River

River Louten was diagnosed with bone marrow failure in June of 2012. His mother had been my nurse while I studied in Maine for a semester and so I originally started this piece to raise awareness for his disease and cause. Through treatment, River has gone into remission, although this still means that he's far from cured. The medicine he takes, while is causing his body to stabilize and start making bone marrow, is also effecting his kidneys and this January he will have to stop taking them. At this point, they'll have to figure out if his body can stay in remission or if he will relapse. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and I'll post updates here every once and a while. To check out River's journey you can go here: www.facebook.com/TheRiverLoute…

And a little background on Aplastic Anemia, a.k.a. bone marrow failure. This is a disease of the bone marrow, which causes blood stem cells to be damaged. As a result, persons who are effected by this disease have low amounts of red blood cell, white blood cells, and platelets. Untreated, this disease has a high risk of death, but through suppression of the immune system or bone marrow transplants, it can potentially be cured.



This is also my first ever collaboration with the wonderful He created a painting for me, which I overlaid with the portrait I drew and then systematical cut away at to create the almost floral bouquet that he's holding. It was a great experience and I hope to collaborate more in the future.