Our Pal - Blakely A

Story written 2017

Blakely failed to thrive as a baby and was enterally fed from a few weeks old.  He failed to meet his key milestones and then enterally feeding caused him excruciating pain. At nine months old Blakely was started on TPN on which he has thrived and has caught up on all his milestones. Unfortunately, TPN comes with great risks and none greater than sepsis; Blakely has had sepsis approximately 80 times in his life and is now on his 11^th Hickman line. He is rapidly running out of access and each hospital admission is becoming harder with Blakely being more aware of what is coming next.

Update 25th March 2022

Blakely has gone from strength to strength since recovering from covid, the covid severely affected his gut for approx 18 months. Blakely struggles massively with his emotions at the moment and understanding where he fits into school etc, after having so much time off. He is now starting to settle. At his last clinic appointment, we were told that they believe that Blakely may now be strong enough to start weaning off of his intravenous nutrition which is a massive step for him. He is very excited as this will mean he can go to America which he has wanted to do for a very long time.

Update 7th November 2019

We’ve had a lot going on. Blakely has been doing well with his health (touch wood). He is reducing his TPN but is struggling with being different and hates his bag at the moment. He still loves Marvel and DC super heroes and continues to do really well with his drumming lessons at school. He’s in a band now called the mega flash penguins. 

Update 9th February 2019

Blakely’s health has been much more stable over the past few months and now has one night off TPN!!  However, he is starting to struggle with day-to-day life and explaining his emotions and feelings. 

Update 2nd September 2017

Blakely’s health has been a struggle the past month but is slowly improving and with the start of school coming we are hoping for a good spell of health over the next couple of months. Blakely loves swimming and loves being in the water. Thank you to everyone at Post Pals for brightening Blakely’s smile when he is having a bad day.