Camp Porcupine

Each summer Self Regional sponsors a summer day-camp for children with diabetes.  This summer, seven students and one faculty member from PCSP volunteered to help out with the camp.  We were able to work with Rebecca Wise (the camp director), Self Regional nurses, Piedmont Tech nursing students, and an activities coordinator from Self Regional.  The camp welcomes children ages 6-18 with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  This summer there were a total of 23 campers.  Majority of the children have Type 1 diabetes and require insulin injections.  Two of the campers had Type 2 diabetes allowing them to control their blood glucose with either insulin or oral medications depending on the severity.  Regardless of their personal diabetes story, at Camp Porcupine, they are able to interact with other children dealing with the same condition while also being educated on managing this condition.

Each day we met up at Self Regional to load up on the bus with other volunteers and the campers.  Camp is held at Hickory Knob State Resort Park in McCormick, South Carolina.  On the first two days of camp, the campers participated in carb-counting activities and outside games like kick-ball until lunch.  Right before lunch, we helped each camper check their blood glucose level to make sure it was within normal range.  After finishing lunch, the nurses recorded each camper’s carb intake and calculated how much insulin was needed to be injected based on their carb intake.  The children were then allowed to play inside games like pool or Candy Land while their food digested.  Once the life guard arrived and each camper applied sunscreen, they were able to go swimming.  We rechecked their blood glucose levels after an hour of swimming to make sure there were not any low levels.  After swimming, the children changed into dry clothes and gathered all of their belongings from the cabin before boarding the bus back to Greenwood.

The last day of camp was a short but special day.  The campers participated in trivia and inside games until noon.  At lunch time, the campers’ family members showed up along with several guest speakers.  One speaker brought his dog, which he trained to alert people of high and low blood glucose levels.  Another speaker informed us about research that Self Regional is currently doing for the family members of diabetic patients.  They also offered blood testing for interested family members in hopes of identifying which of them could also be in danger of having diabetes.  After the speakers finished and Ms. Rebecca thanked the volunteers, all of the campers and volunteers posed for a picture in our camp T-shirts.

Camp Porcupine is something that the campers look forward to all year long.  Every day these children have to deal with a condition that their friends have only heard about. So while at camp, they are able to interact with other children dealing with the same condition.  There was only one new camper this summer, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few weeks prior to camp.  He really enjoyed interacting with other kids dealing with diabetes.  They were able to answer questions for him and assure him that he could still participate in sports and other activities he enjoyed.  All of the children live such happy, normal lives despite living with this scary condition.  They are true inspirations, and we were all able to learn so much from them.

 Written By: McCall, P3 Student