Cancer Patient Stories
December 15, 2023
Former Pediatrician Feels ‘Wonderful’ a Year and a Half after CAR T-cell Therapy at UAMS
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
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…
January 11, 2023
Denver Broncos Defensive Tackle D.J. Jones Highlights UAMS Myeloma Center in My Cause, My Cleats Campaign
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…
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…
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.
Previous page Next page