FARGO On Wednesday, June 15, Ron Beck received an infusion to help with bone-hardening. It's a crucial step to bounce back after numerous chemotherapy treatments for his multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the blood, bones, and bone marrow.

"With the liquid chemo that they gave me the first day in the hospital, that wiped out my immune system. And everything else. So we're building my body back a little at a time," said Beck as we sat in on his infusion session.

The 69 year-old Menagha man spent 42 years in banking before he got into pastoral work. That he said, has helped him stay positive after his initial diagnosis in June of 2021.

"She said, 'Well, you're not responding like most cancer patients would respond,' and I said, 'I've got the Lord, I don't have to worry about what's going to happen,'" Beck recalled.

After he started treatments at a smaller cancer center, they switched to Roger Maris, just 90 miles away from his home.

"I would not have gone to the Mayo or the university at my age. I would have probably said, 'Hey, let's just do whatever we can do,' and whatnot, because I don't want to be that far away and go through it," he said.

Beck became just the fourth person to get a stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant since Roger Maris added the treatment in 2021.

Doctors say it's a chance to get back to a normal life.

"With all these sacrifices up front, getting people to a position where they can enjoy attending church and enjoy playing golf, and enjoy being around family with kind of minimal toxicity, that's kind of the overarching goal of what we do," said Dr. Seth Maliske, a doctor of hematology and stem cell transplants at Roger Maris Cancer Center, as well as Beck's doctor.

Beck says it was the staff and Maliske's treatment that made him feel at home during the challenging days.

"They treated you like family. They treated you all the way around; they just brought you in and took care of you. And I mean, it was like you're the only patient they have," he said.

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Man gets life-saving treatment close to home - INFORUM