Young cancer patients' bravery recognized

Battling cancer can be terrifying, especially for young children.

But Beads of Courage can help little ones and their families through the ordeal.

Started by Tucson nurse Jean Baruch, the program provides beads to children as a symbol of their courage while undergoing treatment.

Betty Misch, president of the Tucson Sunshine Kiwanis Club, is committed to helping the program thrive.

Children undergoing treatment - including chemotherapy, transfusions and dialysis - receive a bead that shows they have been through the procedure. The child first receives a necklace with beads that spell his or her name. Then the child adds beads that are color-coded to symbolize treatments.

"Some of the children who undergo cancer treatment are so small - just babies," Misch said. "We felt if they could go through it, we would like to help. The beads can just turn things around for them.''

Sunshine Kiwanis provides an office at 2612 E. Broadway for the organization's national headquarters, which provides beads nationwide.

Baruch began the program from her home, based on an idea originating in a children's hospital in British Columbia. "Working as a bedside nurse, I wanted to see it happen in the United States," she said.

The program relies on volunteers.

Meghan Chamberlin, president of Catalina Foothills High School Key Club, encouraged students at her school to help. Key Club is a high school Kiwanis community service program.

"Cancer affects so many people, and we think this is worthwhile because it helps children," Chamberlain said. "We set up dates on Saturdays when we sort and package beads. We are helping and having fun. It's a great charity."

Beads of Courage also has support groups for siblings, families and caregivers, as well as bereavement programs and therapeutic recreational camps for children.

"The parents will keep their beads so that when the children are older they can see what they've been through," Misch said. "Some of the children have 22 feet of beads."

Bead artists throughout the world have donated one-of-a kind, handmade glass beads which children get when they undergo an unusual or especially difficult cancer treatment, such as intubation or an amputation. Beads of Courage has formed a relationship with the Arizona Society of Glass Bead Makers and the International Society of Glass Bead Makers.

Many donated beads come from The Bead Museum in Glendale.

"It is a caring thing we can do, and Jean (Baruch) allows us to contribute to the mission of her group," said Tucson bead maker Katherine Nesci.

Her group makes a purple heart bead for children who have completed cancer treatment. "It signifies a milestone for them - the battle they've been through," she said.

And when a child dies, nurses involved in the child's treatment send a butterfly bead, made by Tucson bead workers, to parents. "It is a tactile (representation) of the child who is gone, and it is to acknowledge the loss," Nesci said.

A very ill child may get a bead for making it through a day of school. "If they are on the beads program, the kids are more open to talk about what they are going through," Baruch said.

SuperSibs, a national nonprofit organization, has a partnership with Beads of Courage to develop a program for siblings. "The impact of cancer on siblings is very serious, sometimes even more than on the patient," said Sandi Ring, national director of outreach education for SuperSibs.

"There are 18,000 siblings that are going to be impacted this year," Ring said.