"This is a two day overnight camp just for kids with epilepsy", my dr. told me. Then I scanned over the flyer and saw two neurologists on the flyer who would be my medical providers for the weekend. They would monitor my dosage of medication, give it to me and take care of me if I had a seizure. I looked down farther on the list where it described the activities we would do: fishing, boating, archery, swimming, arts and crafts, games and so much more!!!
Three months went by and my mother had filled out the form for camp and sent it in. It was time for a check up with my neurologist again as I was being monitored very closely. At this point I would still have one more grand mal seizure that would occur a year later unbeknownst to us, but she also monitored my cranial nerves, balance and many other things. She actually even helped my parents find a temporary diagnosis for my "issues".
"The camp is only two days, but now you have to wait to see if you get in", I remember hearing come out of my doctor's mouth. Those words made me feel anxious on so many levels. It made it sound so official that I would be leaving my mommy and daddy for a whole weekend. At the same time I felt nervous that I wouldn't make the cut-off and that there wouldn't be enough room for me at camp. I didn't really know what to think, but I knew everything would be okay in the end.
That following may, it was actually the 31st, I took the long drive up to Danville to see my eye doctor who would later perform surgery on my eyes. He also monitored my eyes and my muscles carefully. It was on the way to camp, so why not stop?
Early that afternoon, we arrived at camp and the first thing I remember seeing was a swimming pool. I had no idea they had a swimming pool and thought we would do all our water activities in the pond. Boy was I impressed. I hopped out of the car, grabbed my bags and headed over to the check-in tables where my very own doctor had greeted me and took my pills for me.I was still a little bit nervous, but when I walked into the main building to start camp, I was ready to party. They had stations set up all over the room with crafts and activities to do. I remember painting a horse head since it was circus theme. Later we would at a long stick to the back so that I could put up in my front lawn. A little while later we went out to play "kickball" which basically meant kicking a ball around, but it was fun.
Once everyone got to camp we had a little clown show and someone made me a balloon animal. Once we were done with that we went outside to play some relay games. I remember spraying shaving cream over our counselors head and then trying to through chips on them. With my perky little self, on my down time I would walk up to ever kid and ask them there name, age, and favorite color in Simply J fashion. One of the first people I met was another person with the same name as me. From that day on I knew I was meant to be his buddy. He had the same name as me and he was just so sweet, but struggled so much.
During our week at camp we did get to go swimming. It was one of maybe two or three years that we actually got to go swimming since it is always so cold out. Other times we would go in the hot tub. I was very disappointed because I couldn't swim like the big kids so I couldn't jump off the diving boards, but guess what? I could actually go anywhere in the shallow water because everyone was really calm. At other camps, when we went swimming I could only go up to my waist with a life jacket on because they were scared of seizures. We also had a camp fire with KJ, did drums with another lady, had a hayride and a carnival at the end of the week. We also saw a dog show. I came home with an athletic bag full of goodies and I'm pretty sure it was overflowing. There was candy, juice, glow necklaces, and all sorts of other prizes. Every year our camp director would give us something special.
These memories are so important to me because this was wear I discovered my first bit of independence and acceptance. I came home at the end of the weekend feeling like I had just reunited with family I hadn't seen for five years. I went back the next year and ended up going for ten years until I was too old. Now i'm proud to be a junior counselor and last year I even got to be a counselor for a camper that I knew from another camp.
These exciting moments wouldn't happen though if it weren't for Camp Victory and the founders of Camp Chameleon. If you ever have time I highly recommend that you watch The Camp Victory Story which was produced by a branch of PBS called WVIA. If your a local friend and on facebook, just shoot me a message to borrow it.
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