Our 3yr old son was admitted to CHOC after being sent to the ER by our pediatrician after they found concerns during a nut allergy blood work panel. Alyssa Riggins was the night nurse assigned to us. We were placed on the 5th floor in the East section. She immediately calmed me and my partner as we were just trying to wrap our heads around that our baby has a serious health concern. We had been totally blindsided by the whole situation and needless to say we were both a mess. Our son was receiving his first set of blood & platelet transfusions that evening and Alyssa took her time explaining everything she was going to be doing before she did it and while she did it. Our son was instantly drawn to Alyssa. She had a special name for each part of her vital check that made them fun and not so scary. During our 11 night stay at CHOC we had amazing nurses, CAs, students and the whole team was great but Alyssa is pure gold! We are convinced she picked up extra shifts to see and take care of our child because it felt like we had her 8 out of our 11 initial nights! I cannot fully explain the relief that we would feel every time she walked through the door at the shift change. Just to have a familiar face and someone that made our child light up when she would be in the room, is priceless. She provided knowledge and comfort every day to us as parents, something that we can never truly repay! She was there to talk through results, diagnosis or just questions for the doctors. 2 weeks later we were readmitted to begin Immunotherapy for his Serve Aplastic Anemia, which put us in a different section of the 5th floor. Each day we would ask if Alyssa was here but we never saw or heard. Finally almost a week later our door opened and there was Alyssa! Our kid lit up like a Christmas tree and to be honest so did we! For them to take the time to come see our child and ask how everything had been at home, how things were going this stay and just how we were feeling about what lies ahead. Having Alyssa as our nurse has made the world of difference. Her compassion for her patients and the families is evident and we are so grateful that we were fortunate enough to experience her. Any family going through any circumstances that brings them to a hospital should be so lucky as to have a nurse like Alyssa Riggins.