The treatment never ends: Adam’s Story

Most of you reading this probably know at least one person, whose life has been affected by cancer. It might be your uncle, your sister, a friend, a grandparent, someone. Well, you’re about to know one more — me. When I was ten, I was diagnosed with CML, which actually stands for something that I can’t quite pronounce, even to this day. It is a type of leukemia, usually found in adults and rarely in children.

I can tell you one thing, I was shocked. Here I was in the emergency room, because I could barely walk, and the next thing I know they’ve taken blood and moved me into a small private room. I remember telling my mom that something must be wrong because they don’t just move you. Boy was I right.

The first year didn’t seem so bad. Sure I had to spend some time in the hospital to get my white blood cells under control. And ya, I was in a wheel chair for a month and I had to use crutches for a while. I had to go to physio, but my only medication was these tiny yellow capsules. I could swallow four at a time. I even had to go back to school. Things were under control, but then those little yellow pills stopped working and I needed a bone marrow transplant.

A bone marrow transplant is serious business. The goal of the bone marrow transplant was to wipe out all the cancer cells and to destroy my immune system. They needed to wipe out my immune system, so my body wouldn’t reject the donor’s bone marrow. They were essentially replacing my immune system with a new one. This needed to happen, so the new immune system could destroy the cancer cells, which my own immune system couldn’t do. Because they were purposely destroying my immune system with high doses of chemotherapy, I wasn’t able to fight off infection. That meant I had to stay inside, in complete isolation, before and after the transplant to reduce the chances of catching something. Getting sick with a cold or a flu can actually kill you.

Being in the hospital for close to two months and having to stay at home for the rest of the school year made it really hard to keep up with school work. My friends were able to call, but they weren’t allowed to come over because my immune system was low as a result of the chemotherapy. We didn’t want to risk me catching a cold or something. So it was hard to feel a part of things. My teacher tried to include me by making a pretend Adam. They would carry “me” to class and even take “me” to lunch. Too bad “he” didn’t do my homework too. The kids at school could write me letters, which my dad would pick up when he collected my homework assignments.

Having cancer has made me realize a lot of things. You definitely cannot judge someone by how they look. You have no idea what’s happening inside. I remember walking down the mall one day, when I had “the steroid body.” For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s when you’re carrying about 10 extra pounds — all in your face — from the medications that puff you up so much. Seeing people stop and just stare hurt.

Thanks to the bone marrow transplant, I am now cancer-free. But I will always be aware that I had cancer and I will always fear that someday it may come back. At times, it’s been very hard. You think you’re making progress and then something pops up to set you back. A symptom appears or some count is high and it seems to start all over again. Many years later I still take pills and probably will have to take some form of medication for the rest of my life—but I can live with that.

There are some things that make living with cancer a little easier — thanks to the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. I remember my first year at camp. My parents had to talk my older brother into coming with me. He was 17 and had his own teenage life, but I was scared and needed someone I knew with me, or at least to sit with me on the bus, so he came. I felt alone and sacred. After that first year, I made so many friends from camp that it made choosing the week I wanted to go each summer difficult. I always wanted to go the week that most of my friends were there. My parents will tell you that after that first summer, they could barely get a wave from me when the bus was leaving. I was too busy catching up with everyone.

You’ve probably heard how camp is a place where kids with cancer can be normal. How we get to do things like the giant swing and the high ropes. It’s a place where we meet other kids who know what we’ve been through. It’s been a place where I got to safely do things that my parents probably wouldn’t have allowed me to do. Cancer had a tendency to make them over-protective.

Camp was all of this and much more for me. It was a place where no one would stare because I still didn’t have hair. Yes, there were nurses and paramedics to keep us safe and hand out medications, but there were no checkups, no needles and no tests. Really, for me, it was all the things that weren’t at camp that make it a really cool place.

One of my favorite things about camp was the giant swing. The giant swing is about three stories tall. You get pulled up as high as you want to go, and when you’re ready, you pull a cord and then you fall. You feel the wind blowing in your hair, if you actually have hair. It makes you feel so great to soar in the air like that.

