From day one, when we were admitted, Mary introduced herself and asked what else she could get us, making sure we were comfortable. At one point she was checking vitals, one of CHOP researchers was swabbing my son's cheek; we asked why and he answered that it was for the donor program. We immediately tensed up—we thought the worst. Mary must have picked up on it. She asked if we needed anything and we said no—I was freaking out inside and my husband was quiet. Mary came in 10 minutes later and said, "I noticed what happened earlier and I wanted to clarify the swabbing so I asked the gentleman what they were doing that for. I hope you don't mind". We shook our heads, not at all. She said that swabbing is routine after a bone marrow biopsy, it does not mean the worst case of anything. At that moment I wanted to hug Mary. We began to relax and I thanked her profusely. She said, "that's why I'm here".
That night my son was still bleeding from his procedure where they changed his dressing but it was still happening, he got his platelets transfused and we were worried. Mary came in to check. When the resident doctor said we were going to be discharged, we discussed the bleeding because the hematologist said we could not leave until bleeding went away. I asked Mary to page them because I was concerned about leaving. She sat with us while we waited for them, and again she was a source of strength and support.