Meet Fionn
We have three children, Emma, three, and Fionn and Seán, our 6-month-old twins. Fionn was quickly transferred to Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin shortly after the twins were born where he has been for six months. – Ashlinn Fionn’s Mam.
“Our twin boys Fionn and Seán were born at 37 + 1 weeks in November 2022. Shortly after they were born, the team at The Coombe learned that Fionn had an issue with his bowel. We were told he’d need to be transferred to the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) in Crumlin for specialist care. It was there that we were told that Fionn would need surgery to have a colostomy bag to allow his bowel to work properly.
Fionn was quickly taken to surgery, but when they tried to intubate him, it was discovered that he had a severely restricted airway and would need a tracheostomy to allow him to breathe properly. If it wasn’t for the bowel surgery, we may not have found out about Fionn’s restricted airway as quickly as we did.
Fionn’s surgery went well, and he was given both a colostomy bag and tracheostomy. However, a few days later his tummy began to swell, and the team needed to open his tummy to examine the bowel to investigate the cause. This surgery went well and the team were able to determine the cause and put Fionn on a treatment plan. This all happened within a few days of the twin’s being born. It was an incredibly tough time as we had our three-year-old, Emma, at home, one newborn twin in the NICU having had multiple surgeries and our other twin healthy and ready to go home from The Coombe.
Fionn has now spent 6 months in Crumlin, he has only met his big sister, Emma once in that time and his twin brother, Seán, a handful of times. Robbie and I have been taking it in turns to be in Crumlin with Fionn and at home with our other children since November whilst Robbie has also been juggling work – it has been a hectic few months to say the least. However, we are never put under pressure to be there in the hospital 24 hours a day. Everyone is so understanding and recognise how tough it is for us to juggle everything. The nurses are just amazing in Crumlin, they’re like part of our family at this stage. When we can’t be there with Fionn, we know that he is in the best hands and is being well looked after. They really made the darkest days a little brighter.
They really are an amazing team, they have so much time for each and every family and remember everything – I’m asked multiple times a day how Seán and Emma are doing at home. It’s so lovely that they care about our whole family. They really do go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.
One of Fionn’s nurses, Katie, will often have ‘teddy bear’s book club’ with Fionn if we’re not around. She gathers up his teddies and pretends that Fionn’s teddies are reading his books to him. She even writes a little book club log which we will keep in a memories box for him – it really is lovely!
Another one of Fionn’s nurses, Ali, made him his own little jungle gym over his cot to help with his movement and playing now that he is getting bigger. And Claire, the play therapist, comes every day to play and spend time with Fionn, which is just amazing!
All the little things make such a difference when a family spends long periods of time in hospital. Fionn spent his first Christmas and Easter in Crumlin and Santy brought gifts not only for Fionn but also for Seán and Emma. Fionn was also delighted with his delivery from the Easter Bunny. I was even given a little hamper for Mother’s Day, it’s all so unexpected but so thoughtful!
It was only recently that we were able to take Fionn out of the ward for a walk which was a huge milestone for us and our best memory from the last six months. He had so much fun looking around and seeing new things, it was the first time he’d left his room apart from going to theatre so it took him a few minutes to adjust to the sun! But he loved it, he really is the happiest little fella. Considering everything he’s been through in the first 6 months of his life, he is full of smiles and laughs. Fionn has many visitors each day, even if they don’t need to see him, they call in to see his cheeky smile!
We are hoping to get Fionn back home with his brother and sister in the coming weeks. Robbie and I have needed specialist training to manage Fionn’s tracheostomy, colostomy bag and PEG feeding tube at home. It’s quite daunting but we know we’re getting training from the best of the best and we can’t wait to get Fionn home with us.
We’re so grateful to the whole team at CHI at Crumlin, they really are amazing people from the cleaners to the consultants, the nurses to physios, every single one of them plays such an important role and make the experience a positive one for families. Fionn still has a journey ahead of him, he will have surgery on his bowel in the near future and we hope to start the reconstruction on his airway in the next 12 to 18 months with a view to having his tracheostomy reversed before starting school. We know we’re in the best possible hands!
We also want to say thank you to the supporters of Children’s Health Foundation, your support makes such a difference and does not go unnoticed so thank you!
