Beads of Courage for My Girl

Life certainly can be ironic. Or come full circle. You know, like a bead. On January 2 of this year, the last day of winter break for my kids, I took my daughter Annie to JoAnne's to buy some fabric. She was using gift cards she'd received for the holidays to buy fabric because she wanted to make bags for Beads of Courage, a program that I love to support. Beads of Courage provides beads for children who are dealing with serious illnesses - different beads are assigned to various treatments. As you can imagine, some of these little fighters have multiple strands that are filled with all kinds of beads. So Beads of Courage not only depends on artists to create beads for the program, but it also relies on volunteers to make special bead bags for the kids. Annie, who loves to sew, had wanted to make these bags for a long time. So that's how we found ourselves at JoAnne's, picking out some fun fabrics on January 2. 

On January 3, I called our pediatrician's office to ask about Annie's sudden weight loss and extreme thirst, symptoms we'd noticed for the previous couple weeks. With the New Year's holiday long weekend, it was my first chance to call after realizing just how severe her symptoms were. I was told to take her right in for a blood test, and that's when we got her Juvenile Diabetes diagnosis. I first wrote about that here. Since Annie's diagnosis, our time has been filled with doctor's appointments and educating ourselves about this disease. But in the four months since she was diagnosed, Annie did finally get to make her first Beads of Courage bag. Her grandma came over and the two of them spent an afternoon figuring out the pattern and making one finished bag. Annie was so excited to finally make it! She plans on making more.

The first Beads of Courage bead bag Annie made.

Shortly after Annie's diagnosis, I learned that Beads of Courage now has a Chronic Illness program, which includes kids like Annie who have diabetes. So after a few weeks I finally filled out Annie's information and signed her up. And guess what came in the mail a few days ago? Annie's strand of beads! It's a short strand, and we hope it stays that way. :) But each bead on there stands for something she's been through - from her nights spent in the hospital to her blood draws while she was there. There are also special bumpy beads that represent learning to take her own medicine - in this case insulin shots - so I made that bead for her, as well as one for learning to use the insulin pen (which is now how she injects herself).

It hasn't been easy, adjusting to this new normal. But Annie has come so far in the last four months and we are so proud of her. She was so excited to receive her beads - and for someone who has pretty much open access to all kinds of beads here, that's saying a lot! That's because the Beads of Courage beads were hard-earned, and that's what makes each and every one so special. Thank you, thank you, Beads of Courage.