COURTESY PHOTO Indian Summer Campers climbed aboard for a tethered balloon ride.

Patrick McSweney was 5 when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer that attacks bone marrow before spreading to other organs. He underwent 38 months of chemotherapy and is still being closely monitored by his doctors to make sure the cancer doesn’t return.

“The best chance for ALL to return is in the first couple years,” said Patrick’s mother, Debbie McSweney. “He used to  go in for check-ups every three months, but last time they told him he could come in every four months.”

Patrick is now an active 10-year-old getting ready to begin fifth grade at St. Margaret Mary, but childhood cancer leaves a lasting impression.

“When a child has cancer, their childhood is basically gone,” McSweney said. “They spend most of their time in clinics or at the hospital getting chemo. They can’t be in crowds and they can’t do things, like going to birthday parties, with other kids.”

But Patrick, and countless other children like him, have found an escape from the doctors, hospitals and treatments through Indian Summer Camp, a weeklong camp for kids ages 6-18 who have experienced cancer.

“Indian Summer Camp is a vacation away from being sick,” said Amy Steinkuhl, director of the camp, which is located in Nicholasville. “We do everything a regular camp would do – swimming, archery, arts and crafts and bonfires – plus a few extra activities.”

The University of Louisville football team and Louisville Fire & Rescue Dive Team are annual visitors. The football team signs autographs and participates in camp activities; the dive team brings its scuba equipment to let campers dive in the camp’s pool.

Campers also visit Taylorsville Lake for a day of boating, swimming and tubing with equipment donated by friends of the camp. This year campers also enjoyed tethered hot air balloon rides.

“And, of course, we always have our famous parties and dances,” Steinkuhl said.

The camp has counselors and staff like any other camp, but it also works with pediatric oncologists from Kosair Children’s Hospital and the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

“We have an on-staff oncologist and a full-time nursing staff with three to seven nurses,” Steinkuhl said. “We work with the kids’ doctors to schedule treatments the week before or the week after camp.”

Campers who are on oral chemotherapy or other at-home treatments continue as normal.

“We have campers in every stage. Some are terminal and some were too young to ever remember it,” Steinkuhl said.

The week-long camp is free to campers. The camp holds fundraisers throughout the year and relies on donations of time and money.

“We had 92 campers this summer,” Steinkuhl said. “We never turn a kid away.”

The first day of camp allows campers’ families to participate in activities too.

“Cancer is tough on siblings too,” Debbie McSweney said. “They’re the quiet heroes.”

This summer was Patrick McSweney’s fourth year at the camp.

“It’s so much fun and you can have fun and hang out with your friends without being troubled by anything,” he said.

Patrick and his fellow campers keep in touch away from camp via cancer patient support Web sites.

“We get online and leave messages. We talk mostly by computer, not by the phone, but we support each other,” he said.

Patrick enjoys all the activities the camp  provides, but the scuba diving is his favorite.

“The fire department divers come and set up in the pool. There’s a bone with a key on it and you go down in the deeper waters and grab the bone and swim back,” he said. “They have a treasure chest with toys and the key unlocks the chest.”

Last year’s camp  included a carnival with stilt walkers. They interested Patrick so much, he decided to give it a go.

“At the end of camp, they had some stilts left and I asked if I could have a pair. They said yes,” he said.

So now, when he isn’t playing tennis, skateboarding or playing Mario Kart, Patrick is walking around on stilts.

“Everyone at the camp is so wonderful,” Debbie McSweney said. “The first year, Patrick was really homesick. One of the volunteers came to the house and got letters from us to make him feel better. They have the kids’ best interest at heart.”

“The camp is somewhere these kids can go and not be different,” Steinkuhl said. “You’re not the one who’s lost their hair or a limb – you’re the same as the kid next to you. There are no hurtful words. We’re a big family.”

Indian Summer Camp starts taking applications three months before camp begins in July.

For more information, visit iscamp.org.