When Middle Tennessee State University student Elijah Blank was 17 years old, he learned he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After receiving the diagnosis on Dec. 23, 2021, he missed several months of his junior year while receiving homebound care.
“It was weird going back to class,” he recalled. “I felt like a dead man walking because I was bald, and my face was rounder from the steroids.”
While Blank was glad to know the cause of his fatigue, fever and night sweats, the diagnosis was hard to come to terms with.
“I had always been so socially involved, and now, I stared down the barrel of seemingly ceaseless treatment, where my only human interaction would arrive every six hours, neatly packaged in momentary awkward small talk as my vitals were monitored,” he said. “When I started going back to class, people seemed afraid to ask personal questions, and they even told me they were scared I was going to die.”
Ever resilient, Blank said an unexpected hope emerged when he started interim maintenance chemotherapy.
“I regained some of my strength, which went a long way for me mentally and physically,” he said. He then finished nine advanced placement and dual credit courses during his senior year.
Blank continued his chemo as a freshman at MTSU, finishing his final monthly treatment last spring. Now, a sophomore Honors student with a double major in biochemistry and physics, he plans to become a physician.
Lifelong Friendship
Blank has known Matthew Feragola, his freshman roommate, since they were in middle school.
“At first, we got on each other’s nerves,” Feragola recalled. “The first thing I noticed was that he was academically gifted, like me, just in different areas.”
The pair stuck together on field trips and bonded over music. By high school, they were inseparable.
Feragola said he will never forget learning about his friend’s cancer diagnosis.
“I found out about his illness when I was driving home from school. I was at the intersection of Old Fort and Broad when he called,” Feragola said.
Blank decided to shave his head the day after Christmas and said goodbye to his friends because he would be starting treatment in early 2022.
“I knew that what he had was survivable, but I felt like I was going to lose him one way or another. I felt like he wasn’t going to be the same when he came back,” Feragola said.
Blank’s initial three months of treatment began with two weeks in the hospital. Later, he endured full days of chemo followed by 48 hours of saline and being monitored.
“He would come home so fatigued, and he was still trying to keep up with schoolwork from home,” said Feragola, who suffers from Hashimoto’s disease, a life-threatening condition, as well as autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Blank did keep up, and by March, he was back at school. The academic achiever then set his sights on attending MTSU after graduation.
True Blue Grit
Blank planned to take 18 credit hours his first semester at MTSU, but Feragola convinced him to drop a class and ease into college life.
“He has always been extremely ambitious, always trying to challenge himself. He tried to triple major, but the Pell Grant would not cover it, so he humbly sticks with a double major of biochemistry and physics, with straight A’s,” Feragola joked.
Biology Department Chair Dennis Mullen, who has taught Blank in two Honors Biology courses, said he asked for no special accommodations as allowed—and didn’t fall behind while missing a class for doctor appointments.
“He is a very bright young man. He enjoys learning and being challenged,” Mullen said.
New Chapter
Blank said he chose MTSU because of the state-of-the-art Science Building, scholarship opportunities, and proximity to Vanderbilt Pediatric Oncology.
Currently active in the Biology and Chemistry clubs and a calculus tutor, Blank was always interested in the medical field, even before his diagnosis.
“Before, I wanted to go to pharmacy school; now, that’s not enough,” added Blank, who is considering specializing in neurology, neurosurgery or psychiatry. He is interested in studying psychiatric treatments and looking beyond traditional methods of treatment to help people.
Following his final chemotherapy appointment, Blank celebrated by planning a trip with friends to Mexico.
“My life expectancy has decreased by six to 11 years, but I am as close to being cured as you can be,” he said. “As I recovered, my mother and I began to hike regularly, an excursion we still maintain. As I continue to recover, I would like to run more. But most of all, I can’t wait to become a doctor and discover techniques to help others.”