 We were home playing and I looked down and realized that he had more bruises than usual on his legs and His torso had some ptiki eye So I took him into the doctors and they had labs drawn and they called me the next day And I knew when the doctor said that his labs were remarkable There was a problem and the next day we found ourself at Maine Children's Cancer Program and he had a diagnosis of aplastic anemia And so essentially that meant he had bone marrow failure river had very very low platelets and That meant he could not play in the usual way that an almost three-year-old could So we had to put the bike downstairs We didn't get the swing set that summer. He has a metaport and that is how He has blood draws essentially he had a lot of blood draws They were doing in the arms and it was becoming traumatizing for him. So for children in his circumstance, they put in an abort And that's when Greg came in. That's when we received home health services when I first met river He was in a pretty scary situation for I think at the time he was three his blood counts were very low His platelet count was really low and his red blood cell count was really low I think his whites were also quite low. So when all of those things happen For red blood cells you lose your energy you lose kind of the color So he was very pale and having a bit of trouble with energy, but also Because of his platelet count his platelet count being low he was susceptible to bleeds Bruising you know kind of like spontaneous bruising and stuff like that So he was pretty fragile when I first kind of came into his life I would say it was stressful traumatizing in some ways We couldn't go to some birthday parties because his white blood cells were so low. We didn't want him to Have an infection So and then he couldn't play with children in the same way as far as running around and Tumbling and bouncing and we just it felt like we put him in a bubble for a little while That's what it felt like. So Greg came in initially weekly or sometimes twice a week to check on River and Access his port and draw labs so we could see what was happening With his red blood cells white blood cells and platelets a big part of our routine was going to be drawing blood every day and certainly This was an uncomfortable thing for River to have a needle placed so that blood could be drawn the medications that he was on Had some not so great side effects You know, he was also on some steroid treatment. I think at one point Which made him a very moody young man Greg's been with us for two years and he's here on time on a regular basis taking good care of River having fun with him For kids of this age I think it's so important to turn a medical visit into something that doesn't feel so medical when your heart You is just overwhelmed with grief You need somebody to step in professionally and help care for your child and your family and that's what Greg has done for us It's the key to to working with kids is to try and work with that anxiety around what has to happen so that That doesn't become a big obstacle And try to maybe use it to your advantage even sometimes River today is in remission There's there's conversation about taking out his port, which is really exciting And he's able to play which is what you saw today. He's so full of energy and life Laughter River's future is open to him and I'm very excited for him. I just really want to emphasize how grateful we are for home health visiting nurses And exceptionally grateful for Greg. I cannot say enough kind words about him We count our blessings every day and Greg's one of them You