Cancer Patient Stories
April 8, 2022
Daniel’s Story: From UAMS Lymphoma Patient to Be a Part of the Cure Walk Coordinator
Imagine you’re 23 and just landed your first promotion at your dream job. All is right with the world. Now imagine being diagnosed with lymphoma at the same time. For UAMS special events coordinator, Daniel Frazier, cancer was not part of the plan. “Whatever plan I thought I had, a cancer diagnosis was nowhere on…
March 4, 2022
Monticello Doctor Credits UAMS Bone Marrow Transplant for Getting Him Back to Medicine and Life
Jay Connelley, M.D., a family physician in Monticello, Arkansas, was so used to powering through the fatigue that comes with keeping doctors’ hours that it never occurred to him he might be tired for another reason. It wasn’t until he began experiencing frequent dizziness that he thought there might be more to it. “I was…
January 13, 2022
First Myeloma Center Patient Receives Revolutionary New Therapy, Responds Well
Dave Puente of Elk Grove, California, became the first myeloma patient in Arkansas to receive the new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Myeloma Center, the only medical facility in Arkansas currently offering the cutting-edge treatment.
December 29, 2021
Lung Biopsy Robot at UAMS Detects Early-stage Cancer in Little Rock Woman
A Little Rock woman can now breathe a little easier thanks to new technology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Doctors at UAMS recently activated the first lung biopsy robot in Arkansas. The robot allows doctors to discover and biopsy previously undetectable cancerous nodules in the far reaches of the lungs. Cynthia…
October 15, 2021
Two Sisters Battle Breast Cancer at UAMS
Like many sisters, April Biggs and Amber Vanaman have shared a lot as siblings. Just one year apart, they shared a bedroom and clothes growing up in Paragould, Arkansas, and have some of same facial features — definitely the same smile. But they never expected to share a life-threatening disease. Biggs was diagnosed with Stage…
May 28, 2021
Minimally Invasive Brain Tumor Removal Gives Morrilton Grandmother ‘a Second Chance’
Mary Harris enjoys traveling with her daughters and granddaughters, and the family looks forward to their trips three times a year. And though the pandemic caused them to postpone for a while, they are ready to resume with a trip to Branson in June. In 2016, Harris began having a continued cough and constant bronchitis….
April 23, 2021
Twist of fate Leads to Myeloma Diagnosis for Longtime Survivor
A persistent sore spot on his thigh led Bennie Utley of Cabot to ask his family doctor about it in early 2005. “It was about four inches wide and eight or 10 inches long,” Utley, 79, recalled. “He told me I was wearing my belt too tight.” Utley was not satisfied with the diagnosis and…
March 22, 2021
Friends Travel Miles, Bring Smiles as Myeloma Patient Begins Treatment
On her first day of treatment at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Myeloma Center, Christie Mink returned from a lunch break with husband Jeffery to find one sweet treat awaiting her just outside the doors of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Eight friends, all wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with “Her fight…
February 8, 2021
Husband and Wife Unite in Battling Myeloma
When Jerilee and Ken Gott moved to Arkansas from New Mexico in late 2017 to be closer to their two daughters and grandchildren, she knew she would need regular checkups at the UAMS Myeloma Center. She was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in the blood, in 2009. But Jerilee Gott,…
October 13, 2020
Mother, Daughter Support Each Other Through Breast Cancer Diagnoses
When Debby Linton Ferguson was diagnosed in her 30s with an aggressive form of breast cancer, her mother was right by her side. Little did they know that seven years later, both would proclaim themselves breast cancer survivors.
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