Cancer Patient Stories

Patient Stories about cancer

April 19, 2024

Fort Smith Retiree Heading to Disney World after Successful Proton Therapy for Brain Tumors

Marty Trieschmann

Female caner patient Malinda Larey standing in hallway of Proton Center

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,…


February 23, 2024

UAMS Myeloma Patient Grateful for ‘Life Changing’ Treatment

Nathan Tidwell

Jim and Laurie Schepers.

Jim Schepers remembers getting a call he didn’t want in April 2020. The call was from Frits van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D., clinical director of the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Schepers’ physician — cancer had returned. “When we found out the cancer was back, Dr. van Rhee called…


January 19, 2024

Arkansan Sees Advanced Cancer Disappear with Experimental Drug Offered at UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

Marty Trieschmann

Dr. Michael Birrer speaks with a patient during a clinic visit

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.


December 15, 2023

Retired Attorney Writes Book about Myeloma Journey, Exceptional Care

Nathan Tidwell

Retired attorney James Jaquess

Retired attorney James Jaquess can’t say enough about the care he received at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Myeloma Center. In fact, UAMS features prominently in his book “Multiple Myeloma: A Journey to Remission.” Jaquess is being treated at UAMS as well as at the Emerald Coast Cancer Center in Fort Walton…


Former Pediatrician Feels ‘Wonderful’ a Year and a Half after CAR T-cell Therapy at UAMS

Linda Satter

Wendy Bowen was just 38 years old and in her fourth year of working as a pediatrician in Jackson, Tennessee, when severe chronic fatigue forced her to retire in March 2003. She had been diagnosed six months earlier with multiple sclerosis (MS), and it seemed to be rapidly taking its toll. Then one morning about…


September 8, 2023

‘Everything Got Better,’ after Coming to UAMS, says Leukemia Lymphoma Patient

Marty Trieschmann

a large family posing for a photo on the beach

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

Marty Trieschmann

a nurse standing in front of a hospital building

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

Marty Trieschmann

family standing in front of graffiti

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

Marty Trieschmann

patient standing with her doctor

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…


January 11, 2023

Denver Broncos Defensive Tackle D.J. Jones Highlights UAMS Myeloma Center in My Cause, My Cleats Campaign

Marty Trieschmann

A professional football player with the Denver Broncos team stands with his mother and two nurses

As part of the National Football League’s (NFL) annual My Cause, My Cleats campaign, Denver Broncos defensive tackle D.J. Jones donated a pair of custom cleats to the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Since 2016, participating NFL teams and players customize footwear with designs…



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