Dr. Ernesto Fernandez at his practice in Dallas: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Dr. Ernesto Fernandez at his practice in Dallas: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Since it began in 1950, Camp Sweeney — a camp located near Gainesville, Texas, for kids with Type 1 diabetes — has hosted more than 30,000 children from across the United States and around the world. Dr. Ernie Fernandez, the camp’s director since 1989, has been practicing in our neighborhood at Clinical Pediatric Associates since 1991.

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[quote align=”right” color=”#000000″]”When these kids leave our program, they’ve felt what it’s like to be sort of normalized, overcome some of their anxieties, care about themselves, and have a village of support to try to keep them there.”[/quote]

What is Camp Sweeney about?
The program is based on four behavioral models that we have developed over the years. The concept is to develop this special place where everything is normalized. Their diabetes tends to go away because everybody does everything in the same way. So the things that make them different no longer exist, and they feel like they’re the center as opposed to looking in from the outside, which we call normalization. Then we look to try to identify anxieties these kids have, and once we identify these anxieties, we work on a plan with each child to try to overcome them, whether it’s fear of going low [blood sugar], fear of social situations, fear of succeeding academically. Then we teach the kids virtue in themselves. And we try to get kids to identify things they do for others, for the environment, they do for the program …  every day we have total affirmation sessions to make that happen. And finally, the last model is the model we call support. We teach kids to put themselves second, and the kids around them first. And we do that because we find that if you look at how kids build support networks, it’s when they build relationships with each other. And the true relationships tend to last, versus the causal ones that occur because you happen to be in a class with somebody. It happens when you start caring about the other person’s feelings before your own. Then you develop a really strong sense of support that carries these kids not only through their camp years but through many, many years of their lives.

And so when these kids leave our program, they’ve felt what it’s like to be sort of normalized, overcome some of their anxieties, care about themselves, and have a village of support to try to keep them there. And by doing so, we positively impact the way they want to take care of themselves, and they can live longer, healthier lives. And it’s quite the program.

With your practice, are you able to be at the camp the whole time it’s in session?
I sure am. I always have been. I have a little cabin on the property, and what happens is, every morning I drive into Dallas. I leave at 7, get to my office at 8:30, I see patients until 2, and I’m back at camp at 3:30. I’ve done that every year I’ve been at camp. I’m there seven days a week, all 12 weeks, every summer. I’ve never missed a day of camp in the last 30 years. But I do keep my practice going at the same time.

What about the counselors there?
They come from all over the U.S. We have 160 full-time employees in the summer. Of them, 71 are counselors. We bring them in for three weeks of development prior to the first child arriving. Because we have to have the staff truly understand these four behavioral models and how they function and get themselves in that mindset of trying to make that difference in these kids’ lives. So by the time the children arrive, [the counselors] are really ready to try to passionately help these kids.

So what are the camp activities like?
We have everything from archery, aerobics, zip lines, climbing walls, jet skis, tubing. We have fishing, skeet shooting, riflery, paintball, lacrosse, football, soccer. We have hiking, cross country, swing dancing class, weight-lifting class, internet publishing, video production. We own our own radio station, which serves the Cooke County/Denton area, so they have broadcasting class as well. We try to find something for each child to overcome those anxieties and get them to shine.

After lunch, we bring in speakers from UT Southwestern [to talk about] the new techniques for diabetes. Then they go to small groups, they do the affirmations, they have more activities in the afternoon, they have supper, and then we go to the nighttime activities. We have rock bands that come out, they go to the movie theater, they’ve got hikes, they’ve got campfires, they’ve got big carnival nights, fireworks — it’s a big event every night. We’re teaching them how to incorporate the real-life things in their lives with their diabetes management.

I’m sure you have many memorable stories.
There are many, many wonderful stories. But right now we’re in an unusual state. We lost one of our children yesterday. She was here in Plano, and she had a bad insulin reaction and did not wake up. And one of the things that makes our program different — the kids are so fantastically supportive and connected. And so anytime we lose someone who has been part of this family, they come so close together. Tonight we will be doing a Sweeney candle vigil in Plano. We have people flying in from everywhere because they get so connected, and they have to be there for each other.

A thing that echoes with me is, the year before last, there were three days left in camp. There was a little boy, and I said, ‘Are you excited you’re going home in three days?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, in three days I get diabetes again.’ And that’s just the way it is: When they’re there, it’s gone, and they’re kids that are building themselves up, having the greatest time of their lives. 

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity

Camp Sweeney 2104 sessions begin June 8, June 29 and July 20. Visit campsweeney.org to find out more.