Those friendships I made that first year and the following years are the people I’m closest to now. We have common ground and experiences that bring us that much closer together. Even though I’m too old to be a camper now, camp continues to have an impact on my life.

Soon after I turned 14 I started volunteering at Kids Cancer Care’s Camp SunRise, a camp for young kids ages three to seven. Then as I grew older, I continued on to teen camps. I’m able to relate to the campers and I can say, “I understand how you feel” and mean it. I can hopefully let them see that yes, cancer sucks, but more importantly it doesn’t have to define you.

In addition to camp, Kids Cancer Care offers several other programs. Over the years, I went to a sporting event or two and enjoyed movies, fireworks and game nights. These things helped maintain a sense of belonging and of being a regular teenager.

Kids Cancer Care has also provided me with some amazing opportunities. Their Teen Leadership Program helped me to move out of my comfort zone. It gave me the confidence and the skills to try new things. In June of 2012, I received a Kids Cancer Care Derek Wandzura Memorial Scholarship, which helped start me on my current path. This year, I graduated with a Bachelor of Child Studies Degree and in September I will be continuing with a Bachelor of Education. As a future educator, I hope to bring the compassion and understanding I received at camp to the classroom and beyond.

I can’t say enough about all the wonderful, caring people I’ve met along my journey — at camp and at the hospital. My entire transplant team at the Alberta Children’s Hospital was great. They listened to my concerns, even when I wasn’t talking, because they can tell just by looking at you that something’s up. From doctors to nurses to new friends I’ll have forever — they have all helped make this experience a little easier.

My cancer experience has taught me to live life to the fullest. Have fun, be kind and do what’s right. That’s my motto.

And then there are people like you who help make all of this possible. Thank you for supporting Kids Cancer Care. You have helped make the ONE thing that is good about cancer possible for me and other kids. Thank you. Camp and the friendships we develop there mean the world to us at that time in our lives.

At 25, I am looking towards my future. What I want my career to be, what kind of man I want to become. As I think about those things and look back on my cancer journey, I realize that even though cancer does not define me it has definitely shaped me. Both you and Kids Cancer Care continue to play a part in that. Thank you.

“After that we thought we were prepared for anything, but nothing could prepare us for the cancer diagnosis.”

Our son Joshua was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. It was a terrifying time for us and a diagnosis that to this day, regularly tests our strength.

Before this, Joshua was diagnosed with craniosynostosis when he was just a few months old. This is when the separate pieces of his skull started to fuse together prematurely. In most kids this happens around age two. For Josh, this must have started shortly after he was born. He had to have surgery to reshape his skull when he was just 6 months old. This left him with his distinctive scar which is usually covered with hair. His entire head was so swollen that he couldn’t open his eyes for several days. As part of his recovery, Josh wore a helmet for a few months which helped his head take / maintain a proper shape while he healed. He was a busy crawler so this actually helped sometimes when he would bang into table legs, walls, us!

After that we thought we were prepared for anything, but nothing could prepare us for the cancer diagnosis in January 2011 when Josh was five. Josh had a tumour in his brain. Now, we found ourselves even more terrified. Terrified that we were going to lose our son.

Josh underwent a pretty intense surgery to remove the tumour. Between the tumour and the surgery to remove it, Josh couldn’t walk on his own for many months. He also endured months of radiation and chemotherapy, which made him sick, very weak and immunocompromised. Also, his lack of hair during treatment meant that this normally hidden scar for the earlier surgery was very obvious. During treatment he had his sixth birthday, but because he couldn’t have a party with other kids, he refused to be six for months afterwards. It was a very difficult time for our entire family, even his younger sister Jessica wasn’t allowed to be around other kids for fear that she would bring home a cold.

Children with autism can have high levels of anxiety. Josh does not do well with change. His cancer completely tore apart every ounce of routine we had worked so hard to build for him.

