Beads

I was at the "resort" today, and noticed a pamphlet for a new program Children's is starting, called "Stinger's Bravery Beads", which is named after the Blue Jackets' mascot and is funded through the Jacket's Foundation, which helps fight pediatric cancer.
As I looked at it, I though, "wow, this is great! I would love this!" Then I noticed something--it's for cancer kids only.

Why is that?

I looked at the list of things that you could earn beads for. The list is long, but here's what I've done:

--Birthdays (since diagnosis)
--BM Transplant (I'd replace with lung, but you say tomato)
--Clinic Visit
--Dressing change (let's see...where do we start? PICCS? Ports? The dressings from the burn post-surgery?)
--ER visits (ha! Ha! I'd have half a million)
--Fever
--Holidays (since diagnosis? In hospital? Either way, we'd have this covered)
--Hospital Admission (no comment)
--Line In (PICCS? Peripherals? Port access? Does this count ones that went bad, too?)
--Line Out
--Major Surgery (the transplant, the CI)
--Medical Exam (oh, the thousands upon thousands)
--New Diagnosis
--Off TPN (yup, done that! Several times!)
--OT/PT
--PCA/Morphine (ahhh, the Lovely PCA pump!!)
--Pokes (millions. I kid you not.)
--Scans/Tests (MRI, Bone scans, VQ Scans)
--School (in house)--did that with my first diagnosis
--School re-entry (many, many times)
--Spirituality (a lot! Thanks Fr. Mark!)
--Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day! (um, lots)
--TPN
--Transfer to PICU (one, or two, if you count post-tx)
--Transfusion
--Tube insertion (Chest, Catheter)
--Very Good Day (A few of these)

But there's one on the cancer list that you will NEVER see on the CF list:

--End of treatment

Because CF treatment only ends when youdo. There's no remission, no recovery, no "Five years and we think you're cured" status. Sure, I don't do Chest PT anymore. Other things have taken its place. But that doesn't mean that it's over.

I think we deserve some beads.