Life-changing lung surgery for brave Tullamore girl

A Tullamore mother has told of how her brave four-year-old girl underwent "life-changing" lung surgery in her battle with Cystic Fibrosis. Claire Barnwell, who lives on the Rahan Road in Tullamore, told the Offaly Independent, how her daughter Eve became one of the youngest Cystic Fibrosis sufferers in Ireland to undergo the five-hour operation to remove part of her right lung. Now four months on from the operation, the outlook is much more positive. "The surgery really was life-changing. Before the surgery she couldn't ride her bike, or walk very far. She was so tired and had no energy, now she is out playing all the time. "To look at her now and to look at her this time last year, she is a completely different child," her proud mother explained. But, of course, Eve will continue to deal with cystic fibrosis in her daily life. "She still has very severe CF, there's no getting away from that. She has done amazing but it is only four months since the surgery. She is still very sick." But her progress means that Eve can now look forward to entering primay school next September, although her introduction to formal education will have to be taken very cautiously. Claire recounted Eve's story this week in order to raise awareness of the many young children who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis. Four-and-a-half-year-old Eve Barnwell is busily playing in a children's area of Tallaght Hospital as her mother Claire talks to the Offaly Independent. It's a sign of the real progress the young girl has made since she fell seriously ill following lung complications arising from cystic fibrosis. And it's also further proof of the bravery of a young girl, who has taken it all in her stride, despite being in and out of hospital for much of her short life. Like any alert four-year-old, Eve absorbs much of what goes on around her. "When the doctors come and talk, she listens to everything and she takes everything on board." But even the prospect of surgery to remove part of her lung didn't faze young Eve. "Once she heard she was going to be asleep for the surgery, she didn't care," her mother said. And to help doctors allowed her to bring her favourite teddy bear into the operating room for company. Her mother, Claire Barnwell, was born in Birr but grew up in Tullamore, before moving to Galway to study at third level. She is now back residing in Tullamore with Eve. When young Eve was born on New Year's Day 2006 there were no difficulties. However, after picking up a number of slight lung infections as a baby which were treated with antibiotics, local doctor Peter Kearney sent Eve for a chest x-ray at the age of six months. The results showed up signs of pneumonia and as part of a process of ruling out certain conditions, Eve was sent for sweat tests (which are often used as preliminary diagnosis of cystic fibrosis). A number of such examinations uncovered elevated chloride levels - a common indicator of cystic fibrosis. The prospect of her daughter having the disease came as a bolt from the blue for Claire as Eve had displayed no other symptoms. She then attended Tallaght Hospital for a blood test, which, confirmed that Eve had CF. However, the diagnosis did not have immediate ramifications for Eve's daily life. Eve was on a course of light-dose antibiotics and received a little daily physiotherapy. But when she approached three years of age, her condition worsened. Over a five-month period, Eve was hospitalised in Galway for a total of six weeks with recurring lung infections. The antibiotics were no longer working and she required drugs to be administered intravenously. "Any time she went in, she was in for at least two weeks, and when she came out she was never 100%," Claire explained. When Claire visited her brother in America, Eve ended up being rushed to ER in a Chicago hospital, where she stayed for five-and-a-half weeks. The family had been aware that the infections were always on the right lung and doctors in America advised that this be examined. When Claire and Eve returned, they went to Tallaght Hospital for routine IVs. She was admitted to the hospital a month after returning from America and a CT scan revealed that her entire upper right lobe was dead. "It was literally black and rotting," Claire said. "They never had seen it as bad in any patient as young as she was." Her mother was given two treatment options - managing the infection with intravenous antibiotics or surgically removing the infected lobe. The first option involved three-week hospital visits and although this would only keep the infections at bay, Claire was told too that the latter option would involve "massive surgery". "When they told me I broke down, I didn't know what to think," Claire said. After considering the choices, Claire opted for surgery. Explaining her thoughts at the time, Claire said: "I just didn't want her to have to stay the rest of her life in hospital." There was an element of the unknown about the surgery option, as the removal of lung lobes was usually only undertaken in cancer patients. The decision to undergo surgery was taken in late 2009, and the doctors allowed Eve to stay at home for Christmas and her New Year's Day birthday, before admitting her to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin on January 5. The five-hour surgery, thankfully, went very well. "It was a great success. They said everything had gone well, even better than expected," Claire said. Claire outlined her story this week in order to raise awareness of the impact of cystic fibrosis on children. To many people, cystic fibrosis is a condition that only affects adults. "People don't realise how bad it can be for kids," Claire said. And Claire is now busily fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Association in order to help other cystic fibrosis sufferers and to further research into the disease. Claire would particularly like to thank everyone at Tallaght Hospital for their care and support. She has a dedicated web page on http://www.mycharity.ie/event/cure_for_eve/ where donations can be made to help cystic fibrosis research.