Cancer Patient Stories
December 20, 2024
Myeloma Survivor Rides to Raise Money, Inspire Others
More than 20 years after his initial myeloma diagnosis, David Sutton continues to express his gratitude for the care he’s received at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and display an unwavering desire to help those in a similar situation. “I have greatly benefited from the…
November 22, 2024
Back on Top: Gary Evans Climbing Mountains After Lung Cancer
The view from the 1,011-foot summit of Pinnacle Mountain is spectacular, and Gary Evans does his best to get there as often as he can. But after a lung cancer diagnosis in January 2023, Evans wasn’t sure he would get to the top of his favorite mountain ever again.
October 25, 2024
Just in Time: Genoa Mom Grateful for Lifesaving Visit from UAMS MammoVan
A 45-foot van in the parking lot of your child’s elementary school might seem an unlikely location for one of the most important medical exams of your life. It was ideal for Lyndee Braley. The busy mother of three from tiny Genoa, Arkansas, population 972, had just turned 40 when she saw a notice on…
April 19, 2024
Fort Smith Retiree Heading to Disney World after Successful Proton Therapy for Brain Tumors
In November 2023, Malinda Larey, 67, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was all set to jump on the retirement travel bandwagon when she was unexpectedly diagnosed with atypical meningioma. Meningiomas are tumors that grow from the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Patients can have a range of symptoms — from none to severe seizures,…
January 19, 2024
Arkansan Sees Advanced Cancer Disappear with Experimental Drug Offered at UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
A Little Rock man with resistant kidney cancer who underwent experimental immunotherapy in Phase 1 Clinical Trials at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute has experienced a complete remission.
September 8, 2023
‘Everything Got Better,’ after Coming to UAMS, says Leukemia Lymphoma Patient
By the time Thomas Wages arrived at UAMS on February 15, 2022, he had been through one cancer diagnosis and 13 types of intensive chemotherapy. He was 70. The active father of four was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 2008, devastating news that came during one of the happiest times of his life….
April 7, 2023
“I Have More Compassion for Patients,” Says UAMS Nurse and Colon Cancer Survivor
John Reed, RN, is on the front lines of cancer. As a nurse in the UAMS Endoscopy Lab, he spends about 50 weeks a year helping patients through colon cancer screening procedures, mainly colonoscopies. But after a routine doctor’s appointment in 2020, Reed became the patient. “I felt fine, but my iron levels were really…
March 24, 2023
From Alaska to Arkansas: A Cancer Survivor’s Journey
For throat cancer survivor Shalonda Michelle, there are exactly 3,815 miles between being sick and being healthy. It’s the distance between Fairbanks, Alaska, where her medical journey began, to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, where she finally found healing. Michelle’s harrowing experience began in 2010. She was…
February 3, 2023
104 and Cancer Free
UAMS patient treated by James Suen, M.D., is one of the oldest living cancer survivors in Arkansas A favorite pillow in Maddie Upton’s Camden, Arkansas, home reads, ‘I’m so far up the hill, I’ve started up the next one.’ At 104, there is no old age joke she hasn’t heard, and she shows no…
November 28, 2022
UAMS Lung Cancer Survivor Beats the Odds
About 25-30% of patients worldwide with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer die in less than three months. But with talented doctors, advances in treatment and a bit of luck, some patients beat the odds. John Pertuis, 62, is a member of this rarified group of lung cancer “long” survivors. With help from the UAMS…
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