Diabetes camp helps youths deal with their disease

Summer camp for most youths is about games and sports in the great outdoors and making new friends. Camp Vegas took that model and simply added designated times to check one’s blood sugar.

Offered through the Nevada Diabetes Association, Camp Vegas started in 2000 for children ages 7 to 17 with diabetes. About 40 youths attend in any given year using the camp facilities on Mount Potosi, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Camp counselor Sarah D’Errico said the camp is all about seeing youths understand that their disease doesn’t have to limit them as long as they can care for themselves.

“Nerves are often the first thing we see,” she said of when parents bring newbie campers. “It’s often their first time away from their parents, and even the parents will give us that ‘You realize I’m leaving my child with you?’’ kind of look. But that all goes away as camp begins and they start having fun. We show them that they can do anything they want, no excuses. … We have a really high return rate.”

Potosi’s higher elevation means a 15-degree difference in temperature. Pine trees cover the area, and oversized logs for sitting ring activity areas.

The facilities are clean and modern but with a rustic atmosphere underscored by the decorations: horses cutouts; a bandana print lining the wall; and press-on stars that glow at night on the ceiling.

The campers were introduced to horses by the ranchers, and there were faux bulls to rope with lassos. A volleyball court was off to one side, and tie-dyed shirts, the campers’ latest craft project, were drying on a clothesline. That night was skit night, and groups were busy rehearsing. A campfire with s’mores was also planned.

“It’s going through all the diabetes steps together,” D’Errico said. “A lot of people will take their diabetes and use it as an excuse: ‘I can’t do that,’ or ‘I don’t do gym because I just tell the PE teacher that I’m low.’ But at camp, you have all these sports, all these activities, and it’s no excuses. So we’re teaching them to handle their diabetes in the most extreme circumstances because this is likely the most active they’ll ever be … and we have ‘real’ talk. Mom and Dad aren’t going to be there forever, so we teach them how to manage their diabetes, so when they hit college or move out on their own, it’s not an issue. They can handle it.”

During a lunch break, the room filled with chatter as staff members, all of them medical professionals, went through the lunch line ahead of the campers. They ate first, as they would be busy once the first youths were done eating, checking levels and ensuring they got their insulin.

The camp dietitian read off the carbohydrate total for the items from which campers could choose.

Syd (last name withheld), 9, told her story. She was 3 when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

“I was not very happy about that because I’d seen my brother pricking his finger. I thought it was scary,” she said.

Her brother, Wes, now 17, had attended the camp when he was young, she said, and helped calm her fears about going there for a week because she “was a little afraid of coming here. I’m not away from my parents a lot.”

She now checks her own blood sugar about every two hours. About two years ago, she was outfitted with a pump.

What’s the biggest difference between the camp and home?

“Here, I get to do a lot more things,” Syd said. “At my school, I feel like I’m the only one.”

Another camper, Peyton (last name withheld), 9, was diagnosed in April 2014. He went to doctors with strep throat and came out with a diagnosis of diabetes.

“I didn’t know what it meant,” he said. “My parents would poke my finger, and it hurt bad, but (within a week) I started doing it, and it was kind of weird, but I got used to it.”

Lynn Wexler is the association’s director of marketing and development. Her daughter, Ariel, now 18, was diagnosed with diabetes at 11. Wexler said she resisted sending Ariel to diabetes camp for a long time because she didn’t want her to feel different. Then she changed her mind and agreed.

When she picked Ariel up five days later, she learned that the camp allowed her child to not feel different.

“For a week, when you sit down to lunch, everybody takes out their blood sugar kit to check their glucose. Everybody either injects or they adjust their pump,” Wexler said. “They talk about their highs and their lows. They talk about feeling different from the general populace. They talk about, ‘Why me and my siblings or my friends?’ They get a chance to become uninhibited about the fact that they are living with diabetes. … It’s not just about being at camp with diabetes. You’ve got all the education. You’ve got endocrinology professionals — whether they’re nurses or pump specialists or diet or nutritionists — as well as doctors. You need that week to learn independence from your parents.”

Perhaps Payton summed it up best when he said, “Coming to the diabetes camp made me feel normal.”

The cost for Camp Vegas is $499, which includes meals and accommodations. Scholarships are available.

Visit diabetesnv.org/camps/camp-vegas or contact the association at 800-379-3839.

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.