Penny O'Brien
In June 2020, 6-year-old Penny O’Brien was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a very rare form of bone cancer.
Penny was treated in CHI at Crumlin by the wonderful medical team in St. John’s ward. Her Mum Sinead tells us about her journey. "In the weeks before her diagnosis Penny was complaining of tired legs, I didn’t think anything of it at first as it was during lockdown, and we were doing a lot of walks. During one of the walks, she began to complain of feeling tired and I had to carry her, this was so unusual as she is such an active child, I thought she had maybe pulled a muscle. We brought her to a Physiotherapist that we knew, he straight away suggested that we bring Penny to the GP.
The GP then referred us to A&E in Limerick, where they carried out several scans and tests. At this stage I still thought it was ligament damage. The doctor who was attending to Penny explained that Penny has a mass in her leg, it was a Friday evening and so he told us to go home and to come back in on Sunday evening for further tests. Once back at the hospital, Penny had lots more scans and tests. The medical team decided that she should be transferred to CHI at Crumlin and was sent there by ambulance. Once in CHI at Crumlin Penny had a biopsy, when the results came back the medical team confirmed that she had Osteosarcoma. Life changed in that week.
Dr. Michael Capra was Penny’s consultant, he was incredible and went through everything with us. When Dr. Capra sat us down and confirmed the diagnosis, he asked me if I wanted him to tell her. I agreed as I just couldn’t do it. The way that he told her was amazing. He told her kindly and he didn’t scare her, he made it fun, they had a slime fight in the middle of it. He was incredible. He was giving her the worst news and they were laughing and having a slime fight.
Within a couple of days of the diagnosis Penny started her treatment. She had ten months of Chemotherapy and was in St. John’s ward. In September of 2020, she had limb saving surgery, Mr. Alan Molloy performed this procedure. She had the tumour together with some of the bone removed and replaced with a prosthetic, she was in St. Michael’s ward for this. The medical team started physiotherapy straight away, she was up and walking within two days.
COVID-19 really impacted our experience, only one parent at a time could be with her during her stays in hospital. Penny really missed her sisters; they could never visit her in hospital and so they didn’t really understand what was happening. It also meant that the kids couldn’t interact in a way that might have been possible before. The Tuesday Boogie on St. John’s ward was the only time that the kids got to see each other and have a break. The weekly boogie was lovely, we all enjoyed it, the staff are just amazing.
I will be forever grateful to the Play Specialist’s Rebecca and Aoife in St. John’s ward and Carolyn in St. Michael’s ward. They seemed to know when either Penny or myself needed a break and would do fun things with her. Penny misses them, her eyes would light up when she saw them coming.
The teachers are amazing too, there is a small classroom in St. Johns ward and Penny loved going in. They did things like coding and art, it gave her a break from what was going on.
The Social care workers were also a great support, they swooped in and looked after us. They were able to advise what we needed to do, we didn’t have to worry about anything, they coordinated with everyone. It was one less thing to worry about.
In March 2021 Penny finished her chemo and rang the bell. The staff and her pals lined the corridor, it was a very special moment.
We go up to Crumlin for clinics, it doesn’t phase Penny a bit. She goes to see the fish tank and she loves when she bumps into people that she knows. It was never a negative experience for her, the only negative part was missing her sisters.”
