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Photo Gallery - Our Inspirational Patients
Bruises are normal on a rambunctious three-year-old boy. But when Steele began bruising instantaneously and even had a bruise inside his ear, his parents became alarmed and quickly got him in to see his pediatrician. Within three hours, they were at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.
“The earth shifted beneath us with the oncologist’s words: ‘Steel has leukemia,’” his mother says. “We could hardly process the diagnosis as we watched him energetically jumping around the room!” Within a few days, Steele was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer called acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).
Luckily, Steele has lived up to his name—he’s strong-willed, tough, and a fierce fighter who prides himself on having the biggest muscles of his four siblings! Through the course of his diagnosis and treatment, his family has experienced the most agonizing pain and heartache of their lives. Yet, his mother says, “we have been equally humbled by the outpouring of love and service given to us. We have learned even in dark trials you can find hope and many reasons to be grateful. A positive outlook and hope in the future makes all the difference.”