Nicholas' Story

Eleven year old Nicholas Blackney has had a difficult journey in life. Nick was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was only a month old. Nick is the face of the 2011 Geelong Hospital Appeal which is raising funds for the redevelopment of the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward. This exciting project will make a huge difference to the many children from the region like Nick who visit the ward each year. Here Nick’s Mum Lyn shares their story.

When Nick was only a newborn he dropped below his birth weight and was admitted to the special care nursery at the Geelong Hospital. Once he returned to his birth weight, they did all the tests available and found nothing. We then took him home and while he was at his grand mothers in Inverleigh he had a fit and we took him to the local doctor.

Our Doctor referred us onto Dr Bernie Jenner who admitted Nick to hospital where they did the heal prick test again and found he had Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects a number of organs in the body (especially the lungs and pancreas) by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus. Unfortunately there is no cure for CF.
After the diagnosis, we went up to the Royal Children's Hospital to learn how to look after Nick as we hadn't heard of CF before then. Part of this education included instructions of how to do physio and what medicines to take.

Nicholas started having tune ups at the Geelong Hospital at three years of age, mainly once a year during winter when he had chest infections. However his visits to hospital became more regular, so Dr Massie at the Royal Children’s Hospital organised him to go into the Geelong Hospital every three months which he has done ever since. These regular visits have meant he doesn't get many chest infections now.

The other thing the Doctors were concerned about was his weight as Nick was growing faster than he was putting on weight, so they started to give him drink and food supplements, which worked for a while, however his weight once again slowed down. As Nick’s weight constantly rose and dropped the decision was made to get Nick a feeding tube in September this year. It has helped Nick gain weight and on the 13th of December this year his long feeding tube was changed to a button and the plan is to get a port for his medicines for when he is in hospital, instead of a long line in his arms as the veins in his arms wouldn't work which we hope will make the administering of medication a less traumatic experience for Nick.

Nick’s favorite nurses on the kids ward are Andrew, Jackie, Andie, but he thinks all the nurses are great along with the other ward staff and cleaning staff.

The staff also sometimes arrange for Nick’s hospital visits to coincide with the Geelong Football player visits as they know he is a huge Cats fan. Nick was particularly excited when the 2009 Premiership Cup came to the ward and also when he had the opportunity to run out onto the ground for the St Kilda vs Geelong final last year as the team mascot. Nick, his dad Paul, his brother Joshua and I all thoroughly enjoyed the day as we are all huge Geelong fans. Nicks favorite player is Joel Selwood who he has now met twice. This year we hope to get a family membership and go to all the games! Whilst Nick would love to play footy, unfortunately his feeding tube means that this type of contact sport is not possible.

However Nick does enjoy playing basketball and has been playing with Pivot city and is showing some real talent. Nathan’s favourite Supercats player is Nathan Herbert who recently came in to see Nick in hospital and brought a basketball with his signature on it for Nick. He also enjoys playing and practicing basketball with his brother josh at home and he plays games on the play station with his dad Paul and brother josh.

The staff at the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward are great and they have all looked after us so well when Nick is in hospital. The Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward Redevelopment will make a big difference to our visits to hospital and we look forward to seeing the exciting project completed.

Lyn Blackney

(Nicholas' Mum)