Our Patients:

Luke Beck

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Luke Robert Beck is the 9-year-old son of Danny and Ronda Beck. He is the sixth of seven children in his family, having three brothers and three sisters. Luke started his journey at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon on May 19, 2017 at the age of 7, when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Luke’s mom noticed some severe bruising on his arms and legs just a few days before that and Luke did not know where they came from. After a blood test, Luke was told to go straight to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon.

He stayed in the hospital for three weeks of induction chemotherapy. His overall treatment plan lasts approximately three years, but the first several months were the most intense. When he first went in the hospital, the inpatient cancer unit, 4 North, was being remodeled. His brothers came to keep him company, and they passed the time watching a lot of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. From Thanksgiving 2017 through the first week of January 2018, he was hospitalized in the newly remodeled Leslee and Matt Holliday wing of 4 North. “It was such a big change from when I was in the hospital in the summer,” Luke recalled. “I had my own bathroom, the room was bigger, and it was decorated and painted like I was staying on a tropical island or beach. My family really liked all the extra space for celebrating the holidays together, and it made us feel happier with the brighter colors and decorations. It really made my home away from home a good place to visit and get better,” said Luke.

Luke is an avid sports player and fan. Most days you will find him in the backyard playing baseball as a catcher with his brothers, or in the driveway shooting hoops. His favorite teams are the Billikens and of course, the Cardinals. The family dog, obtained a month into Luke’s treatment, is even appropriately named “Ozzie”. Now in monthly treatments, Luke usually wears a Cardinals or Billikens shirt to the hospital just in case he runs in to someone special from those teams.

Luke’s family is especially grateful to God for the exceptional care and concern given to Luke and their family over the last year and a half from the medical staff, child life coordinators and social workers at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon.