said he feels as if he is at "the bottom of the barrel" after several surgery delays

Adam Terry has been waiting over four years for urgent scoliosis surgery. His mother, Christine said she will go to the ends of the earth for her son.e Pic courtesy of Brian O'Connell

A 10-year-old boy who has been waiting over four years for urgent scoliosis surgery has opened up about the impact the delay has had on his life, stating that he feels as though he is “at the bottom of the barrel”.

Adam Terry from Whitechurch in Cork has been hit with several delays for his surgeries.

In December 2020, the family was told that Adam would receive his surgery in the Spring.

However, in February, his mother Christine said she was told that they will be waiting a further six to nine months.

Now, unsure of when he will receive the much-need surgery, Adam’s day-to-day life is being negatively impacted and with each day he is without the surgery, things are getting worse.

Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne, Adam’s mother, Christine said that they “couldn’t believe” it when they were informed that they would be waiting an additional six to nine months for the scoliosis surgery.

“Adam was down to 18kg. I just remind you; Adam is ten years old. At that point, his day-to-day quality of life was horrendous," she said.

Close to tears, she continued: “We just honestly couldn’t believe that we were going to have to wait another six to nine months.” 

Christine said they have been taking it day by day, but it is having “such a negative impact on the quality of Adam’s life”.

“Adam became in so much pain that he now has to join the CUH [Cork University Hospital] pain management team,” she said.

“The chest cavity is now making direct contact with the pelvis, so you have bone on bone. Adam was in so much pain. I was so worried about what was happening internally.” 

Adam has a rare heart condition, and his spine is now impacting his lungs and his stomach.

“It’s the worry of what is actually going on inside. What could happen. That’s very hard to deal with; watching your beautiful child suffer.” 

Describing his pain, Adam said it is “almost paralyzing”.

“It’s really sore and sometimes I have to lie down and roll around for it to actually stop,” he said.

He said he feels as though he is “at the bottom of the barrel”.

“Nobody is coming out to find me in the lost and found. To be honest, sometimes I feel like I’m crying myself to sleep because it’s so unfair. It just makes me angry and frustrated and sad.” 

Adam said he misses his friends, and it is getting harder to socialize.

“Sometimes I can’t even speak because I’m worried I’m going to cry, and I don’t want to cry.” 

Christine said she doesn’t know what to do at this point, adding that Adam does not feel heard.

“He is not a number. He is a little boy from Cork living with this and struggling with this and his entire family is every single day.” 

Adam will now require a different surgery as the initial procedure is considered too dangerous.

“They’re now going to have to do a different surgery and they’re not going to get the same results that they hoped to get which is really heartbreaking,” said Christine.

“Pain might actually be something that he needs to deal with now every day which is again, very hard to hear."

Christine said she needs her son to know that she will “go to the ends of the earth” to get him the treatment he needs. 

“It’s my job to protect him as much as I can.”