We couldn’t leave Joshua for a second. Not even to grab a coffee. One of us had to be with him every second at the hospital. My husband Michael and I were determined to create a new normal – even with chemotherapy, radiation and regular blood transfusions. We both took a leave from work, so we could spell each other off on 24-hour hospital shifts. My mother-in-law Pat moved to Calgary to help with both Josh and Jessica.

Surprisingly, Joshua’s autism became an unlikely ally in his battle against cancer. Even the negative routine of invasive medical treatments became a source of routine and comfort for him.

Hearing that your child has cancer is as horrible as you can imagine. But even worse was watching our son endure the awful procedures necessary to get rid of the cancer. And, it didn’t just affect Josh. Jessica once asked us if she would also have to go to the hospital when she turned five. She worried her hair would also fall out. As a parent, it is heartbreaking to see the toll cancer has taken on not only one, but both of your children.

This is why I am so grateful for Kids Cancer Care and all they have done for our entire family. In the summer of 2011, between rounds of chemo, both kids attended their SunRise program, a day camp for younger patients and siblings. Josh loved that he could be around other kids – because Kids Cancer Care creates a safe and supportive environment for kids on and off treatment. For a few days during that awful year, he was just a kid again.

During 2011, we also went to parties and other Kids Cancer Care functions like Hitmen games in germ-controlled private suites.

For the past seven years, we’ve been able to attend so many wonderful programs from the Polar Express train ride at Aspen Crossing to Family Camp in the fall to cooking classes and more. We are so grateful to attend these programs and to see the friends with have made through Kids Cancer Care.

And now both kids go to summer camps at Camp Kindle. They love camp and can’t wait to go each year. Although we miss them, it gives Michael and me a wonderful break too.

From start to finish, Josh’s treatment was less than a year. I wish that was the end of cancer for Josh. Unfortunately, Josh is one of the 75% of children who survive cancer, but live with life-altering side effects. Josh walks with a limp and gets tired easily. It pains me when I hear that the boys at school tease him because he can’t keep up. They taunt him as they lap him in gym class. They call him lazy and say he’s a baby.

Once again, this is where Kids Cancer Care comes in. Last September, Josh was scheduled to attend his first day of PEER (Pediatric Cancer Patients and Survivors Engaging in Exercise for Recovery). PEER helps children affected by cancer to rebuild their fundamental movement skills (e.g., running, jumping, catching and throwing), while also building muscle strength, aerobic capacity, flexibility and balance.

That day, Josh had a particularly bad day at school and refused to go to PEER. Michael and I encouraged him and he finally, yet reluctantly, agreed to go.

He had the time of his life.

He came out of the gym with the biggest grin on his face. PEER is the best thing ever for Josh. When we asked him if he wanted to go to PEER again, Josh answered, “Yes! They’re just like me there.” My heart melted.

At PEER, he’s free to be himself. He can just be a kid without being different. He’s also benefitted from weekly tutoring sessions through Kids Cancer Care’s Education Support Program.

Thanks to all the staff in the office and at camp, the PEER and Educational Support volunteers, and everyone who supports this organization – Kids Cancer Care makes our little worlds brighter. And for that, we are eternally grateful.”

– Victoria, Josh and Jessica’s mom

What’s black and white and eats 40 kilograms of bamboo a day, poops five kilograms a day and has one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom? Thanks to you, 49 kids from the Kids Cancer Care community can probably answer this.

Forty nine kids currently battling cancer received VIP treatment at the Calgary Zoo this month, when they were treated to a private visit with the pandas before the gates opened to the public.

The trip to the zoo was a rare treat for these kids, who normally have to avoid public places because their immune systems are compromised by chemotherapy and radiation, making it difficult for them to fend off communicable diseases such as the common cold or flu.

“We used to come here as a family at least once a week,” says Lisa Mechor, whose seven-year-old son Cole is battling high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia. “We’ve had a zoo membership since he was little and now we go nowhere. The risk is just too high for these kids to be out in public in heavily populated areas with lots of people.”

Infection is serious for children on treatment and is the leading cause of complications and death, so staff at the Calgary Zoo and Kids Cancer Care went to great lengths beforehand to make the areas as germ-free as possible. The staff thoroughly cleaned the Panda Passage and the Enmax Conservatory, where the children enjoyed a hearty pancake breakfast before seeing the pandas, and then wiped down all the surfaces with hospital-grade disinfectant.

“Cole really enjoyed the outing!” says Lisa. “I am always amazed at how much work Kids Cancer Care goes to in order to pull things off so perfectly! They understand what we are going through and it’s always nice to see some of the families we see at the hospital out having some fun!”

“This is such a great experience,” agrees Candace Inkpen, whose six-year-old son Foster is battling high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. “His classmates went to the zoo to see the pandas, but he couldn’t join them.” Foster misses about 50 per cent of school because he is sick or a classmate is sick.

Kids like Cole and Foster would not have been able to see the pandas if it wasn’t for the private viewing, which was made possible by the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre. Last May, volunteers from the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre held a gala fundraising dinner and raised enough money to give 550 children with cancer and 650 seniors from the Calgary Chinese community a chance to see the pandas over the next three years.

“If you can make even part of the day fun for him, that’s a victory,” says Lisa . “This is something we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.”

The private visit was especially meaningful for 10-year-old Laura Rushforth, who has been battling a brain cancer for the last three years. With 98 per cent of her vision gone, Laura is only able to see things in high contrast, things like black and white panda bears.

“For Laura to see the pandas, to get up close, because she has to get up close to see the contrast, is amazing,” says Laura’s mother Jennifer Rushforth.

“He’s adorable,” Laura said, looking at the daddy panda through her high-powered spyglass. “I can really see the contrast between the panda and the rocks on the ground around them. It’s really fun and interesting that I can see them, where they are and what they’re doing.”

Cole also left the zoo totally smitten: “I like pandas better. I used to like giraffes, but now pandas are my favourite.”

Foster and his big sister Kaidence feel the same way. “I love them,” says Kaidence. “They’re cute.”

“Me too,” chimes in Foster. “They eat a lot — like me!”

“We’re so lucky,” says Lisa. “I hope that down the road, it’ll be days like today that Cole remembers.”

Thank you for giving kids with cancer a chance to be kids and for giving them the opportunity to see the adorable pandas while they are here.

Panda Quick Facts

1. Did you know that pandas eat 40 kilograms of bamboo per day and poop five kilograms per day?
2. Pandas eat all day long, eating for about 10 to 14 hours a day.
3. To feed these hungry pandas, 1,200 kilograms of sustainably sourced bamboo is shipped from China each week.
4. Pandas live about 20 years in the wild and about 30 years in a zoo.
5. Pandas are good sleepers too. They sleep about 10 hours every day.
6. Did you know pandas have five pads on their front paw and one pseudo thumb, which they use to grab and hold the bamboo stock.
7. The panda has one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom
8. Where pandas live in China in six different mountain regions.
9. There are four pandas currently living at the Calgary Zoo. The panda family consists of a mother and father and a brother and sister.
10. The pandas are leaving in the fall of 2019.

It started as a perfect summer day. Jeff and Rheanna Deboer were preparing for a family camping trip. On a whim, they decided to make a rather large detour to Calgary, so their two-year-old son Brenden could see a doctor at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Brenden had been vomiting daily for the past two months and after three trips to the emergency and countless medical appointments, they were no closer to understanding their son’s condition. They left Brenden’s older siblings Emily and Dustin with their grandparents and headed north to Calgary.

Thanks to you, the Deboer and Reimer families were able to reconnect at our spring Family Camp. They went for nature walks, participated in arts and crafts and took in the Water Valley Rodeo. Little Brenden was able to try out the climbing wall with his older brother and sister, Dustin (6) and Emily (7) — thanks to a special volunteer named Broch, who went the extra mile to find a climbing harness small enough for Brenden.

“They put the harness on Brenden and belayed him and he climbed right up,” says Rheanna. “He climbed pretty high too.”

Brenden is now finished treatment, but the Deboers still come to Calgary every four months for close monitoring. So far all the MRIs have come back clear.

“It’s such a relief that he’s doing well,” says Rheanna, “but when you go through something like this you not only carry your own worries for your own child; you also worry about all the other children. I feel so bad for the other families whose circumstances are so much worse. When we think of little Ella and everything she is going through, we feel grateful for our circumstances.”

Ella’s tumour is incurable. Sadly, it will continue to grow. To slow the growth, she is undergoing a total of 70 rounds of chemotherapy. This will take a year and half to complete. At three years of age, this is half of her life. “That’s a long time to be on chemotherapy,” says Rheanna.

Thankfully, with your support, Ella is building her strength and working on her balance and coordination during weekly exercise sessions at PEER (Pediatric Oncology Patients and Survivors Engaging in Exercise for Recovery).

Ella also enjoyed her first summer camp experience this year. Still a toddler, Ella goes to our SunRise day camp in Calgary. Each day, when Christie picks Ella up from camp, she asks her daughter what she did at camp today. Each day Ella replies, “I’ll tell you about that tomorrow mom.” Ella is clearly pleased with her new-found independence at this special camp. She calls it Camp Cookie — after her one-to-one volunteer aide Maisa El Kardy, whose camp name is Cookie.

Christie is relieved that Ella is making new friends at Kids Cancer Care programs. “She lost all of her friends from before cancer, but she’s starting to make friends with Sitara and Sophia at PEER.” Ella also found a new best friend at SunRise this summer — a little boy named Henry.

“We’re so grateful for Kids Cancer Care,” says Rheanna. “We’re grateful for the meals and the special family outings and the connections we’ve made with other families. These friendships are so important. We still go to Calgary every four months for MRIs, but we’re feeling optimistic and grateful for every day we have with Brenden and our other children.”

Thank you for helping to create a healing and supportive community for families facing childhood cancer.

“To receive an award in the name of Terry Fox, who has impacted the lives of so many people, is an incredible honour. I was shocked when I received the call and incredibly humbled to know I had won it.” ~ Campbell Laidlaw

While most teenagers are procrastinating about doing their homework, Colette Benko and Campbell Laidlaw are out changing the world. Their academic, humanitarian and athletic contributions were recognized last spring when they each received a prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award to pursue university studies in the fall.

“To receive an award in the name of Terry Fox, who has impacted the lives of so many people, is an incredible honour,” says Campbell, who is using his scholarship to earn a combined degree in business and kinesiology with an ultimate goal of becoming a doctor. “I was shocked when I received the call and incredibly humbled to know I had won it.”

Colette was equally surprised and honoured to receive the award in the Canadian hero’s name. “I was very surprised and honoured to receive the award,” echoes Colette, who is studying medical sciences at the University of Western Ontario. “Growing up, Terry Fox was one of my role models. I have always been inspired by his resilience and dedication. There are so many amazing youth across Canada doing outstanding work and each is having such a large impact in the community, I didn’t expect to win it actually.”

The Terry Fox Humanitarian Award was established in 1982 to honour the Canadian hero’s legacy while inspiring young Canadians to continue the work he started through the pursuit of higher education. Worth $28,000, the award recognizes young Canadians who demonstrate the highest ideals and qualities of citizenship and humanitarian service through their academic, athletic, fitness, health and voluntary community service. With that in mind, the Government of Canada laid the foundation for the scholarship fund through two major endowments: $5 million in 1982 and $10 million in 2006.

Since that time, hundreds of young Canadians, aspiring to make the world a better place, have received the scholarship. Colette and Campbell were among the 21 Canadians selected in 2018 to receive the prestigious award.

