Chelsea turned personnel pain into gold and became a 2005 Young Woman of Distinction.
	Icing on the Cake I was satisfied with patients' reactions and the accomplished feeling of a job well done. So imagine how wonderful I felt when I was honored with the Girl Scout Gold Award Young Woman of Distinction award. It really means a lot to me that something as small as my little cart and booklet can get recognized on a national scale because of the effort I put into it. And to think, this wonderful opportunity was handed to me by a bundle of tumorous bone cells. Tumorous bone cells, a positive attitude, an innovative mind, and sheer determination—that's all it takes to change lives. For the rest of the perfectly healthy scouts out there, the last three things work just as well all by themselves.

Turning Pain into Triumph

By Chelsea, 2005 Young Woman of Distinction

Think nothing good could come out of cancer? Chelsea learned that it could.

Turning Pain into Gold

My road to the Girl Scout Gold Award® began years before I even knew it existed. When I was a Junior Girl Scout, I was diagnosed with bone cancer. Eighteen hospital stays and two surgeries later, I emerged a different person—and I wanted to find some way to give back, but I didn't know how.

The Need

I learned early on that tests and treatments take a while, and what's a kid to do at the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Center in the meantime? Read parenting magazines or picture books? Play with toys? Watch used rated-G movies? At age 11, I noticed that teen-centered activities were serious lacking!

When I learned about the Girl Scout Gold Award, I didn't have to think twice about it—I would provide the Oncology Center with a complete Teen Activity Cart. And I would create an easy-to-understand pamphlet for new cancer patients that explained what to expect during treatments and hospital stays.

Donations, Donations, DONATIONS!

First, I sent surveys to teen cancer patients at the Oncology Center to find out what they wanted. Armed with their responses, I created a flyer asking for donations of specific movies and games. I visited troops, churches, even day camps to personally make pleas for donations. I categorized and labeled and laminated each item so it could be used as a check out system. Finally, I saved the list of items to a floppy disk so the center could easily update it if they received more donations.

Where to Put It?

I decided the best place to stow everything would be in a rolling cart with shelves and doors that could lock. After hours of searching in furniture stores, I settled on a small wooden kitchen cabinet that I painted, added an extra shelf to, and a put on a lock.

Write What You Know, Research What You Don't

Creating the pamphlet was the easiest part of the entire project. I had first-hand experience with nearly everything I was writing about, and I added in little tips that doctors and nurses may forget to tell you.

I always wished I had something telling me what to expect or how to prepare myself, and I wanted to provide that for someone else. Topics like radiation and spinal taps were experiences I never had, so I had to research that. There's no better source than the doctors who administer the treatment, so I asked them questions and looked up information on http://www.cancer.gov.

Finishing Touches

Doctors, the child life specialist, and the social worker at the hospital reviewed the text—it was chock full of so much information that I had to format it into a small booklet! Finally, the cart and the booklets were delivered to the oncology center and I walked away breathing a huge sigh of relief!

Follow-Up

As my visits to the oncology center became less frequent, it was harder for me to see the impact my cart was making. During my last yearly check-up, the new child life specialist approached me and told me the cart was still being used (after two years!), and it was being restocked all the time. I swelled with pride knowing that my project was continuing to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients. I had always wanted to give back, and I finally was able to—thanks to the Girl Scout Gold Award.