Ryleigh Rose’s Bravery Beads
Our Heart Hero
Ryleigh was born with two undiagnosed serious congenital heart defects. At a routine pediatric appointment, we were rushed to Peds cardiology for an immediate echo. It was there Ryleigh was diagnosed with a severe coarctation of the aorta, as well as a large ventricular septal defect.
Our four pound, two week old girl needed to be rushed to be put on medication for her heart to keep beating, but worse of all- she needed emergency open heart surgery.
The nurses in the pediatric care center often talked about “bravery beads” when Ryleigh was out of surgery. Bravery beads represent her courage during surgery. Typically the patients receive a bead for every “milestone” they meet. After Ryleigh’s very successful open heart surgery, we decided to order beads from Nicole to represent the surgery as well as all the milestones she has made along the way: one for crawling (something our doctors said could take up to a year) one for eating on her own, and one for the surgery - hopefully the only one she will ever need. Nicole is organized and pays close attention to detail. I would never go to anyone else for my needs!