Miracle Kids

Rebekah

Every child deserves to have some fun in life and a child stricken with a serious disease certainly is no exception. Nine-year-old Rebekah of Temple spends a week each summer having serious fun at Camp All Stars, held at Peaceable Kingdom Retreat near Youngsport. There, Rebekah and other Scott & White pediatric patients get to take a break from the hospital and find a new lease on life.

The camp is one of seven summer camps held for children treated at Scott & White. Children's Miracle Network at Scott & White has committed $25,000 each year as a matching grant to an endowment that helps send patients like Rebekah to camp. Camp All Stars is specifically for children with gastrointestinal disorders.

Rebekah was only five years old when she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a disorder that attacks the lining of the intestines and colon. While people of all ages can have Crohn's disease, it usually begins in the late teens and early adulthood. Only 20 percent of all cases affect children like Rebekah. In fact, at the time of her diagnosis, Rebekah was the youngest patient to ever be treated for the disease at Scott & White.

Initially, Rebekah spent two months in Scott & White Memorial Hospital and lost the left side of her colon. She was in and out of the hospital for several years, once enduring emergency surgery for a collapsed lung. Rebekah's mother, Malie, says her daughter was "like a guinea pig" as doctors used various therapies to treat her disease. Until recently, Rebekah wore an ostomy, a pouch attached to the abdominal wall to collect digested food that otherwise would pass through her colon and cause intense pain. In addition, she receives an intravenous drug infusion every two months and takes daily medication, probably for the rest of her life.

The surgeries and infusions are quickly forgotten when Rebekah gets to Camp All Stars each summer. The perky fourth grader at Lakewood Elementary in Belton says the best thing about the camp, which she has attended for four years, is "forgetting about all the bad things and having some fun." Her favorite thing is swimming and other water activities. Oh yes—and playing games with her physician, Scott & White pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. David Easley, when he stops by for a visit.

From her mother's point of view, Camp All Stars gives Rebekah a chance to make friends with other children stricken with similar ailments and to associate with doctors and nurses outside of a hospital or clinic environment. She and her daughter say they are grateful for CMN's support of the camp. In years past, Rebekah has given back to CMN by telling her story on the annual telecast and hopes the community will continue to support the organization. If you would like to support Camp All Stars and other children's programs through CMN, call 254-724-2022.

Back to Top