Alaska kids with diabetes enjoy a specialized summer camp

This June, 62 kids descended on Camp K, a sprawling property on the shores of Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing. For six days the campers made survival bracelets, tie-dyed shirts, set up tents, kayaked, canoed, swam in the lake, wrote, performed skits and played team building games in a big field.

While that may not sound like a particularly unique camp experience, it's an experience those children might not have been afforded otherwise. Each of those 62 campers are living with diabetes.

"Often times these kids can't go to other camps because of their medical needs," said camp coordinator Kathleen Daymen.

Alaska Diabetes Camp has been operating for over 20 years with funding from the American Diabetes Association and is open exclusively to youths ages 7 to 17 with diabetes. Currently it's at Camp K.

For the most part, it's a traditional summer camp—campers develop outdoor skills, make friends, play games. But at this particular camp, there is one key difference: the staffers are trained to attend to the specific health needs of kids with diabetes, including checking blood sugars, counting carbohydrate grams at meals, administering insulin and addressing low or high blood sugars. It's a week full of teachable moments for healthy living.

"Kids with diabetes can have the same experiences as kids without diabetes," said Dr. Rachel Lescher, the medical director of the diabetes camp and a pediatric endocrinologist for the Alaska Native Medical Center. Many of the young patients she sees in her practice have diabetes. "They just need to be managed differently to keep them safe."

Lescher added that this year's camp was extra special because 13 Alaska Native children were able to attend—the highest Camp K has seen, thanks to scholarships provided by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

"Type 1 diabetes is not especially common in Alaska Natives," said Lecher. "It's really wonderful to have them come to camp where they can meet other kids with diabetes, especially if they live in a village where they have never met another child with diabetes."

The camp's host site, Camp K, is part of the Alaska branch of Camp Fire USA. They provide the diabetes camp with counselors and manage day-to-day logistics. That partnership, Lescher said, allows them to provide kids with a real camp experience and keep them healthy.

Daymen said the camp is also one of the few chances where the kids with diabetes can be away from home and feel some independence.

"What's amazing about this camp is they're not different from anyone else, everybody is the same," Daymen said. "Let's say you're in a school environment, that child would have to separate themselves from their peers to test their sugars. But at camp, everybody is doing it at the same time."

One camper even told Lescher that when they came to camp they didn't even feel like they had diabetes.

In addition to the regular camp counselors, the camp pulls together a staff of medical professionals—doctors, nurses, dietitians and others with experience caring for kids with diabetes. The Camp Fire counselors receive a special orientation on diabetes management—how to recognize and manage low blood sugars and communicate effectively with medical staff.

For the extensive medical staff, they've agreed this camp should be part of their job duties.

"They are all very busy in their daily jobs as pediatric endocrinologists and diabetes nurse specialists, diabetes educators, dietitians and other duties, but they choose to spend six days providing the highest level of care in a remote environment," Lescher said, adding, "I think camp gives all of us medical providers a better understanding of what parents go through every day."  

One important teachable moment for the campers comes at meal time, when the medical staff spend one-on-one time with the campers. They work together to check blood sugars and figure out insulin dosage based on the menu. The kids learned new skills for checking blood sugars, giving insulin shots and how to better use their insulin pump technology.

Because the staff spent so much time with the campers, they were able to form lasting connections with the kids. Lescher said it'll help them provide better care for them when they see them in their offices.

"I love to see how much the kids can learn and become less fearful about things even in one week," Lescher said. "One child had a significant fear of needles but gave herself a shot and was so proud of herself."

Both Lescher and Daymen said they enjoyed watching returning campers reconnect with old friends and newbies make friends who understand what they're going through.

"These kids come from all over Alaska and they might not have anyone else around them with Type 1," Daymen said. "To be in this environment with their peers, peers that go through this too, is a special thing."

This article was produced by the special content department of Alaska Dispatch News in collaboration with ANTHC. Contact the editor, Jamie Gonzales, at jgonzales@alaskadispatch.com. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.