Arthritis Camps
Arthritis Camp..
Arthritis camp has been an advantage of having hyper-mobility and juvenile arthritis. The whole arthritis camp thing, at first sounded horrible, especially the part where it’s in the holidays. I only heard about this camp in 2010 because my dr recommended it. I read through all the information and became keen to check it out.
When the Monday came to go to camp, I was extremely excited! My mum, dropped me off and at first I didn’t want her to leave as I didn’t know anyone. But soon I got to know the girls I was bunking with and just stayed with them. That evening we did our first few activities and I got to know more about the other campers. Considering this was an arthritis camp everyone was respectful to the fact that each person had arthritis and that some of us may be in pain.
As the week past it neared the night most of us were looking forward to, the disco. Each year on the thursday night there is a themed disco, this particular one was themed ‘pajama.’ Most of us got into our pj’s and hit the dance floor, even though we were pretty sore from the previous days, but who cares when your having fun, soon enough we would be going home.
After the disco a small group of us, went to the dining hall to play UNO, our favourite game of the week. There were hissy fits from some of us and show offs from others, only because they kept winning. Our favourite line that was said during our last game of UNO was, “but they’re all red.” It was absolutely hilarious the way it was said! Even today I still laugh at it.
But the camp just had to end.
My second camp had finally arrived after a whole year of anxious waiting. I just couldn’t wait to see all my new friends, some of us even had late or early birthday presents to give each other as we had become extremely close. Our activities last year were so fun and I had a blast once again. The only horrible memory was the charter trip to go whale watching. Nearly everyone in our arthritis camp group ended up throwing up, not very fun. The one we all thought should deserve an award was when one of the boys was pointing to a whale, that was extremely close to the boat and then, blahhhk.
On the Thursday night, as usual, disco. The theme this time, halloween. Most of the campers got dressed up in a costume or put some crazy make-up on to look scary. Again we danced the night away, literally! It was the best time all camp! Sadly Friday came around, well the time where we had to pack everything up and get ready to leave. When my parents finally came to pick me up I said my goodbyes in hope that I would see everyone again next camp.
Arthritis camp was designed to allow people with juvenile arthritis to come together and have fun. It is also there to help us get through tough times and learn about our condition. It is very fun and I’m so glad I went, making so many new friends, can’t wait for next October school holidays, CAMP!
