The Osborne-Pope family, Christchurch
Blake Osborne-Pope was born on 10th February 2007. At just 2 weeks old, Mum Danielle was told by her midwife during a routine check up that her son had jaundice. A series of blood tests soon revealed however that Blake’s liver wasn’t functioning well and he was immediately admitted to Christchurch hospital.
At 3 1/2 weeks Blake and Danielle travelled to Starship for a biopsy. This confirmed he had Biliary Atresia, a condition where the bile duct between the liver and the small intestine isn’t formed. At just five weeks old Blake underwent surgery where doctors created a new bile duct from part of Blake’s intestine.
Upon returning home to Christchurch, Blake then contracted Cholangitis (a common infection that occurs inside the man-made bile duct) and ended up spending most of his first few months in and out of Christchurch hospital.
In August 2007 Blake was added to the transplant list and so began the waiting game for a suitable donor.
At the same time a good friend of Danielle’s, Amanda Rowe, whom she’d met through playing sport years before, offered herself as a donor. After a series of blood tests at Christchurch hospital, Amanda’s blood type came back as a match. This was the first step on the road to seeing if she was fit to be Blake’s donor. A 3-day trip to Auckland hospital for more tests confirmed Amanda was a suitable donor match.
Meanwhile, a further complication saw Blake flown back to Starship and this was the beginning of their 8 month stay at Ronald McDonald House Auckland. Whilst in Starship Blake contracted a number of infections, right up until he received his liver transplant in April. Thankfully the 8 1/2 hour transplant operation was a success.
Despite being so far from home, Danielle had great support from her family — all who live in Christchurch and had taken turns to fly up and be with her and Blake at the House in and around their work commitments. Danielle also made a lot of friends while staying at the House, and some have become like a second family. “Although nobody was going through exactly the same thing as you, you’re still all there for the same reason — for the kids. The comfort and support while in Ronald McDonald House definitely made things more bearable,” says Danielle.
Further setbacks on Blake’s journey to recovery saw his body start to reject the new liver twice in the weeks following his operation however both rejections were quickly treated with medication.
Two weeks after his operation, Blake took another turn. A leak in his new bile duct had begun to cause absesses around his liver and from this he contracted septicemia (blood poisoning), and was immediately moved into Intensive Care. Once again, Blake bounced straight back from this ordeal and both he and his Mum were back staying at the House in no time at all.
More problems soon arose when the scar tissue which had formed around the bile duct from attaching it to his new liver, caused Blake’s bile duct to narrow. Blake was back and forth between the House and Starship until mid-June when doctors decided to insert a stent into his bile duct to try and stretch it open, in the hope of avoiding another major operation. Shortly after the stent was removed things looked to be on the up.
Further blood tests then pointed to an obstruction in his bile duct which meant again the bile still wasn’t getting through. In early September Blake underwent a 6-hour operation for a biliary reconstruction, this time making the bile duct bigger to allow bile to flow more freely.
From here, Blake began showing great progress. They were finally allowed to return home to Christchurch in late September.
Recently a scare saw them back at Christchurch hospital. This time a slight temperature and an increase in Blake’s blood levels had doctors thinking this was another rejection of his new liver. A biopsy was taken only to find it wasn’t a rejection at all. Blake was discharged and then a few days later a poorly Blake ended up back in hospital where they did a chest x-ray to find he had in fact contracted pneumonia.
Blake remained in hospital until his cycle of antibiotics was completed and the doctors were happy with his progress. Thankfully the pneumonia hadn’t affect Blake’s liver. Blake was discharged on 8th October and for the first time ever his liver function tests were all normal.
Despite all these hurdles, Blake is in good spirits and he and Danielle are now happy to be home. Since Blake’s transplant Danielle is amazed at the difference in him. “He’s just so happy. He finally started walking while we were at the House too! No matter how sick he feels he’s always smiling and chatty. It takes an awful lot to get Blake down.”
Looking ahead to the future, there is every reason Blake will be able to enjoy a healthy, normal life. He will need to remain on immune suppressants daily for the rest of life so his body doesn’t reject his liver and will just need to be that extra bit careful whenever he catches a bug or infection.
