12-y-o in surgery limbo

Kenny Robinson, the father of 12-year-old Marquis, is a nervous man.

Marquis, who suffers from a condition known as slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE), has undergone two surgeries to correct the problem and is slated to do a third.

But a critical machine to facilitate the process at the Bustamante Hospital for Children has been reportedly inoperable for about six months.

“Sometimes mi wish mi could take the pain from him when him do the surgery and him a cry, and all these things,” the concerned father said.

The clock is ticking, and Robinson is uncertain as to whether the digital X-ray machine at the Bustamante Hospital that is needed to carry out a scanogram on his son will be repaired any time soon.

SUFE is a condition where the head of the femur (thigh bone) slips off in a backwards direction for reasons that are not fully known. It usually happens around puberty between the ages of 11 and 17 and is said to be more common in boys than girls.

According to Robinson, a few years ago, he and his spouse noticed the child walking with a limp and suspected that it might have resulted from a minor injury he picked up while playing at school. However, when it persisted, they took Marquis to a paediatrician, who recommended that an X-ray be done.

Having examined the results, the paediatrician referred Marquis to the Bustamante Hospital, where he was immediately admitted. It was at that time that Kenny was told that his son had chronic SUFE.

“We went up there (Bustamante Hospital) on March 8 (this year) because that was his appointment date, and we got the receipt to go to the X-ray section to do the scanogram,” said Robinson, who later discovered that the machine was not working.

He told The Gleaner that when his son was called in for the appointment, the doctor indicated that the digital X-ray machine had not been working for about six months.

“They were referring me to somewhere else where my son could do the scanogram, but the doctor said to me, ‘Even if you do the scanogram, the surgery still cannot be done because they still need their machine to do further investigation’,” the father explained.

With one of Marquis’ legs being a few centimetres longer than the other, Robinson said: “Mi nervous, and sometimes when mi see him a walk, mi try not to look because, you know, you have a normal kid and something happened down the line, you just want to see him up and running.

MONITORED CAREFULLY

Eagerly awaiting the day Marquis can return to normal activities without having to be fearful that he might suffer serious injury, Robinson said he monitors his son carefully but admitted that he could not monitor him at all times as he is a construction worker.

He is also wary of his son being the target of jeers.

Robinson said that his spouse is terribly scared to accompany them to the doctor as she is always on edge whenever a medical procedure is to be done.

“At the hospital, tears left to just run out of mi eye fi see some other kids with the condition they are in ... but at the end of the day, mi just still give thanks say it’s not worse,” Robinson said.

“All mi want is for them to just fix the machine because it’s not him alone need it, but there are other people who are not coming forth.”

Marquis is the first of three children for Robinson.

Contacted for a response, Dr Michelle-Ann Richards-Dawson, senior medical officer at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, told The Gleaner that she made contact with a consultant who dealt with the child but no details could be provided at this time until the child’s medical file was pulled.

She pledged to provide an update on the situation today.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com