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| COURAGE |
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| The "Beads of Courage" is an outreach program for children with cancer. You can read more about the program, contact info, and much more at their new website: www.beadsofcourage.net The program, "Beads of Courage", is designed to honor the challenging journey that these children take while experiencing cancer and related treatments. Through the program the children are given certain beads to represent certain procedures. The collection of beads become a symbol of their courage and serve to honor milestones they have acheived along their treatment path. Throughout their treatment they can use their "Beads of Courage" to visually show and tell family and friends of their experiences of courage! The Arizona Society of Glass Beadmakers, that I belong to, and the ISGB has been helping this program since it started out at the Tucson Arizona Medical Center last year. The program has now extended to the Phoenix Children's Hospital as well as starting out at many new hospitals nation wide. Their goal is to get this program started nationally at the hospitals that do not have a similiar program in progress already. There has been, and continues to be an out pouring of donations from the online bead making communities such as the I.S.G.B and the Wet Canvas forums and the program has had many wonderful beadmakers donate for this project! Right now the program mostly needs hand made Purple Hearts and Butterflies. These hearts need to be made on a 3/32" mandrel with the hole going horizonatally through the heart. This provides easy stringing on to the child's collection of beads. If you would prefer making the hole vertically or working with a smaller size mandrel then please put the heart on a wire wrapped pendant with the wire pendant hole having the 3/32" inch hole in it. These purple heart beads are given to each child that finishes their cancer treatment program. They can also use glass butterflies. These beads are very special, as they are given to the parents or care givers of each child that has passed away. These can be as intricate or as simple as you would like and there are no specifications on size or holes for these beads. They can also use any glass beads with 3/32" holes for easy stringing. These can be any shape or color, and these beads will be used for other special treatments the children go through, for "Milestone" beads. These "milestone" beads are for procedures or situations that are not listed on the color guide, or used in special circumstances when the child has to go through something especially difficult. They can also use solid colored spacer beads with the 1/8" holes in them using any of the colors below on the color guide. BEADS OF COURAGE COLOR GUIDE: Bone Marrow Aspirate/Biopsy = Beige Course of Chemotherapy = White Central Line/Port/PICC Line Inserstion & Removal = Orange Clinic Visit = Blue Emergency/Ambulance/Unusual Occurence = Magenta Hair Loss/Thinning = Brown Isolation/Fever/Neutropenia = Lime Lumbar Puncture = Tortoise Morphine/Dopamine/PCA Infusions = Purple Pokes(IV Starts, Blood Draws, IM injections, Port Access) = Silver/Black Radiation Treatments = Glow in the Dark Tests/Scans(EEG, ECG, ECHO, MRI, CT, Bone Scan, Gallium..) = Light Green Transfusions = Red Tube Insertions(Catheter, Chest, NG, Foley) = Aqua Sleep over at Hospital/Patient Admission = Magic Bead Stem Cell Harvest/Dialysis/TPN = Dark Green Surgery = Silver Transfer to the PICU = Square Heart MILESTONE BEAD COLORS Special Accomplishments and Recognition = Special Selection Bone Marrow Transplant = Fimo or Glass Selection COMPLETION OF TREATMENT = PURPLE HEART If you are interested in donating your handmade or purchased beads, please send to: Beads of Courage, Inc. 5428 S. Thunder Sky Way Tucson, AZ 85747 Please include a name or business card along with your beads so they will know who it is from. If you would like to read more about specifications on bead donations, or how to donate cash, or even get a "Beads of Courage" program started in your area, please visit the "Beads of Courage" website: www.beadsofcourage.net If you have any other questions you can email Jean Baruch directly. She is the president and program director for "Beads of Courage". jbaruch@nursing.arizona.edu |