Colette and Campbell are both cancer survivors who have long been active with Kids Cancer Care and the larger community. As former teen leaders and spokeskids, they are both living the ideals of Terry Fox in their own way.

Your support played a key role in shaping Colette and Campbell into the leaders they are today. By supporting our programs, you provide young people from across Alberta with rich opportunities that safely push them outside their comfort zone and beyond their cancer experiences, so they can grow as individuals and reach their full potential.

“Kids Cancer care has helped to form me into the person I am today,” says Colette. “Without their support through my journey I would not have had the confidence to share my story. This has helped tremendously in finding my identity and how I could aid in the fight against cancer and advocating for pediatric patients.”

Campbell agrees: “Being a teen leader and spokeskid for Kid Cancer Care helped me develop from a shy kid into someone who is confident and loves to interact with people. I truly believe this experience has helped make me who I am today.”

Diagnosed with stage-four neuroblastoma at age two, Campbell was given only a five per cent chance of surviving. He endured repeated rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, bone marrow transplants and radiation. As a result, Campbell is hearing impaired today and has faced a lifetime of orthodontic issues – braces, implants and jaw surgery – but he hasn’t let this stop him from living a full, active life. He simply grew his hair long, so other kids couldn’t see his high-powered hearing aids, and hit the slopes to perfect his freestyle skiing skills. In the summer, Campbell perfected his golf game and became an accomplished golfer.

As a teen leader in our Teen Leadership Program, Campbell served as a role model and mentor to younger children with cancer, showing them there is life beyond cancer. He also demonstrated his philanthropic spirit by raising $2,500 to complete a humanitarian service trip to El Salvador, where he and other teen leaders from the Teen Leadership Program helped build homes for low-income families.

Representing Kids Cancer Care as our spokeskid in 2013 and 2014, Campbell helped raise much-needed funds and awareness for other children facing this disease. Quiet and unassuming by nature, he pushed beyond his comfort zone to excel in this role by repeatedly reworking and rehearsing his speech until he perfected it. His hard work paid off because more than once he received a standing ovation.

Campbell has big plans for life: “My goal is to use my combined degree in business and kinesiology as a stepping stone for medical school,” he says. “I would really like to have a business background, so one day I will be able to have my own practice.”

Colette also has ambitious plans for a career in the medical field and it’s her own experience with cancer that is her driving to help others with cancer. Colette was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, when she was 13 years old. For years, Colette had been a long-distance runner and a competitive Irish dancer. At the time of her diagnosis, she was preparing for the North American Irish Dance Championships and although she managed to compete that year, it would be the last time she ever danced. Sadly, Colette sustained damage to her femoral nerve during surgery and now dancing and running are out of the question for her.

Like Campbell, Colette served as an official spokeskid for Kids Cancer Care, inspiring audiences with her story of courage and hope. She also volunteered through our Teen Leadership Program, where she served some of our city’s most vulnerable populations. Colette later made a humanitarian service trip to the Dominican Republic, where she and other teen leaders from the Teen Leadership Program built a school for low-income families.

As a cancer survivor, Colette has faced her share of adversity, but she is determined to transform her own suffering into helping others. A bright and gifted student, Colette is determined to improve the lives of other children with cancer by pursuing a career in cancer research. If her past accomplishments are any indicator of her future success, Colette has a promising career as a cancer researcher ahead of her.

As a high school student, Colette worked as a research student in the lab of Dr. Aru Narendran at the University of Calgary. Under his direction, she led a research project that won multiple national and international science awards. More importantly, however, her research into neuroblastoma is showing promise beyond the laboratory in the real world. The drug she investigated is now going into a phase one clinical trial at children’s hospitals across North America through POETIC (Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators Consortium). Quite a feat for a high school student.

Designed to inspire great acts of citizenship and humanitarian service, the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award is tailor made for young Canadians like Colette and Campbell, who not only believe in a better world, but also strive to make it better.

Thank you for believing in a better world for kids with cancer. You are not only changing the lives of young people like Colette and Campbell; you are changing the lives of countless people to follow – the many individuals they touch through their courage and commitment to making the world a better place.

