Like all oncology kids, Finn received a courage bead for every treatment he endured. Over time, Finn endured a lot of treatments and consequently earned a lot of courage beads. As a result, Finn’s string of courage beads is impossibly long. Stupidly long. It is just wrong.
Team Finn’s goal is to change that story for others; One Bead at A Time
As part of Changing the Story and as part of One Bead at a Time, Team Finn carries courage beads on our jersey. In 2010, we carried 33 courage beads on our shoulder. In 2011 we carried 32 courage beads. And this year there will be 31. And someday there will be none.
One Bead At A Time is a tribute. A tribute to Finn and others like him.
One Bead At A Time is a target. A goal. Team Finn rides to earn the right to remove those beads and we do it one bead at a time.
One Bead At A Time is a reminder. A reminder that what we are doing is going to take time. Resilience. Determination.
One Bead At A Time is also a reminder that along the way we are making a real difference in the lives of real children.
Let me give you an example. As part of Finn’s treatment regime, he would receive a big chemo every three weeks. After the big chemo, Finn’s white blood cells would drop dramatically often leading to hospitalization as Finn’s natural infection fighting white blood cells disappeared.
In an effort to combat that, shortly after his big chemo, over seven to ten nights Finn would receive a nightly needle in his leg. The injection apparently causes an incredibly painful sensation through the upper leg muscle. Actually, Sam and I would have to administer the needle. The process was horrific. Finn knew what was coming and hated it. Baird would try and comfort Finn the best he could and Sarah would often try and escape from the tension of the moment and screams of her little brother.
In October 2007, Finn, Sam, Baird, Sarah and I travelled to Boston for two months to get specialized radiation treatment for Finn. While there, we were introduced to a concentrated form of the white blood cell boosting medicine designed to help Finn’s immune system after the big chemo. Practically this meant that ten needles were reduced to one. It meant fewer treatments. It meant fewer courage beads.
This small change in medication made a tremendous difference to Finn and to our whole family. And it taught us. It taught us that a bead can matter. In fact, one less bead can make a world of difference.
So while One Bead At A Time is going to take time; what we are doing while those Beads are removed matters.
