Help River Roo Break Through!

This fundraiser is for an amazing little guy named River and his family.  Amy and Fee and their 3 sons - Bodhi, River (Roo), and Indy, live in Vancouver.  I have known Fee for just over three years; we met in an online Facebook group when we were both pregnant in 2013.  We bonded right away as we are both nurses.  Amy and Fee are both amazing women, and in my short time knowing them, I have known them as very generous and giving people - whether it be with friends, in the Buddhist meditation community, or within mommy groups.  Another mother in our mommy group is battling cancer and Fee was the very first person to raise private donations for her when she was struggling, even though they had never met!  That's the type of amazing women they are.

Now they need our help! 

Some history of Roo's Diagnosis:
Their son River was born in 2013 and developed fairly normally, hitting all milestones and even speaking a few words. He always had a slight issue with eating, but was trying a good mix of food for a toddler. At 16 months, River slowly stopped talking and making eye contact. First the women  thought it was his hearing and got it tested.  Then, when they moved back to Vancouver from the Island, their doctor suggested he may have Autism. It would be a year+ wait for an assessment, or they could pay privately with little help from private insurance. Because River was now already 2 years old, their doctor recommended getting a diagnosis as soon as possible, as studies show that early intervention has the best results. So Amy and Fee quietly paid out of pocket for private assessments.  Had they not done that, River would likely still be on a waitlist for a diagnosis and funding today. Five different specialists listed by the government assessed both River and parents. By March 2016 River was officially diagnosed with non-verbal Autism with a confident doctor believing he will begin to talk in a few years. River gets some funding from the government to help with behavioural intervention, and has been developing really well since the treatment began.  

They expected regressions and setbacks, but an alarming trend has now set in. 

Slowly River's eating has gotten worse and worse, to the point where he has nearly stopped eating entirely. In the past few months, he went down to 5 tolerable foods - blueberry Eggo waffles, grapes, white sticky rice, McDonald’s fries, and Gerber mix berry baby food.  The moms were hoping that the above listed therapy would eventually help him to eat more, but unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.

Even with multiple occupational therapy sessions and behavioral interventions, River is now not eating even that. On a good day, he eats a handful of rice, maybe, and half a waffle. He is wasting away as he cannot take in enough calories from this alone.  He is also believed to have a sensory disorder, which  makes him think too much about the food. He is hungry and goes to the fridge a lot and wants food, but he cannot bring himself to put it in his mouth. River has lost a lot of weight and it has been decided that aggressive therapy is needed as a critical intervention before he needs a feeding tube.  Amy and Fee have to put River in an intensive feeding therapy program starting in August. The program was fully booked,  but due to the severity of River's case, they have thankfully found an emergency placement for him.

While it is wonderful to have these services available, sadly the cost of the program is not covered by our health care system and  it is extremely expensive. 

Each day they hope and pray he will eat a handful of food to get them to August. No parent should have to worry about their child starving, or this financial burden.

Amy and Fee would never ask anyone for help, as they are as stubborn as their little River Roo, but I know that many people would give with open arms if they knew the full extent of what was going on in their family. I am hoping that through this donation page that we will be able to raise enough money to pay for the program, as well as some travel and sundry expenses. I want them to focus on their boys and Roo’s treatment, not bank statements.  So let's try and alleviate those stresses, so they can focus on more pressing matters.

Please share this post as much as you can with your networks.  The universe can work in such beautiful ways if we get the word out. 

Thank you in advance for your help, prayers, and shares,

Sarah Nuttall <3