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Press Releases
Camp gives kids with asthma knowledge, power
By Sarah Benson
The Kansas City StarSATURDAY, July 28 (The Kansas City Star) -- It’s the first day of camp, and a rowdy bunch of kids are shooting hoops in the Jewish Community Center gym.
The boys and girls, ages 7 to 12, dribble, shoot, pass, run. One boy does cartwheels across the wood floor while another hops in circles on one foot.
They all have asthma, but none of them are wheezing.
This week, about 25 kids from across the metro area attended Superkids Asthma Day Camp at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park. The camp was hosted by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s Greater Kansas City Chapter.
Campers swam, played sports, went on scavenger hunts and visited Kauffman Stadium, where they met mascot Sluggerrr. The camp is about having fun, but it also teaches kids about dealing with asthma.
“That’s the whole point of the camp,” Melissa Ford, executive director of the AAFA-KC, said. “They learn how to use their meds, when to use their meds, how to communicate what they’re going through to their parents.”
Having asthma can be hard. Kids and adults have to regularly monitor their oxygen intake by blowing into what’s called a peak flow meter. They also have to take medications every day and use an inhaler during asthma attacks. Some — like Matthew Kaplan, 8 — even have to get shots.
“It’s not that painful if you’ve been a few times,” Matthew says.
Matthew says that he knows “some, but not much” about asthma. He hasn’t had the illness for very long, so everything he learns at camp is new to him.
Obviously, learning the intricacies of lung function can be difficult for an 8-year-old, or anyone for that matter. But camp counselors manage to make asthma interesting.
In the mornings, doctors came in and spoke with the campers about triggers to avoid or how to know the difference between a cold cough and an asthma cough. The camp classroom was filled with anatomically correct sculptures of lung air sacs and wind pipes.
The kids color pictures of bronchial tubes, and they learn that their lungs are like upside down trees, each leaf a tiny air sac.
Yolanda Fulbright-Moore of Lee’s Summit is a parent of camper Camille, 8, and counselor Ashley, 18. Both daughters have asthma.
Camille is worse off — she’s allergic to cats and peanuts, and she misses a lot of school because of breathing problems. But since starting asthma camp, Camille became better at controlling her asthma. And Fulbright-Moore says, “She’s not as self-conscious about it…she doesn’t have to feel like she’s different.”
Adrienne McDonald of Overland Park says her daughter Noelle had a similar experience at asthma camp.
“I feel it’s really empowered her,” McDonald says. “I like the fact that they’re having fun, but they’re learning. This is really big: The school nurse told me that my two girls were the only two who knew how to use their inhaler properly.”
That’s the thing about asthma: Knowledge is power.
Noelle says she learned how to control and relieve her asthma problems.
As a result, she says, “I think my asthma got a lot better since asthma camp.”
Kerrie Thomsen of Lenexa is also the parent of a camper. She admits the idea of an asthma camp didn’t thrill her at first.
She thought the kids there would be strange or un-athletic, or that the camp would be boring.
But Parker loved the camp, and became fast friends with the other kids. In fact, he just completed his third year.
Parker is really into basketball. At camp on Monday, he dribbled like a pro and put up a few nothing-but-net shots.
Each time the ball makes it into the hoop, the entire line of campers erupts into cheers and high fives. One kid throws his name tag into the air like a cap on graduation day. It’s the campers’ first day together, but it’s clear they’ve formed a fast bond.
Ford says the camp is about showing kids that they can do anything they want in life. She tells them that 20 percent of Olympic athletes have asthma.
That’s an important lesson for kids with asthma to learn, Thomsen says.
“They really aren’t limited by it,” she says.
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Links
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Greater Kansas City Chapter 816-333-6608, 1-888-542-8252
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
1-800-7-ASTHMAAllergy & Asthma Network/ Mothers of Asthmatics, Inc.
1-800-878-4403American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, & Immunology
American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology
1-847427-1200The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network
1-800-929-4040Journal of the America Medical Association
American Lung Association:
1-800-Lung-USANational Heart, Lung, Blood Institute Information Center- National Institutes of Health:1-800-575-WELL
National Jewish Medical Center
1-800-222-LUNGSchool Asthma and Allergy Knowledge Exchange
Environmental Protection Agency
AAFA Greater Kansas City Area I 9140 Ward Parkway, Suite 120I Kansas City, MO 64114 I 888-542-8252 fax 816-333-6684