Beads of Courage

When Eve was on treatment, she was given a beautiful glass bead for every cancer-related procedure she had through Beads of Courage. We tried making necklaces with them, only to have them break apart and fly across the room after many games of tug-of-war gone awry. Of the ones I have been able to recover, and the ones that have not broken, we were still left with a long strand.

The best thing I can say about this is that Eve's strand is relatively short compared to other kids. While the length of her necklace is longer than she stands, many of Eve's cohorts have relapsed and their strands could probably go from front yard to back. And imagine how long the necklaces of the leukemics are, who are in treatment for years.

I want to thank Jo's PhotoMojo for not only capturing Eve and her Beads of Courage, but for getting some great pics of Eve and her pigtails. Jo took Eve's first cancer picture two years ago, right before the hair fell out, so I would forever have documentation of her first pigtails.

She also photoshopped out the steri-strips from Eve's port placement and all the bruises of the initial pokes. No need to retouch the latest batch though, because Eve is both bruise- and port-free. And we're happy that she's slowing down on the beads.

Guide to Eve's beads:

Chemotherapy white

Clinic visit blue

Hair Loss face

Inpatient admission yellow

Neutropenia lime

Port placement/revision/removal orange

Pokes (IV starts/blood draws/injections/port access) black

Radiation glow in the dark

Surgery star

Tests/scans (CT/X-Ray/ECHO/EKG/MRI) light green

Transfusions red

Tube placement (NG/Foley) aqua

Transfer to PICU square heart

Act of Courage glass selection

Completion of Treatment purple heart

If you are on Facebook, become a fan of Jo's PhotoMojo! Do it or else I send Downstairs Eve to your house, all NPO.