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| Fort |
Camp Angel is a camp held twice a year (summer and winter)
for children touched by cancer through a family member. Camp Angel 2012 was
held at its usual summer location: Camp Luther, Three Lakes, WI (
http://www.campluther.com/) from July 13
to 15, 2012. If you have never been to Camp Luther in beautiful Three Lakes, it
is worth checking out the pictures of Camp Luther at their website. Especially
beautiful and I think, unique are the actual camp sites where the campers spend
their nights.
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| Noah's Ark |
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| Pioneer Village or Covered Wagons |
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| Towers |
51 kids showed up this year. They were divided into our
usual 4 groups, the 14 littler girls
(7-9 year olds) were in the Bunnies group and they stayed at the Pioneer
Village or Covered Wagons. The 16 older girls (10 and 11 year olds) were in the
Foxes group and stayed at the Treehouse. Similarly, the 9 littler boys (7-9
year olds) were in the Wolves Group and stayed in the Tower, while the 12 older
boys (10 and 11 year olds) were in the Bears group and stayed at the Fort. The
photos show pictures of the Covered Wagons, Treehouse, Tower and Fort camp
sites where the groups stayed.
The campers arrived at about 3 pm in the afternoon on
Friday, July 13. After some games of introduction, campers went to their
respective camp sites to settle in. We had our usual Friday night dinner of
delicious pizza. This year, something was different. We should have known,
given it was Friday the 13th. There was quite a storm during dinner
and lightening cracked a tree that fell on a powerline pole and took the
powerline down with it. One of our camp staff whose was driving in late was
stranded on the other side of the blocked road. Also unable to get through to
us was the local Harley Davidson Group. No one was hurt. We did lose power
though. One enterprising biker was able to get through and he generously
offered to present a show-and-tell to the kids. Practically every kid got their
picture taken sitting on his bike! The camper retired to their camp site for
the night where they slept…er…played and horsed around.
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| The downed power line |
Captain Steve was gracious as ever. We had a great time (aarrrhhh!!!). We came
back hungry and ate a great lunch. After lunch and swimming tests, it was time
to get out on the water. Kids swam, went tubing, swung from the rope into the
water, fished (actually caught fish!). On shore, there was face painting, rock
painting, crafts, painting driftwood and other fun activities. In the evening,
DJ Dan brought his setup over and it was time to dance! This year, there were
many requests for Justin Bieber. DJ Dan did not disappoint. Even though he did
not have any to begin with, thanks to the internet and iTunes, kids were soon
rocking to Bieber. Kids returned to their camp sites for bonfires, s’mores and
(officially this did not happen) girls versus boys camp raids.
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| Beware the pirates! |
Okay. So this is a medical blog. As the camp doctor, I
treated small cuts and bruises. I did have to set and cast one displaced
fracture for one little girl. Nothing serious. She came to me in tears with her
broken walking stick. She left smiling with her stick bandages and set (almost)
as good as new.
I treated some swimmers ear, upset stomachs, overheating,
mild dehydration and the camp staple: homesickness. I also made sure everyone
got their scheduled medications. I was a little uncomfortable given one little
girl the medication that she was prescribed by her provider back home. Her
medications included lithium (for bipolar disorder), Seroquel (for mood
disorder), Depakote (for mood disorder) and something for sleep and ADHD. I am
not a child psychiatrist. I felt sorry for this little girl being on such
strong psych meds.
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| Free Style Four Squares: chicken feet, black magic and cherry bombs allowed! |
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| Girl talk and ... hey, get off the roof! |
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| Pirates of the Caribbean... okay, actually of Camp Angel |
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| A sign in the pirate ship... hope the kids didn't notice! |
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| Me and the First Mate |
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| I LOVE Justin Bieber! Play more Justin Bieber! |
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| Captain Steve made some mean tatooes... |
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| Hanging on to the bobbing moon-thingie was loads of fun |
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| Sliding into the lake |
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| Our med and First-Aid room -- my kingdom |
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| A view of the lake early in the morning |
A shout-out to the awesome camp counselors we have. These
young men and women, many of whom began coming as high school students and some
of whom still come even though they’ve graduated college do a great job. They
are aces at treating homesickness and worshipped by their campers. They carried
them, played with them, colored T-shirts with them, and made the camps fun for
these kids.
The camp is kept short – three days because most of these
families have too much going on to spare their kids for longer. Reading through
each child’s connection to cancer breaks your heart. There was one little boy
at camp with his two sisters.
He constantly acted up. Playing Four Squares, he
would argue about the rules (black magic and chicken feet allowed/not allowed,
we’re playing freestyle versus we’re playing four squares). Reading his notes,
I realized that he and his three sisters had lost their dad about a month ago
to cancer, and he was really close to him. What’s more, his death had been
difficult. Childhood should be a happy time. Cancer does not respect that. Camp
Angel brought smiles and laughter to broken hearts, even if just for a weekend.
Every little bit helps. Hopefully, we created some sunshine memories in the
dark cancer-winter of these young lives.
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| Tubing. Go faster! |
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