At 19 months old, Archie was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of soft tissue cancer.

For years his life was a steady stream of chemotherapy, hospital beds and specialist visits.

But for the past nine months the energetic boy has been in remission, cancer-free and thriving.

Archie Mahon is full of life, fearlessly clambering across playground equipment

Watching the five-year-old fearlessly tackling climbing frames and flying foxes, you wouldn't know he's spent most of his life listless in a hospital bed.

Archie might be thriving away from the hospital, but his family can't forget the years spent in Melbourne in the walls of the Royal Children's - whose corridors became a temporary home.

Archie's mum Sally Wildon says he's spent about 3.5 years of his life at the Royal Children's Hospital, the family even relocating to Melbourne so Archie's brothers could be near him.

Now they are all back home in Jindera, still adjusting to their new normal.

Archie's started swimming lessons and playing soccer.

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They're moving forward while still living with the memories of their time in hospital - the good and the bad.

"It does take a while to adjust [to life outside the hospital], you feel very separated from people," Sally says.

"Everyone else is getting on with normal life and normal stresses and normal worries but you're in this bubble.

"I'm feeling pretty normal now, I'm back at work and things are feeling pretty good."

Living appointment to appointment within the walls of a hospital rooms takes its toll.

Years of heightened emotions, being on call, on guard.

It's not something you forget overnight.

"You get used to it, you can get used to anything," Sally says.

Once that diagnosis comes, priorities change.

Life changes.

"You feel a bit like you're not a part of the real world," she said.

"You're living in a micro-world where you're just worried about them, and that's all that really is existing.

"They're having treatments all the time and that's scary and causes a lot of anxiety.... you're just focused on them."

In that situation, Sally says, distractions aren't just welcome, they're vital for children and parents.

Sick children need to be soothed, their siblings entertained, parents supported.

Sally says the Royal Children's Hospital and its little pockets of fun made an unbearable situation, bearable.

"The hospital is amazing, it's a lifesaver in more ways than one," Sally said.

"It's not just a hospital to get your kids better, which is so important, it's so much more.

"And you need it because you're like a fish out of water."

Medically, it's first class, but it's the extras that help keep families, not just sick children, moving. 

When you're dealing with children, Sally says, you need more than a strict medical environment. 

The cinema, the preschool, the Starlight Captains, all help make the medicines, the surgeries and the sleepless nights, a tiny bit easier.

"It makes a huge difference," she says.

"[The hospital] is just so supportive not only do they have specialists there who travel the world and are on top of the game but it's just amazing, it's welcoming and fun for the kids to go to.

"All the specialists and nurses know they're children so they're patient and play with them a bit. Not all hospitals are like that some are 'let's hold them down and get it done'. 

"We're so lucky have it here in Australia, not that you want anyone to need it but if you do need it, it's there."

Even now his cancer is in remission, Archie and Sally are still regular visitors to the Royal Children's Hospital. 

His cancer might be gone but the effects of a life of sickness remain. 

"He's got kidney and liver damage from the chemo but he's very strong and healthy," Sally says. "He had radiotherapy on one side of his face so that side won't grow and also the teeth on that side.

"He sees a specialist at the Royal Children's every three months, he has scans and MRIs at the Children's every three months and oncology appointments every three months."

Watching Archie sprint across the playground, Sally says life's pretty good.

 Archie's out of the hospital, making friends and going to preschool, like an average child. 

And it's thanks to the hospital, the experts who treated him and the people who made him laugh like the child he is. 

Sally and Archie are calling on residents to throw their support behind the Good Friday Appeal on April 19.

To think of families like theirs.

And children like Archie, who deserve world-class treatment and a good quality of life while sick.

The Good Friday Appeal raises money for the Royal Children's Hospital. People can donate at Woolworths supermarkets or https://www.goodfridayappeal.com.au/.