How Emma Kept Her Girl Scout Promise Through Cancer Treatment

Some way, somehow, Emma found the sweet side of her inpatient chemotherapy stays.

____

Mother’s Day 2025 began as a typical spring day for the Mongado family. They ticked through their morning routine, attended church together and swung by the mall to do some shopping. By lunchtime, though, 7-year-old Emma was complaining of a stomachache. It seemed harmless at first, but by nighttime she was suddenly unable to sit up, stand or walk due to the pain. The following morning, Emma’s mom, Judy, remembers how serious things became in the blink of an eye.

“Her lips, fingers and toes were blue, and she was freezing to the touch,” she says. “By the time we got to the pediatrician, she had a 102-degree fever.”

Initially they were sent home thinking Emma was fighting an infection, but intuition encouraged her parents to pursue another opinion at Lurie Children’s – a familiar place where their son already received care.

Here, their gut feeling was regrettably validated by the care team: she was not battling an infection but rather a diagnosis no family is prepared to hear and no 7-year-old is prepared to shoulder: B-cell leukemia. “It was a whirlwind,” Judy recalls. Just two days after her initial symptoms appeared, Emma was admitted, had a port placed and promptly began Phase 1 of cancer treatment.

Navigating a cancer diagnosis at such a young age is an unfair burden, requiring a grit and resilience that can feel entirely foreign to an elementary-aged kid. Oftentimes what makes this reality just a little bit lighter is the support, love and distraction from the people around them – and for Emma, that came from her family, her church and perhaps most impactfully, her Girl Scout troop.

Girl Scouts is core to the Mongado family. Judy began as a Daisy (kindergarten) herself and participated her entire adolescent life before ultimately “bridging” from Ambassador (grades 11-12) to Adult – the final transition. Bridging is a defining moment where a Scout officially advances to the next age level and is celebrated with a special ceremony where they physically and symbolically cross a bridge to mark their growth, achievements and readiness for new adventures. Other bridging milestones included becoming a Brownie, a Junior, a Cadette and a Senior.

Girl Scouts was a transformative and meaningful experience for Judy growing up; one that she was excited to introduce to her own daughter one day. To her delight, Emma finds just as much joy in the organization as her mom once did and still does today as one of her troop leaders.

“It provides a sense of community, sisterhood and family,” Judy says. “It’s something that’s really important to me, so knowing it’s important to her, too, makes me really happy.”

Living out their Girl Scout values authentically, Emma’s troop – Troop 76130 – were the first to organize a meal train for the Mongados when she was first diagnosed and have been nothing but accommodating to Emma’s needs as her schedule and physical abilities changed during treatment. It’s been heartwarming, though not surprising, for Judy to witness the group stand by their side and exemplify just how strong their friendship circle is.

A loyal Scout, Emma has continued to participate in the activities she feels up to and refused to miss out on their biggest and most beloved fundraising event: cookie sales.

For Emma’s troop, cookie season is the Superbowl. Their troop leaders put a lot of emphasis on the fundraiser to teach the girls skills like setting and meeting goals, counting money, interacting with people, asking for sales, and more. They highly encourage in-person selling vs. virtual to build help build their confidence.

Emma attempted two outdoor cookie booths at the start of the season before she got sick and was re-admitted. This was a clear indicator that she’d need to get creative with selling tactics this year if she still wanted to make the effort…which she certainly did. And what better place to lift spirits via cookies than the hospital where Emma was already spending so much time?

She and Judy transitioned to a mobile cookie booth on the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders floor at Lurie Children’s. Hundreds of boxes of Tagalongs, Samoas, Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and the like were pulled by wagon around the Ambulatory Infusion Center (AIC) during Emma's visits for her own treatment. The seasoned Scout made this pivot look easy, achieving her 500-box goal, moving the goalpost to 750 boxes, and hitting that mark with time to spare!

And Emma didn’t stop there. She rolled up her sleeves, dug deeper into her fighting spirit, and found the energy to help other troops in their service unit who were trailing in sales. According to the rules, unsold Girl Scout cookies come out of that troop’s budget, and Emma wanted to see her fellow Girl Scouts succeed and use their funds for the fun stuff.

While still managing her own cancer treatment, Emma took on selling the remaining 143 boxes from the neighboring troops (successfully!), raising her individual selling total to 893 boxes.

This year, despite what she was dealing with health-wise, Emma was the third top seller in her troop and fourth in her service unit, earning her the title “Super Seller.” A generous, courageous and savvy second-grader, “AIC All Star” also feels well deserved.

And cookie selling wasn’t the only Girl Scout goodness brought to the halls of Lurie Children’s. Emma was able to earn a badge during her time at the hospital when one of her nurses, Nurse Leandra, taught her first aid. Badges represent specific skill-building achievements and are worn on the front of the Girl Scout vest.

The familiar sounds of Girl Scout songs also put her at ease when things felt overwhelming.

“When we were first admitted to the hospital, the team was amazing,” Judy says. “Emma was scared of doing bloodwork and port access, and everyone would sing Girl Scout songs to distract and comfort her.”

Three years as a Girl Scout learning important skills and values, paired with the bravery and boldness that comes with a cancer diagnosis, has grown Emma in so many ways, Judy explains.

“From that first year Emma started selling cookies to this year, it’s been such a big change,” she says. “It’s built her confidence so much. She loves it.”

She used to timidly hide behind Judy during cookie selling and is now “out in the spotlight dancing around, joyfully doing her ‘job,’” Judy says.

“Now I have to remind her to stay close to me.”

But she’ll continue to explore her independence this summer as she officially completed her final round of inpatient chemotherapy in April, and will have more free time to do the things she loves – like read Harry Potter (she’s a Hufflepuff, of course), hang out with her little brother and camp in the backyard. Also at the top of her summer bucket list is more adventures with her best friend Maddie who dreams of being a nurse and a Girl Scout leader, while Emma plans on being a Girl Scout leader and doctor at Lurie Children’s.

The day she was discharged, one of Emma’s favorite child life specialists, Emily, gifted her a special, handmade patch that read “Last Chemo Stay” to symbolize the big moment. Patches are unofficial tokens that celebrate activities, events, and memories, and are worn on the back of the Girl Scout vest. Emily was one of the first connections the family made upon being admitted last year and remains an especially important part of Emma’s journey.

“Watching Emma get her special patch was such an honor because she worked harder for that patch than any other. And it’s something we did completely together as a family,” said Judy.

Maybe Girl Scouts and pediatrics are more alike than we think: a sincere commitment to honesty, respect and kindness at the heart of both, and crossing new bridges with courage.

Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong,
and responsible for what I say and do,
and to respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place,
and be a sister to every Girl Scout.