In 2009, I was for­tu­nate enough to be able to attend the Ostomy Camp all week. Wow, was it an experience!

The Ostomy Camp is one week at the Easter Seals camp, shared with the kid­ney kids, mak­ing it at a fun filled expe­ri­ence for 70 kids. This is a pic­ture per­fect piece of prop­erty tucked just behind Bragg Creek. The campers spend the week, with breath­tak­ing views of the moun­tains, breath­ing the moun­tain air, sleep­ing in log bun­ga­lows, swim­ming in the pool, swing­ing from high ropes, climb­ing rock walls and mak­ing life­time friendships.

This year was titled “Extreme” which meant that every­thing we did was extreme! First we broke into 4 teams of col­ors: blue, red, green and orange. Each team focused on one extreme skill which, on the Fri­day, was demon­strated to the whole group. Being on the blue team, we spent the week prac­tic­ing Capoeira. The other groups did a newslet­ter, played extreme sports, and cre­ated a beau­ti­ful play all of which was per­formed on the Fri­day when every­one was able to watch.

The camp was a mag­i­cal expe­ri­ence for every­one, myself included. I was so impressed in how every­one was able to let go of their con­cerns around the pri­vacy of their ostomy and kid­ney prob­lems. I found that even the chil­dren whom at first were some­what reluc­tant to open up were able to com­pletely open up and talk about their prob­lems within a day or two. I was also impressed with the abil­ity of the kids to be able to push back their med­ical issues and just be kids.

Not hav­ing my Ostomy until my early 20s, I missed under­stand­ing the kinds of issues that a young per­son would have to deal with. Now that I have seen first­hand the ben­e­fits of this type of Camp I can only say that I feel it is imper­a­tive for all of our Ostomy chil­dren to have an oppor­tu­nity to attend such an event. I am hon­ored to know Pat Cim­meck for see­ing the need for this and tak­ing the steps towards cre­at­ing it. I am also proud of our Cal­gary Ostomy chap­ter for spon­sor­ing 2 chil­dren to attend each year.

Not every­one will be able to see first­hand this incred­i­ble event, so you will have to take my word for it that this was the most amaz­ing week I have ever had. The courage and strength that these chil­dren pos­sess touched me deeply in my heart and I will never for­get them.

Sheri R.