Alva Review-Courier -

HAMILTON, Kan. (AP) — Liby Peterson has a lot of beads. Six hundred and ninety-eight, to be exact.

She has red beads, purple beads, even glow-in-the-dark beads. But two beads — her handmade, glass-heart bead and a bead shaped like a house — stand out.

Liby, of Butler County, was born on Nov. 9 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

Since then, she has received a blue bead for every appointment, a black one for every needle poke, glow-in-the-dark beads for each echocardiogram and a yellow bead for every overnight stay in...