Charming 2

Last week I posted that I was wanting a charm bracelet. I thought about it a lot, used my many hours in bed to check things out on the internet, and made a decision. I decided to start a European style charm bracelet, but not to use the traditional ribbons. I don't want a dangly bracelet. It isn't my style.

I decided to just buy beads I love that have some kind of connection in my mind rather than an obvious awareness ribbon style. For people who don't know, it will just be a pretty bracelet. But I will know the significance of each bead.

I took the plunge and bought this as a starter. It was my birthday present to myself. I needed a little pick-me-up the midst of my health issues.










The white has double meaning - they are little tiny chips of opals, my birthstone. Plus white for osteoporosis.

The dark blue is the color for dysautonomia awareness, which includes orthostatic hypotension, and the lighter blue is for Addison's Disease.

I may get a zebra bead, traditionally used for Ehlers Danlos, which my son may have, but for me symbolic of rare, unseen diseases. The medical community is trained to look for the common frequent answers, but as my wonderful doctor says, if you don't look for rare diseases, you will never see them.

"When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras."
(Theodore E. Woodward, MD, University of Maryland,1950)

There are a lot of people who are zebras. They often struggle for years to get a diagnosis and suffer needlessly.

I plan on adding birthstone beads bit by bit for all the lovely people in my Ohana.

I wanted something beautiful. A reminder of beauty in the midst of suffering. A reminder that we are strong and yet fragile.

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