Going to Camp And Diabetes

My camp experience was so brief, maybe a week, and yet it had an amazing affect on me. I was about eight years old at that time. I'd been diagnosed the year before, and didn't want to go to camp. But I wasn't given a choice. My mother felt it would be good for me. It was the first time I was going to have to take care of myself, by myself, and I was scared.  But I didn't tell anyone.

Outside of my family and close family friends, I never talked about diabetes or having it with anyone except for my doctors and teachers. Around my friends I pretended everything was fine, and I ate candy and did everything they did. I was very obsessed with being normal. The more everyone talked about diabetes to me, how I can't have sugar, special diets, visiting doctors, and hospital stays ( I spent a good portion of my childhood in the hospital), the more compliant I Acted. While inside I was a mess. There was no one in my life who had ever had or heard of diabetes back then. People would talk about their distant relatives who had it and had had amputations. I worked hard to be what my mind told me normal was. I wouldn't talk about it with people who didn't know, I would sneak and eat candy, as well as pretend to be a model patient and daughter.

So the day came for me to leave for camp and I left on a bus with my family looking on and waving. My mom had given me money and said I was to call if I needed anything. I remember thinking I would call them when the bus stopped. But I didn't. I just cried till we got there.

When we arrived at the camp grounds we were all taken to an area where everyone stopped to check their urines and blood sugar. It seemed like a lot of these kids had been doing this for a long time. This was normal to them. Wow!! I just stood there watching. Then I walked up and down looking at everyone and what they were doing. I don't remember what the other kids thought or said. What I remember is that I was so profoundly affected by that. Someone else besides me with diabetes. Wow!! I also remember one of the counselors asking me if it was my first time at camp Nyda.  As she spoke to me she helped me get my urine checked. All I did was stare at the other campers. Some were even talking about and taking insulin, and not embarassed about it. That was a very surprising day for me.

Then I finally had a chance to look at the camp grounds and see how beautiful it was, with a lake, pools, grounds, the woods, etc.  I was living up in NYC at the time, so this was new to me. It had been a long time since I had come to America from Haiti (In actuality it was only 3 years). I made a few friends at the camp that year. I was busy discovering and finding so much out about others who had diabetes. I could finally say, I wasn't alone. It felt so good. Without realizing it, camp helped me to see that I was no different than anyone else, I met a few kids who didn't like it at first or I guess felt the way I did in the beginning. Most of us got a lot out of it. It was the beginning of my coming to terms with diabetes and how I felt.

I never went back to Camp Nyda, or saw those people again, but I always remember it. It was such an amazing experience for me. I feel camp is such a great place for kids to interact with each other and learn about life and sharing. I meet a lot of kids today with diabetes who have really found their footing once they've gone to camp. It's something important to experience with your peers when you develop a disease like this. You find out you're not alone, and you don't have to carry it alone. There are others out there who can help.