Blakely Boyle, a 4-year-old girl who celebrated her birthday in March, was unable to blow out the candles on her cake.
Her parents were not surprised at the time, as little siblings are always eager to help each other.
Blakely was then diagnosed with cancer two days later. Blakely has bravely battled T-cell lymphoblastic Lymphoma for the past seven month.
She has a lot of work to do, but she is making progress. Her tumor has disappeared, and her nuclear PET scans which test the functions of organs and tissue are clean.
Blakely, who will be honorary captain of the Ravens for the “Crucial catch” game against Los Angeles Rams, will be celebrating with her family at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. She will be joined by Kristina, her mother and Ravens Legend Nick Boyle.
Nick caught 121 passes in his eight-year Ravens’ career, which spanned from 2015-2022. But none was more important than the one Kristina made with him earlier this year.
The signs were subtle. Blakely did not eat spaghetti and meatballs on her birthday. Kristina saw swelling on her daughter’s chest the next day, and made an appointment to see their pediatrician.
The pediatrician believed it was a lipoma – a benign tumour made of fat cells. They said it was nothing to worry about. Kristina, a nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree, encouraged them to get an ultrasound.
“I am not a doctor, and I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I have some medical training.” Kristina said, “This lump that appeared overnight and all the other symptoms don’t make sense to me.”
The pediatrician referred the Boyles to an ultrasound in about a month. The Boyles were lucky to find a cancellation just two days later. The technician left before she finished her ultrasound.
Kristina explained, “I saw her face and knew that it wasn’t good.” “Our pediatrician contacted us immediately and confirmed that this was not a lipoma. I was wrong. “You need to get to the hospital immediately.”
The couple went to Morristown Medical Center, located in northern New Jersey. They sat for some time in the emergency department and then on a hospital bed in an hallway. Perhaps this wasn’t as urgent as we thought? They were then led into a room that had superheroes painted on the walls.
Kristina: “I was shaking as I walked in and Nick started crying immediately.”
A doctor informed them that Blakely was cancerous with a tumor of the size of a ball. The tumor was pressing on her trachea, which is her windpipe. This caused fluid to build up and collapse her left lung. It’s no wonder she couldn’t blow out her birthday candles.
The two took a two hour ambulance ride to Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia in the middle night. They went straight to surgery to insert a chest tube, and then to the intensive care unit where they spent the first of their two week stay in the hospital.
Kristina: “The most bizarre thing is that her symptoms were mild.” “Of Course, in retrospect, you can see small things, such as tiredness. She’s 4 years old. Kids get tired. She had night sweats. We thought she was just hot. “She always ran hot.”