ST. LOUIS —Luke Weaver knew from a very young age he wanted to be a doctor.
He just didn’t realize how much experience he would have with hospitals before ever reaching medical school.
When the Belleville native was 15 years old, he started feeling very sick. Initially, doctors thought he had a sinus infection or mononucleosis. His pediatrician referred him to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.
That’s where Weaver learned the situation was much more serious.
“The ER doctor came in and basically delivered the news, that it was not mono. It was instead, leukemia,” he said. The specific diagnosis was acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or “ALL.” Weaver began intense chemotherapy immediately.
He grew very close with his pediatric hematologist-oncologist, Dr. Gordon Gale.
That was in 2005. Despite ongoing treatment, Weaver graduated from Belleville East High School on time. Just as he was preparing to go to college, he started feeling sick again.
