Camp Buck gives kids with diabetes a unique and unforgetable experience

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Imagine you're ten years old and have just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. No other students in your school have this disease, nor do any of your friends or family members. Insulin, glucose, pumps, blood testing, counting carbs are new words you now need to grasp and understand.

Facing life with this chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin is daunting, confusing, overwhelming.

Imagine a summer camp where everyone there, from the other kids to the counselors and directors, know exactly what you're going through as they too have diabetes.

Camp Buck is just that experience, and it made a return to the South Shore this week at the University of Nevada State 4-H camp adjacent to Edgewood Tahoe.

122 campers from ages 7 to 17, 42 counselors, 18 doctors and nurses made the Nevada California Diabetes Association's annual week-long camp a life changing experience for many.

The morning routine is much different than for kids who don't have the disease spending their summers at camps across the country. As soon as campers awaken their blood sugar is tested. They then eat breakfast and track the carb count of their meal and record their daily medical information on iPads. They then head off to the camp's medical center for insulin.

Then it's off to the beach, fun and games, plays, recreation and the normal camp activities.

Angela Zajic, a South Lake Tahoe salon owner with Type 1 Diabetes, has been involved with Camp Buck since 1990 when she was first diagnosed at age ten. Camp was held just three months after she starting to learn to live with diabetes, giving her a lifeline that is still a big part of her life, 28 years later.

"It was the only thing that gave me hope," said Angela of her first Camp Buck.

After being a camper for six years, Angela became a CIT (Counselor-in-Training), a counselor, and is now still a counselor while being an advisory board member for the Diabetes Association of NV/CA.

Many of the other counselors and CITs have taken the same path as Angela, all starting off as campers. Some of the counselors don't have diabetes but are affected by it either by family members who have it, or friends that do.

Sarah Gleich, the executive director of the NV/CA Diabetes Association was at camp this week, 20 years after she came west as a camper.

It isn't only the morning ritual that is different than other camps, but so are the rest of the features.

All menus have carb counts listed, there are long tables of blood testing kits with iPads for medical record posting, lots of jugs of water around the whole camp (kids with diabetes must keep hydrated), cabins with three counselors and a nutritionist, and wake up calls at midnight and 2:00 a.m. to test blood sugar. Each counselor carries a lime green backpack full of emergency blood testing supplies and snacks for sugar spikes, and rules that include no camper goes anywhere without two buddies. This allows for one to stay with the camper, and another to go for help should one pass out or need other medical attention.

Life with diabetes will always be about blood testing and eating right, so it was just a part of camp that shows their daily life. Camp Buck goes above those needed rituals and ensures the kids have lots of fun.

This week, the camp had an Alice in Wonderland theme that was broken up to daily themes: Monday was Mad Hatter Day, Tu-Tu Tuesday, White Rabbit Wednesday, Twins Thursday and Flamingo Friday. White Rabbit day had a silent disco, something most of the kids hadn't experienced.

When talking to Angela's cabin mates, they had their favorites: Paddle boarding and Pink Flamingos.

They have also made life-long friends.

Another non-traditional component of the camp is when medical supply vendors come to camp and let the kids try out their equipment. The kids can wear "fake" pumps on their arms, see how it feels, ask questions and get to know what is available, and much of the time it's before the general public knows about the items.

The eighteen doctors, nurses and nutritionists donate their time during the camp.
University of Nevada nutrition students spend a week at the camp as an internship, something required for their degrees.

All of this comes at a big expense, even with the volunteers involved. The camp this week in Lake Tahoe costs about $100,000, and their former location in Portola cost $140,000.

Each camper costs $1,300 for a week of food, medical supplies, camping and activities, but they aren't asked to pay this much.

"We ask for $700 for camp and $250 for airfare," said Director Nate Gibson. "We charge just $25 for some of them, depending on their needs." Most of the campers are from Northern Nevada and California, but some are from Las Vegas and other areas where they have to fly in.

Gibson said they have several fundraisers a year to help with the costs of camp. He said they won't turn kids away due to financial situations and find a way to make it work. 30 percent of the campers this year paid $100 or less.

Marcia Sarosik, Angela's dance instructor in 1990 when the 10-year-old was diagnosed, used proceeds from annual dance recitals to send kids to Camp Buck. Besides Angela, two other dancers in her studio had diabetes. It was Sarosik who actually led Angela to being diagnosed. She noticed the signs which prompted Angela to get to the doctors.

One of the fundraisers held in the region is the adult-only prom that Angela has organized, Bubbles and Bowties. The 5th annual event will be held October 5, 2018 at The Landing. Information and tickets will be available soon on their website, www.bubblesbowties.com. All proceeds go to fund Camp Buck and the NV Diabetes Association.

With this year's attendees being the highest number yet, it isn't expected for them to go down any time soon. Every 17 seconds someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with diabetes, and of those, 10 percent have Type 1.