Nosebleeds, night sweats, feeling lethargic and petechiae rashes were all symptoms senior Elliot Anglin experienced in December of 2023. On Feb. 7 2024, Anglin found himself diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. 

“The two weeks prior to when I was diagnosed, I was going back and forth from the nurse and I had a fever back in January,” Anglin said. “I think that’s kind of what set it off [and] when people were starting to worry. A lot of fevers and petechiae [were] the main signs that I was worried about.”

Anglin said he didn’t really process his diagnoses until he got home from the hospital and was facing difficulties with moving around and completing chores or daily tasks due to his impaired mobility.

“If I stepped on something small or tripped on something my whole body would just give out,” Anglin said. “I used to be a pretty strong person physically, but the smallest things would set off my whole body. I became generally insanely weak.”

One of the main side effects of Anglin’s chemotherapy treatment was hair loss. When his hair began to fall out, Anglin’s cancer began to impact him mentally for the worst. 

“My hair was one of my favorite features of myself,” Anglin said. “It was how I expressed myself. But after it started falling out and my body started to change a lot, especially because of the medication I was on and the treatment I was going through, I refused to go anywhere. I had stuff on my head constantly and it made me insanely insecure about a lot of things.” 

The current phase of Anglin’s treatment is maintenance. This means he’ll be taking his medications regularly at home, instead of visiting the clinic every so often. One of the main medications Anglin has been taking regularly is Mercaptopurine. 

“I take that everyday and it’s a really strong chemotherapy pill,” Anglin said. “Without another pill with it to protect it, the pill itself could tear up my insides and my stomach. I have to take it with pepcid to make it not destroy my insides.”

Having to switch medicines as his treatment progressed, Anglin experienced many changes in his body from medicines like Pentamidine, calaspargase pegol (cal-peg) and steroids. Steroids had the most effect on the senior’s appetite and his weight. 

“Those [steroids] made me super chubby, and I would be as hungry as a 12-year-old boy,” Anglin said. “I was like an endless pit. It made me gain weight like crazy. I’ve never been able to gain weight before, but the weight was piling up as I was eating. It was super weird, because my body would never do that, but that was because of the steroids.” 

Pentamidine and cal-peg on the other hand, were more painful.

“[Pentamidine] makes me insanely nauseous right from the get-go as soon as it enters my port,” Anglin said. “But also while I’m having it, it makes my face and all inside my mouth entirely numb. I don’t get this one anymore, but cal-peg, I have to get very diluted IV benadryl before I take it, so I can sleep through it because of how much of a painful process it is to get that medicine. I was super drowsy whenever I would get that one.”

Not only did cancer affect Anglin physically, it had a negative impact and toll on his mental health. Anglin felt a lot of anger and frustration. 

“I can’t do all these things that I used to be able to do and it would make me really mad,” Anglin said. “I would get really mad at myself for eating all the time because of the steroids. Mentally I had to deal with a lot of anger and frustration and nobody could understand. Nobody understood what I was going through, personally, because they’re not the ones with the disease.”

When Anglin was first admitted to the hospital, there were therapists present to spend time with the patients. The therapists there helped Anglin reconnect with hobbies he loves and cope with his condition.

“The art therapist really helped me out, because whenever I was diagnosed I kind of lost all motivation to do things,” Anglin said. “I felt like an empty shell. There was nothing else to look forward to. Getting back into art definitely helped me a lot. I was able to express myself creatively.”

Spending time indulging in his interests helped Anglin the most mentally. Anglin draws in his sketchbook, makes music, does photography and writes. 

“I draw people definitely the most,” Anglin said. “It’s kind of a message that I feel in my own art is how different a lot of people are in the world. How everybody can look so different from each other. That’s the cool thing. There’s so many different people in the world and there’s so much to appreciate about people’s differences.”

In 2023, Anglin was very active in his extracurriculars at school and felt like he was at his highest in that point of his life. Anglin participated in musicals like “Legally Blonde,” sang in show choir and performed in dance shows. When he was diagnosed with a disease, the senior felt like he was falling behind his peers. 

“The first semester of my junior year I was insanely involved in school,” Anglin said. “It was the first time in forever where I felt like I was actually being appreciated for all the things I was doing. Then ‘boom’ I get this and people only know me for having cancer now when I had this whole other life before. Watching all my friends go on and do all this other stuff, I basically was behind everybody for so long. And I still feel like that sometimes. I felt like I was behind everybody else and I was still stuck while everyone was going on with their life.” 

Anglin wishes people would view him for his accomplishments and not underestimate his abilities now that he has a disease. 

“A lot of people hold me to a lower standard because of what I have,” Anglin said. “I can’t do a lot of stuff that I used to do, but I still would like to be included or at least thought of when it comes to doing things.”

Anglin feels like this impact in his life has made people view him differently and add on to the labels put on him. 

“People do see me differently,” Anglin said. “Before I got diagnosed, it’s not really better, but people knew me as ‘Kenzie’s brother’ or ‘that one gay trans guy.’ I’m not mad about making that my identity because I have nothing to be ashamed of about it, but it’s just another label put on me. That’s the only thing people see now. People don’t see all my accomplishments before that. Nothing has changed about me, I’m still the same person. I have a disease but it doesn’t affect ‘me’ at all.” 

Anglin started going back to school in November of 2024 after being in the home-bound system. Due to his impaired mobility, the senior uses a cane to travel and help his balance.

“I would use it during caroling season too when my show choir group would be gone,” Anglin said. “In front of a whole bunch of people I tried to adjust myself, but my cane would slip and I would fall, and they would all start laughing at me. That really puts into perspective how they see me. I make a lot of jokes about my condition because I don’t want it to be a serious thing, I don’t want people to worry about me or pay attention to me. But if they’re laughing at me or making jokes themselves just because I do, it’s kind of a problem. It’s kind of hypocritical, so I’m trying not to make as many jokes.” 

The way Anglin views life changed to be more carefree. He believes that he notices and appreciates the little things that occur in his life more than before. Anglin currently has about one year left of treatment. Once he enters remission, it’s most likely the cancer will not come back.

“After all this, it’s going to be a really pivotal time,” Anglin said. “Even if I’m done with treatment and there’s no sign of the cancer, it’s still really scary because I’ve had a lot of friends who’ve had their cancer relapse and it just hit them back harder. So, I still worry about it whenever I’m done with everything. My main thing is just ‘okay guys I don’t have cancer anymore please actually see me.’”

Anglin finds it a really different experience to be on the other side of the story when people talk about experiences with cancer. His main worry is people not being able to look past his disease and see him as the same independent individual he was before he was diagnosed.

“I had a whole social life before this,” Anglin said. “I’d go to shows and do all these teenager things. Now because of this I’m not and people are constantly worried about me. Which for good reason, but it gets kind of annoying. I still have so much more to offer, like I always have. That’s my main thing that I want people to know, it’s that nothing’s changed about me. Personality-wise, mentally or emotionally, I’m still me.”