Health

Catskills Summer Camp Tailored To Kidney Patients

CLARYVILLE, N.Y. (CBS) ― Sleep-away camp can be a time of carefree fun for children. For some, however, chronic medical conditions can make attending camp difficult, if not impossible.

In the Catskills, there's a camp that has successfully integrated a program for children with kidney disease in a traditional camp setting. The 6,000 acre plot of land is home to the Frost Valley YMCA.

During two-week sessions, about 450 children do exactly what most campers do, even those who must undergo dialysis.

Through a partnership with Montifiore Hospital, medical staff oversee a program that allows 60 to 70 kids with kidney disease to be mainstreamed in a traditional camp.

"We try our best not to limit any of the children in any of the activities. If there is any way to get around it we will," said Jerry Huncosky, CEO of the Frost Valley YMCA. "We want that child to feel like they're like any other child while they're here for those two weeks."

Fifteen-year-old Jessica Stoltzfus had a kidney transplant when was just 2, and attends the special camp. She comes for her medication three times a day and has learned to deal with her medical issues and the questions that inevitably come from new camp friends.

"They ask me what its like to have a kidney and to take the medicine that I take. It's not that bad I'm used to it right now," she said.

Another camper, Mike, is 14 and on hemodialysis. Three times a week for about four hours a day, his blood through a machine.

"He was reticent about having his friends there," said Maureen Eisele, a dialysis coordinator and registered nurse for the camp. "Now he's like the big star because he's like the buddies took them under his wing, now that they understand this is serious business."

Scherling Infante, another camper, is on peritoneal dialysis. A typical treatment at home means overnight IVs. At Frost Valley, she comes four times a day for 30 minutes.

"This is dialysis and it helps my kidney work better," she said. "Sometimes when I'm playing something fun, in the middle of the game I have to come here."

Camper Katrina is on the same schedule for her dialysis. All are waiting for kidney transplants.

"I love seeing Katrina with the other girls intermingling like that. I see her doing such normal camp activities," said camp counselor Jesse Glicker. "That's jthe magic of this place, the mainstreaming that we do so these kids are in cabins with other children, they're in activities with other children, they're eating meals with other children and it's not a camp where everyone has something wrong with them."

There are physical limitations for dialysis patients, like no swimming, but on the whole, they enjoy the full camp experience.

For more information on Frost Valley, click here.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---