On Beads of Courage

Whenever I have a clinic visit, I always make sure to collect "beads of courage" on my way out. Beads of Courage is a national program that helps kids cope with serious illnesses (like cancer.) There are many different colors of beads, each one representing a different mile stone or accomplishment. For example, on regular clinic days, I receive one black, one blue, and one white. Black = Poke, Blue = Clinic, and White = Chemo. 

Overtime, the beads accumulate. Some kids decide to string them to make one long necklace or a decoration. Some choose to leave them in a container. I've chosen to leave them in the container. Sometimes when I'm bored, I like to take my glass container out and count through the beads. I started collecting beads when I was 1st in the hospital. I have many different colored beads, and even some special ones. Below is a list of all the different beads I have.

Beige (Bone Marrow Biopsy) = 2

Orange (Port Placement) = 1

White (Chemotherapy) = 40-something

Blue (Clinic Visit) = 15ish 

Dark Green (NPO) = 7ish

Grey (Dressing Change) = 1

Magenta (Emergency) = 1

Glass Star (General Surgery) = 1

Brown and Face Bead (Hair Loss/Growth) = 1

Purple (IV Infusions) = 3

Yellow (Overnight Hospital Stay) = 10

Black (Pokes) = 25ish 

Tortoise (Procedures like LP) = 5

Glow In The Dark (Echo Cardiogram) = 1

Pink (Anesthesia) = 4

Light Green (Tests/Scans) = 5

Red (Blood Product Transfusions) = 2

Those are just the normal ones. Not only do they have regular ones, they also have "treatment enCOURAGEment" beads. These beads are for something special or a milestone in treatment. I have one member's choice bead for when I was discharged from the hospital (the bead is a handmade clay bead), one bumpy bead for when I had to get chemo shots at home, and one handmade glass selection for an act of courage.

When I was in the hospital, they originally had an IV line running through my arm. That is, until they placed my port. Port sites can be very sensitive at first, so it hurt a lot when my mom accidentally bumped into me. We monitored the port afterward to see if anything bad had happened. Some pus-like substance was sitting right near my port, so we called the nurse in and tried to de-access and re-access me. Usually, this process is really smooth and goes by fairly quickly. But, the doctors in the OR had put a "butterfly needle" in, which apparently is extremely hard to pull out (considering it basically latches itself to the skin). Once everything was said and done, I earned an act of courage bead for not going crazy through that process.  

Beads of Courage isn't just for kids with cancer. My cousin, Oliver had a Congenial Heart Defect. He earned beads while he was in the hospital. His numbers greatly exceed mine. 

You can read more about Beads of Courage here at https://www.beadsofcourage.org/ 

"Objects are very beautiful and important in and of themselves, but also because of the story they tell."

-David Silverman