Thank you for shaping tomorrow’s leaders.

“When the kids come into the clinic and I tell them I used to go to camp too, they don’t believe me, so I show them my leg and then they believe me. And there’s an instant bond. They call me Penguin, my camp name, because penguins also have a little waddle to their step, like me!” ~ Samantha Andres

As a child I looked forward to summer camp all year long. It was a week away with my brothers, where no one looked at me funny or treated me differently because I have a prosthetic leg. In that way, cancer camp is truly unique. It’s a place where all kids, regardless of their cancer history or ability, can do everything. And, at camp, I did it all — swimming, giant swing, rock climbing. As a child, camp showed me that kids CAN. Now, as Kids Cancer Care’s nursing coordinator, I am showing children that they CAN too. But first we must ensure their health and safety.

As nursing coordinator, I oversee a team of medical staff and volunteers responsible for the medical needs of about 500 children at Camp Kindle and at our SunRise day camps in Calgary and Edmonton. All of these kids are in some way affected by cancer, either directly as a patient or as a sibling.

Children on cancer treatment are often immunosuppressed, so they don’t have the same fighter cells to fend off infection. This puts them at high risk for contracting communicable diseases such as colds and flus or common childhood illnesses such as chickenpox. Infection is serious for children on treatment and it is the leading cause of complications and death, so at Kids Cancer Care we take important measures to ensure that camp is as germ-free as possible and that our campers are safe.

Here’s 10 ways we keep children at camp safe:

1. All of our programs are guided by a medical advisory committee led by a pediatric oncologist. This committee is made up of physicians, nurses and other health care professionals in pediatric oncology and hematology.
2. Camp Kindle is equipped with a modern, fully functioning medical centre, where children receive their daily medications, receive medical care, or just drop by to relax and recharge. The ReKindle Clinic features two private rooms that provide solitude and privacy for children requiring treatment or respite. It is staffed with registered nurses and a pediatric oncology resident and is open 24 hours a day. The nurses are available 24 hours a day.
3. Camp Kindle is a 75-minute drive from the Alberta Children’s Hospital and our SunRise day camps in Calgary and Edmonton are minutes from the hospital.
4. At Camp Kindle and at our SunRise day camps, we follow strict health and safety protocols, ensuring that staff and volunteers are cold- and flu-free. If a volunteer or staff member begins showing signs or symptoms of a cold or a flu, we immediately quarantine them and then send them home. Staff, volunteers, campers or special visitors with runny noses, sore throats, coughs, gastrointestinal illnesses or upset stomachs are not permitted to attend camp.
5. Because hand washing is the most effective way of fighting off unwanted germs and illnesses, we train our staff and volunteers to be good role models for the kids, frequently washing their hands and encouraging the same in children.
6. We also encourage staff, volunteers and campers to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water during the day. We place sunscreen and water jugs in various locations around camp and ensure that the campers are hydrated and protected from the sun throughout the day.
7. We also ensure that camp is clean and hygienic, which includes having our professional cleaners and staff doing thorough cleanings daily and weekly.
8. Our camp programs have an adult-to-camper ratio of 4:1, ensuring that all kids receive excellent individualized care and supervision.
9. All staff and volunteers undergo police checks and vulnerable sector checks.
10. All staff and volunteers are experienced and well-trained in attending to the unique physical, social and emotional needs of children affected by cancer.

Our camps offer immune-compromised children a controlled environment with well-screened and well-trained staff and volunteers to oversee their well-being, while the kids have fun. Our camps are safe for all children regardless of where they are in their cancer journey, whether they are on treatment, off treatment or they are a sibling. By taking these special precautions to make camp a safe and healthy environment, we’re able to give children affected by cancer the break they need. Thank you for making this possible.

— Samantha (a.k.a. Penguin)

Samantha is a registered nurse, a cancer survivor and former Kids Cancer Care camper.