My Summer Vacation

As Summer is dwindling down, and school is about to start, I've been thinking about that essay you used to write every year of elementary school after summer vacation, the "What I did over my summer vacation" essay, and well...this is pretty much it.

I started my summer looking for an internship with a non-profit organization, I didn't have any specifics, I just needed a little experience somewhere. I looked online for an organization that works with children (my only requirement) and I stumbled across something wonderful: The Heart Connection Children's Cancer Programs.

The Heart Connection's primary goal is to enhance the quality of life for children and families touched by childhood cancer by providing programs for recreation, education and family support. My work this summer has been primarily working with the two summer camps that The Heart Connection puts on every summer at absolutely no cost to our families. The second week of June I worked as a director's assistant for The Heart Connection's Oncology Camp; we had 138 campers from ages 5-18 who are cancer survivors (we consider them survivors at diagnosis) from every corner of the state. The kids are at varying places in the cancer battle: recently diagnosed, currently on treatment or some are years out of treatment with lasting effects or none at all. It is the most important week of the year for these kids, they live for camp. Camp is one week a year that they get to feel "normal," they are no longer the sick kid, or the kid with cancer, they are just a kid at camp. Because Iowa is such a rural area, most of our kids are the only kid in their town with cancer and chances are, at diagnosis, they have never met another kid with cancer, so camp gives them a week to be with kids who can actually say, "I know how you feel," or "I've been there." For the newly diagnosed child, it is a place to see that others make it through this tough time, because all of the other kids at camp have, it gives them hope that they too can beat cancer, and they are united with every kid there, they are something amazing. On one of the last nights around the campfire, a child who was at camp for the first time, talked about how camp was one of the first times he had gone swimming since he was diagnosed. He had been afraid of what others would say about the scars that covered his abdomen. Without missing a beat, another boy said, "I don't call them scars, I call them battle wounds, and only heroes come home with battle wounds." It summed up the week for me; these kids are heroes. They have been through more than I could possibly imagine, they have been poked and prodded, had infusions and transplants, been through surgeries and chemo, they have lost their hair, and for some even lost limbs. I would honestly say that camp changed my life this year, I have never been so inspired by anyone, and every single kid at camp inspired me every day.

Next week, I will be heading back to camp for The Heart Connection's Sibling Camp. This is a week for the siblings of the kids with cancer to have a week of fun; we currently have over 170 siblings coming. Childhood cancer is not fought solely by the child with cancer, but by entire families. The brothers and sisters often feel excluded, ignored, responsible etc. When you are fighting for your child's life, often times the other children get pushed to the side. This week is a time for these kids to spend time with other siblings who know what they are going through, it is a forum for them to talk about their feelings. They get a week where all of the attention is on them, and they don't have to worry about all of the responsibilities of having a brother or sister that is sick, they just get to have fun. I am so excited to go.

This summer I have also been an important part in setting up a support group for cancer survivors ages 14-30 from across the state of Iowa, an age demographic that is often forgotten. We have also started a support group for parents of children going through treatment, a time for them to exchange information and compare notes, of sorts. I also go to Blank Children's Hospital to spend time with the kids who are waiting on test results and treatment, giving them an outlet to talk to, a fresh face, someone other than doctors and nurses and their parents. If you would like to get a true feel for the amazing place that I work, you should check out a youtube video that was made about our organization. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UyXxlwXSo0

I