| Hi Sheri and welcome to the forum. I too am a Michigander but now transplanted to Australia.
You've actually already answered your own question. The sappy substance is just that, sap and it is wuite normal for orchids to "leak" a bit of sap from a bud or growing leaf tip. Having the buds die off is also no cause for concern. We call it "bud blast" and there are several causes for it, the most common being changes in the conditions in which the plant is being grown. For example a budding orchid growing happily in a nursery will sometimes blast all of its buds when taken home to different conditions. It's also a fairly common occurrence and nothing to be worried about. It's more of a disappointment than a danger that you'll loose the plant.
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