Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Annaleigh Grilo. I am a 17 year old girl who lives in Naples, Florida. I enjoy baking, singing, acting, dancing, scuba diving, playing guitar and piano, working out, and hanging out with my friends.
How did you first become aware of your diagnosis?
In the beginning of July, I began to experience a dull pain in my leg. I was working out and doing a singing, acting, and dancing camp everyday, so I assumed the pain was from me pulling a muscle or something. As the days went by, the pain got worse and by the beginning of August, the pain was so bad that I couldn’t even sit down without crying in pain. So at around 9pm on Sunday August 5th, my mom drove me to the Emergency Room. They took an X-ray of my leg and next thing I knew I was being put in a helicopter at 3 a.m. to fly to Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. Over the next few days in Miami, I got an MRI and a biopsy, and by Thursday they told me that I had Osteosarcoma and was starting chemotherapy on Friday.
Where and how did you seek information about sarcomas?
I didn't really look into a lot of information on my cancer, I just knew that I had it and that I was gonna fight it and beat it. I let my mom and my doctors do all the research and just tell me what I needed to know.
What treatments have you received?
Methotrexate, Cisplatin, and Doxorubicin.
What do you do to deal with the stress that comes with a cancer diagnosis? What makes you feel strong?
The love of all my friends and family really helped me be strong. Without them it would have been a much harder experience. The stress of cancer was honestly really hard for me and just being able to talk to my friends and family helped me. Even though they couldn’t relate, I could just vent and they would be there for me.
Whatʼs your biggest fear?
That I will get cancer again.
Whatʼs the most annoying thing people say to you?
The most annoying thing to me is when people ask me what happened to my leg because I am on crutches and have a scar. In a conversation it is fine, but when a random person I don't know just asks me what happened it annoys me because it’s personal and I don't like to bring it up a lot.
What helps keep your spirits up? What gives you hope during this time?
Something that keeps my spirits up are my friends and family. Whenever I’m sad or scared or stressed, I talk to them and they comfort me. I try to spend as much time as I can with the people I love because it reminds me that I have a good support system and that they are always there for me. Having cancer has really shown me who my true friends are. So when I hang out with them it’s nice because I know that they really care about me and that they will be there for me no matter what.