Summer camp for children with heart disease is one of a kind
Click here for a link to a video of Camp Rhythm.
Summer camp brings back fond memories of swimming and fishing, smores and campfires for countless people. Children who attend Camp Rhythm leave with these memories, plus the confidence that comes, for many, from spending their first nights away from home, and getting to be a "regular" kid.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital developed Camp Rhythm to address the special needs of children who have had heart surgeries, including heart transplants, or have congenital heart problems. At Camp Rhythm, children proudly display their chest scars and take comfort in their common surgical and medical experiences.
Sixty-five children ages 8 to 15 attended the 5th consecutive session of Camp Rhythm July 6-10 at Camp Wyman in Eureka, Mo. They came from seven states, and many have attended camp all five years. There also was a day camp for kids age 5-7.
Camp Rhythm has arts and crafts, swimming, fishing, nature hikes, campfires, and cookouts. Evenings feature a dance party, talent show and “Med Mania,” where the children participate in hands-on demonstrations including performing EKGs on physicians and nurses, counting medications by filling bottles with “candy pills,” and helping dissect a cow’s heart.
“Seventy-five percent of our campers can’t attend a regular camp due to their condition and medications,” says Rebecca Courtney, child life specialist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “We want to provide them a week without limits.”
An on-site medical team allows kids to focus on camping, not their condition, and relieves anxiety for parents. The team includes Angela Sharkey, MD, and Mark Grady, MD, pediatric cardiologists at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, and Charlotte Smock, RN, who helped found the camp and oversees the distribution of hundreds of doses of medicine each day. The volunteer team also includes pediatric cardiology nurses, a respiratory therapist, pharmacist, social worker, child life specialists and others. Many of the camp counselors are former campers or were pediatric heart patients themselves.
Campers leave Camp Rhythm with more than just fun memories. “The first year of camp, one of our campers was an 11-year-old girl who slept in her parents’ room and had never spent a night away from them,” says Dr. Sharkey, who helped start Camp Rhythm. “She left camp brave enough to move into her own room. It has been a life-changing experience to see my patients develop confidence about themselves and their place in the world.”