Florida State swimmer Arianna Ottavianelli: 'Cancer will forever be a part of me'
Being a cancer survivor does not define Florida State swimmer Arianna Ottavianelli, but she definitely considers it to be part of her for the rest of her life.
Ottavianelli celebrated her second year of being cancer free Saturday, one day after the Seminoles hosted a swim meet against Tampa at Morcom Aquatics Center.
While the many seniors on the FSU roster were celebrated Ottavianelli said it was a day of celebration for her as well, just two years removed from beating stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma and her path back to the pool.
"I feel like it's my birthday for some reason I'm like, 'It's my birthday.' But it's not," Ottavianelli told the Democrat. "I have been so excited. I did a photo shoot and we had all these balloons. A former teammate came and surprised me with a little poster and things like that. And so it was just super special.
The Killers, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and 'Cotton Eye Joe': How music inspires FSU's Emma Clothier
Florida State women's soccer: Examining the Flynn sister-sister connection to coach Brian Pensky
How Steph Curry, an unorthodox shooting method prepared FSU men's basketball star Darin Green Jr.
"After my photo shoot, I just said, 'I can't wait.' It has had a huge impact on me and I hope to share my story with others to impact others."
Ottavianelli has been swimming each of the past two seasons for FSU, but the anniversaries are always the biggest days.
She swam in the women's 100-yard individual medley, 100 butterfly and on the 200 free relay for the Seminoles in a victory over the University of Tampa.
While the redshirt sophomore did not win any of her races, just being able to swim was the major win for her, even if she's not the same standout swimmer she was coming out of Bettendorf High in Bettendorf, Iowa.
The unwanted birthday gift
Not long before she was set to arrive on campus in Tallahassee and begin her career as a swimmer at Florida State, Ottavianelli received the worst news of her life in August 2020.
"I was supposed to leave for school in five days when I had gotten diagnosed," Ottavianelli said. "So all my stuff was all packed up, ready to go to school and then I had to tell all the coaches that I would not be coming."
The signs of cancer started a couple of months before. Ottavianelli said she started suffering stomach pains in March. She also had "itchy legs,” a potential sign of blood cancer.
At first, doctors could not find anything wrong, saying she was likely suffering from anxiety.
"I'm like I don't really have anxiety about anything, but they just would tell me like random things," she said. "Then the final straw was I had gotten COVID and then they thought that I had had post-COVID-like symptoms in my chest because I could not breathe when I was working out.
"They did a scan of my chest and then that's when they found out that I had swollen lymph nodes covering my entire chest."
The diagnosis: Stage 4, the most severe stage of Hodgkin lymphoma.
If the diagnosis wasn't bad enough, the timing couldn't be worse, happening on August 8.
"It was just so hard to process. I had just turned 18," Ottavianelli said. "I was diagnosed two days after my birthday."
The good news: According to Cancer.com, the five-year survival rate for all people with Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States is 88%.
Unexpected support system
After her diagnosis, Ottavianelli had to call FSU swim coach Neal Studd to let him know the news that she wouldn't be making it to campus.
"I called Neal and said 'I don't know how to say this,'" Ottavianelli said. "I was like, 'I have cancer' and I was just crying the whole time. It was so hard for me to accept."
Studd gave Ottavianelli a bit of relief by telling her to focus on her health and not worry about swimming.
He instead provided her with some encouragement and an unexpected future support system.
"It was kind of devastating," Studd told the Democrat about the call. "But at the same time, I didn't want to make anything worse."
Studd told Ottavianelli about McKenna Keith, a former swimmer and Rian Covington, a junior on the swim team this season, and how both had same cancer.
"I like trying to help her and trying to know that she's not alone," Studd said. "I can't imagine going through that so, having some of our Seminole family be there for her I think was really helpful for her."
Both Covington and Keith said they immediately reached out to Ottavianelli, despite never meeting her.
"I remember it feeling like the worst kind of deja vu because two summers prior I was giving Neal that call to tell him about my diagnosis," Keith told the Democrat. "I felt for her and wanted to reach out to her to introduce myself and let her know she had someone to talk to that understood the weight of getting that news.
... "I have been cancer free for four years now and decided to become a pediatric oncology nurse. I now work at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg and help kids going through what Ari and I went through."
Keith said she underwent chemo at her home in Boca Raton for six months. She was diagnosed in the middle of her senior season but was able to swim on senior night for one final time.
"I got in trouble for that one," Studd said. "She actually wasn't cleared to race. So the night before I found out that that would be a violation. And I said, 'OK, what's, what's my punishment?' They said 'you pay a $200 fine and have to sit a meet out next year if she swims.' I said, 'OK, I'll take the punishment.'"
12 rounds of chemotherapy
With her diagnosis, Ottavianelli was not attending FSU for the fall semester. She instead enrolled in two classes at Scott Community College and began her chemotherapy sessions.
She kept her hope alive to keep swimming in between the 12 chemo sessions every two weeks for six months.
"Before the first round of chemo, I thought I could do it," Ottavianelli said. "I just remember getting so sick and after that, I just stopped completely. I lost all muscle mass, like 20-30 pounds. I was very, very small."
The next six months would be similar, with Ottavianelli struggling to do most basic stuff. Her mom tried to guide her through her homework, but to little avail.
"I would honestly just lay in bed," she said. "I laid in bed for probably six months just straight. I did not do much. My dad would try to get me to go on walks with him, but towards the middle of treatment, my heart rate would be a constant 140 heart rate just sitting and laying in bed. So, standing up was actually so much pain because I could not breathe."
Accepting her new reality
The official clean bill of health came for Ottavianelli officially came in June, but she considers Jan. 28, 2021, the date of her 12th and final chemotherapy session, to be her anniversary of her being cancer free.
Around that time, she returned to FSU for classes on campus. In April, she was cleared to swim again.
On Sept. 23, 2021, she swam competitively, in the Garnet and Gold meet, for the first time since high school. On her one-year anniversary, Jan. 28, 2022, she was able to get in the pool.
But one thing still bothered her.
"I am just not the swimmer I used to be," Ottavianelli said. "And another thing that's really hard with cancer is that you expect your life just to go back to how it was in that was a very hard concept for me to grasp. Like, I'm just not going to be the same person, and everyone she says, 'don't let cancer identify who you are.' But it is it's the truth. Cancer will forever be a part of me and it has changed me."
She credited Covington with getting to accept her new reality.
Covington celebrated his three-year anniversary of being cancer-free on Dec. 24, 2022.
"I just noticed she was really down with having a hard time with swimming," Covington told the Democrat. "I completely understood that and I told her that the diagnosis is something that's really heavy on you, and it weighs a lot and it can kind of deteriorate performance.
"I just let her know that that's in the past, she's a new person. She has new experiences. She's been through a lot and so I told her she's a better person because of it."
Cheering for Charly
The story of overcoming her cancer diagnosis starts with one of her close childhood friends from Bettendorf dying from cancer. Erpelding died at the age of 18 on Oct. 10, 2022.
"I don't know why, but I am so excited for this cancer anniversary," Ottavianelli said. "I feel it's just so important to me now because this past year has been so rough with Charly (Erpelding dying).
"When she passed away, her death had shown to me that I need to be more grateful for every day that I was given and the opportunities that I am given."
Erpelding was first diagnosed with cancer when she was 8 years old. She beat cancer twice, but the third time proved to be too much to overcome.
"I connected a lot with her," Ottavianelli said. "Just having her as support and just knowing that she'll have my back always was helpful."
When Erpelding went into hospice and it looked like she was not going to make it, Ottavianelli wanted to do a special project for her friend.
"I contacted one person from every sport and I asked if I could come into practice and share her story," Ottavianelli said. "Then I made the signs and it (said) 'FSU loves Charlie.'
"So I got a picture of most of the sports teams here with the signs and then I got signed equipment to send her."
Just before Ottavianelli got everything to send to Erpelding, she died. All the stuff was sent to her family instead.
Ottavianelli, who said she is majoring in sociology with a minor in criminology, said she wants to use her platform to help others.
"I want to get my story out like Charly tried to get her story out," Ottavianelli said. "Her story had influenced many other people. She influenced me so much."
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).
No one covers the ‘Noles like the Tallahassee Democrat. Subscribe using the link at the top of the page and never miss a moment.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU swimmer Arianna Ottavianelli: 'Cancer will forever be a part of me'
