Allison Amedick

“D-Camps is by far the best experience someone with diabetes can have,” says Allison Amedick, age 15. “It showed me that people my age have gone through the same things as me. I have made lifelong friends who understand the daily struggles.”
 

Next year will be Allison’s last year at D-Camps. “That makes me sad,” she says. “Diabetes has had a huge impact on my life since I was diagnosed just over six years ago, and although I can do anything my friends without diabetes can do, it comes with its own set of challenges.”
 

Something as simple as going to bed, comes with worries, says Allison.  “You’ll never be certain that you’re going to wake up the next morning.” Allison and her mom have held community sales with all the proceeds going to diabetes research, and for five years have canvassed for the Canadian Diabetes Association. Her hope is that, through education, Canadians will come to better understand diabetes.

Madison Reitvelt

For Madison Reitvelt, age 13, not all of the effects of diabetes have been negative. One of the positives, she says, is that she “gets to go to a camp every year.”
 

Many of the negative aspects of living with diabetes as a teenager stem from a lack of knowledge about the disease, says Madison. “There are a lot of misunderstandings. At school, even the teachers don’t fully understand it, which can make it hard.”
 

She and her family have been very active in the diabetes community, raising money for research through a garage sale, birthday party, galas and walks. Madison is a Canadian Diabetes Association champion and has worked with her family to advocate successfully for the introduction of an insulin pump program introduced earlier this year in Manitoba.
 

For Madison, the highlight of every year is D-Camps. “There are many memories that mean so much to me: meeting people and making friends, doing all the activities together – and not being singled out. If I was at another camp, we certainly wouldn’t all be testing our blood glucose at the same time.”

Jessica Kotowich

Jessica Kotowich, age 12, is extremely conscientious about managing her diabetes. “I always have to be on a schedule for meals and insulin times,” she says. “If you take really good care of yourself, you can live a long and healthy life.”

But having diabetes can “be tough at times,” she says. “You can’t eat whatever you want whenever. You can’t sleep in on the weekends because you need to be up to take insulin by a certain time.”

That’s one of the reasons that Jessica looks forward to D-Camps every year. “It is fun to meet people with the same lifestyle – to look around and see how many people my age have diabetes.”

Even better, she says, is making new friends who understand what it is like to live with diabetes. “Everyone at D-Camps treats you like family, and everyone works together as a team to have a fun week at camp.”