Diabetes Camp - The Final Chapter

So, Samantha has been back from camp for a couple of days now and I’ve been told pretty much all of the fun stories from her week away from home. First of all, she had a great time and wants to go back every year until she is too old, then she wants to be a counselor. She mad esome new friends and got along well with her cabin mates. She loved her counselors! Her Cabin Counselor, Anne, was so much fun. She plays guitar in the camp band and decided she was going to test fer BG and take shots all week just like the girls, even though she does not have D. Turns out she is a little bit squeamish when it comes to blood and she ended up passing out after one of her BG checks. Her other Camp Counselor, Chelsea, passed out also, but not from the sight of blood. She ended up getting very dehydrated and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance!



A couple of Samantha’s cabin mates got sick while at camp and had to spend time in the infirmary. One of them ended up very, very ill with large ketones and “HI” BGs. She ended up getting an IV and heading home from camp early. Apparently she has altitude sickness and possibly strep throat. When I asked Samantha how she would rank her experience on a scale of 1 to 10, she said, “9.5, but only because one of my friends had to leave early, otherwise it would have been a 10!”

The diabetes counselors were great too. These lovely souls had to get up in the middle of the night and trek from their med staff cabin to the girls’ cabin and check their BGs. If the girls were high then they’d take them to the infirmary for ketone checks and insulin dosing, or if they were low they’d hand out the juice. One of the Diabetes Counselors, Laura, actually has Diabetes and wears a Minimed pump. The other Diabetes Counselor, Ashley, is going to Med School and Samantha said she knew a ton about D even though she didn’t have it! The D Counselors helped the girls count carbs and take care of any of the D issues that would arise during their very active week. I am so glad they were there to keep my kiddo safe!


Samantha got a “Rookie Award” for doing a set change all by herself (from start to finish) for the very first time ever! She was so proud of herself and did her next set change at home by herself too! I am so glad that they encourage this kind of independence at camp! As far as activities go, she said she tried her hand at archery, did arts and crafts, and went horseback riding (her horse’s name was Frosty). They also had a camp-wide capture the flag game and Samantha was on the winning team! They painted themselves up in the team colors before the start of the game and she said it was a blast! They had crazy night, where they all got to dress up funny or wear funny wigs. Samantha sprayed her hair purple and pink. They also had a camp talent show and Samantha and another girl sang America the Beautiful in front of the whole camp. By the time we picked her up[ she was so pooped. She slept most of the ride home and that night slept for another 14 hours. If this gives you any idea of their activity level during the week, she lost 3 pounds in the five days she was at camp. I was shocked!!!

All in all she had a great time and loved the experience.

Click here to go to our Flickr page if you want to see more of the pictures from Camp Colorado!

These stories just make my heart MELT. Camp is such an important place for kids with diabetes - where being a kid comes first - and diabetes just sits in the background. :slight_smile:

And diabetes camps are the place of so many “firsts” for so many of us. It is amazing the independence that a week at camp can gift a young person with.

Love the photos - and the stories :).

Heidi,

I am so glad your daughter had such a good time at camp! I attended a camp in Texas called Camp Sweeney from age 6 until I was 17 and the experience was invaluable in learning to deal with my diabetes.

I hope she continues to go and enjoy it and trust me, she will make lifelong friends just as I have. :slight_smile: