Beads of Courage

While we try to focus on anything but Annie's medical condition when possible, sometimes it denies her the credit she deserves for all she weathers.  Luckily the organization "Beads of Courage" helps acknowledge the special "accomplishments" of kids with serious illnesses.  Like an olympic medal, it provides recognition for all the hours, days and years of pain and sacrifice endured to master mind and body in pursuit of a challenging goal.  The three strands above only document her experiences for two years.  She has four additional years of up to five beads a day for taking medicine, 1-3 beads a week for having blood draw appointments, 1-9 beads an appointment for pokes, another five beads for hospital stays, another four for bone-marrow biopsies, over twenty for transfusions and another six for other medical procedures like MRIs.  

It's a fine line between encouraging Annie to define herself beyond her illness and forgetting to honor all she has overcome.  Thus we'll recommit to stringing Annie's beads and celebrating all that she accomplishes not just the conventional things.  So for today beads for ... 13 pills (so far), one hospital visit, five pokes and one hemoglobin transfusion (hmg 7, plt 6,000).  Next scheduled blood draw in a week.