The Fiddler in the Dialysis Room

Doctor a dedicated fixture at Kidney Foundation’s summer camp

Relatively few summer campers get serenaded by a fiddle-playing pediatric nephrologist.

Then again, most don’t have to interrupt their fun camp activities with a stint on the dialysis machine.

“I play the violin for several reasons,” Dr. Raymond Quigley said. “The kids enjoy many of the songs. I think it also helps the staff enjoy their time there. The dialysis nurses work hard to provide care for the kids. It also helps me to relax.”

Quigley has been coming to Camp Reynal since its beginning in 1992 – initially as one of several nephrologists who would rotate there every one to two days – and has served as camp medical director since 2006.

“The kids enjoy most anything that I play,” he said. “Some of the younger kids enjoy songs like ‘Old MacDonald’ because they can sing along. In the afternoon, I often play some quiet type of songs, and the older kids will usually take a long nap.”

Last year, KidneyTexas Inc. honored Quigley with the Everson Walls Legacy Award, which was named after the retired Dallas Cowboy who gave a kidney to teammate Ron Springs.

The National Kidney Foundation camp, one of the few in the United States providing on-site dialysis, operates six days each summer at Camp John Marc’s state-of-the-art therapeutic facility near Meridian, Texas.

“Days at camp are filled with swimming, canoeing, fishing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, photography, dance, singing, sports and games, and other fun activities,” added Amanda Crowley-Rios, senior director of programs for the foundation.

Children’s Medical Center Dallas (Children’s Health), Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, and The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio provide doctors, nurses, and other specialists to care for campers with renal and urology diseases.

“When you go to the camp and see how much the kids enjoy themselves, you realize that this is a very important part of their life,” said Quigley, a Children’s Health physician and professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Many come from families who couldn’t otherwise afford summer camp, he added. “In addition, children who are on dialysis cannot go to any camp. They must find a camp with the specialized equipment as well as personnel that can provide these services.”

Crowley-Rios noted that corporate, individual, and foundation donors have enabled Camp Reynal to provide more than 1,500 children since 1992 with a “nurturing setting for peer interactions, adventure, and new challenges.”

“Also, I have come to realize that the kids can finally see that they are not alone,”  Quigley said. “There are many other kids just like them with the same medical problems. I have heard many of them say that they finally realize that they are not the only kids with these issues. I think having a place where they can openly discuss their issues is good for them.”