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Buckle up, this is going to be a journey!
First I'll cover the easy things:
I had pretty decent cell service, the main building had free WI-FI, and the food was EXCELLENT!
Now let's get down to the nitty-gritty.
Where do I even begin...not only was this my first time attending Camp UBPN, it was the first time meeting anyone else with OBPI, ever!
Is it a tad overwhelming? Yes.((in a good way, of course))
Was camp a bit emotional at times? Sure was.
What about life changing? You bet!
It was all of these things and so much more. Honestly, I really had no idea what to expect when I arrived to Silver Bay YMCA for a weekend retreat. I knew I would be meeting a ton of people, and relaxing on the lake, but what I didn't know was how greatly an impact that weekend would make on my life.
To say my head as spinning from taking everything in would be an understatement. Everywhere I looked, there were other people like me, and I suddenly didn't feel alone. After checking in with the front desk to get my room key and name badge, I went down the hall to pick up my bag, which had our camp t-shirt and lots of little goodies inside.
My room was on the very top floor of The Inn, luckily for all of us there was an elevator! The room was fairly small, but quaint, and very clean. I was stoked to come across a box fan that was tucked away in the closet because it was so hot in there! Before unpacking a bit, I recorded a few quick video clips to begin my vlog. I wish I had more video footage for my vlog of camp, but I was just trying be present and enjoy every single moment of camp that I forgot to record some things. It won't be a terribly long video, but that's okay by me, I hope that you will still enjoy it. If I am able to go to the next camp, I will be sure to record more video footage. Anyway, where was I? Oh, day one, right. The person I really got to hang with first was Ashley. She is such a sweet person and I spent a majority of the weekend with her. It was dinner time when we had arrived, so she went down to the cafeteria, and honestly, I can't remember if I went down to dinner as well.
After dinner time, I went to the auditorium for the camp kick off that included some music, and a few speeches by some speakers including Wynnikka Matthews, who I was finally able to meet in person. We had been corresponding through social media for some time now, and I was so excited that she would be attending camp this year. It was so awesome getting to spend some time with her this weekend, and I enjoyed talking with her.
She is truly such a kind, amazing person, and I hope to remain in contact with her. Wyn also had brought some copies of the book she wrote and held a book signing with a percentage of the sales being donated directly to UBPN that day.
I purchased one and I can't wait to read it! The name of her book is: "Brighter Days Ahead: A Young Woman's Story of Fortitude Living with Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Injury"
Her book is also available for purchase on her website www.wyninspires.com
I spent some time after that chatting with some other new people as well and we shared our stories and experiences. Every single person I met that weekend was so nice.
The next day, we had breakfast then decided to hit the beach early in the day. Even though it was quite hot outside, the water was a bit chilly, but it felt so refreshing. There was a lovely area right on the point of the beach, so I sat up there watching the small sailboats and kayaks, and just taking in the majesty of the Adirondack mountains that surround beautiful Lake George. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire weekend and it only rained briefly at night and then the day we left.
It was just so peaceful everywhere you went at that camp, and everyone I walked past had a huge smile on their face.
That afternoon we attended the Adult Round table discussion held by Matt Parsons(@beatingbpi on Instagram).
He began by telling us about himself and things that bothered him about is Erb's arm. We were then invited to share things as well. Come to find out, it was the first time for many of us to be meeting other people with OBPI. I shared that it was my first camp and that I created my facebook page about 9 years ago due to not being able to find any information for adults with Erb's Palsy. I also highlighted the importance of there needing to be research and studies being done to follow injured people into adulthood and beyond because by noticing the number of OBPI children in attendance(and the numbers I see on the FB groups) this injury is unfortunately not going away. There needs to be information available to this next generation of injured(and of course for us adults too) on the long term effects of this injury.
I was also able to go kayaking a few times on Friday. I couldn't wait to get out there, but I was just slightly nervous about getting in and out of the kayak for fear that I may tip over and end up in the water. However, the staff down at the boathouse were super nice and helpful with all of us. The first time, I went alone late afternoon, and later on that evening Ashley and Ben came along.
We had so much fun! It was incredibly relaxing to be out on the water, and offered a different view of the scenery. It was so awesome to see everyone out there kayaking or paddle boarding. Thanks Ashley for snapping a few photos of me out on the kayak!
Early Saturday morning after breakfast, we went to a yoga class for injured adults and it was absolutely fantastic!
The instructor was great and working with the instructor was someone who also has OBPI and has been practicing yoga for 15 years(I believe if I remember correctly). She was demonstrating ways to use yoga blocks for poses that I have never even thought of before. It really made me even more excited to become a yoga instructor!
That afternoon I attended a session given by Dr. Belzberg about Adult Pain Management/Overuse and that was quite informative. There was also another physician, who happens to have OBPI as well, who spoke after Dr. Belzberg but I unfortunately can't remember her name. She spoke about pain associated with OBPI and also shared her personal story, which was great to hear. Shortly after that, I was interviewed by Matt Parsons. It had a nice time chatting with him about OBPI and the video will either be featured in his documentary or be part of a YouTube video. I then popped over to the next building to catch the end of "Lifetime Exercises" which was held by physical therapists about the importance of continuing some sort of physical therapy through out our entire lives, which was also very informative.
While dinner was being held that night, NFL player Adrian Clayborn was signing photo cards, as well as one item that we brought, and taking pictures with everyone, which was so great. If you didn't know already, he also has OBPI. Earlier that day, he also held a sports clinic, and from the photos I saw taken during it, the kids had a great time. He is a really nice guy, and I thinks it's great that he came to camp this year.
In the cafeteria, during dinner as well, Dr. Naft was demonstrating the MYOMO device with some camp attendees who have very little or no movement at all of their BPI arms. It was fascinating and incredible to see the device in action, I nearly cried while watching someone who has no movement in their TBPI arm and was hooked up to the device move the arm and open and close the hand of the device. Seeing him smile was incredible.
There was a whole presentation on MYOMO after dinner with three young people who each have a MYOPRO device sharing their stories and experiences with the device. Seeing how it changes people's lives is so moving.
I recorded some of the presentation and it will be included on my vlog.
We ended the night with a good old fashioned fire down by the lake complete with smores and music by Matt Parsons. He played his guitar and sang while we all sat around the fire, enjoying our snack and watching a little lightning that was dancing around the sky in the distance. When the fire had ended, a bunch of us adult injured hung out for the last time at the boathouse and talked for hours. Good times, great people, even better conversations. I know it might sound a bit weird, but I felt as if I have known those people forever, even though we had only just met that weekend. I wish they all lived closer so we could hang out again, but at least we can always connect through social media.
I knew Sunday was going to be super difficult, I sure did not want camp to end and have to leave all of my new friends.
The rain seemed fitting, as I cried just a little bit, and teared up a few times on the way home reminiscing about the incredible weekend that was just had. A special thank you not only to UBPN, but especially to Kimberly who organized the entire weekend. She did an amazing job and camp was absolutely perfect.
I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to attend such an absolutely wonderful, emotional, healing, and fun camp this year, I am really hoping I'll be able to go to the next one in 2021.
To find out more about camp and United Brachial Plexus Network, please visit www.ubpn.org and please help support UBPN by considering making a donation. These camps are only made possible by donations and extensive fundraising.
If you've read this and have a BPI, whether it be from birth or a traumatic injury, and you have never met anyone else like yourself, please know that you are not alone. There is a wonderful BPI family out there online. Not only do I have a FB page, but there are several groups on facebook as well, and others on various other social media platforms.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us.
I don't want to rush time, but is it 2021 yet?
Much love,
Kate
