Patient Stories


Ulrike White

Former Myeloma Center Patient Returns to UAMS to Mark 20 Years Since Diagnosis

Ulrike White recently returned to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute to mark 20 years of her diagnosis and treatment of granulocytic sarcoma and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare form of blood cancer that, at the time of her diagnosis, was not well understood. White, former chair…

Bingaman family

Faith in Arkansas: Chris Bingaman’s Battle with Multiple Myeloma

For Chris Bingaman, every day is a special gift. In 1992, the Pennsylvania native was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a prognosis that was initially believed to be terminal for him, maybe only having a few years to live. His story is primarily one of his heroic fight against the disease, which required immense strength and…

Jennifer Freeman (right) with her family.

Patient Takes Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer

When she was in her 20s, Jennifer Freeman lost her beloved grandmother suddenly and vowed then to double down on her own health care. Unaware of any genetic risk factors, she asked about a mammogram and was told to wait until she was 40.

Mahlon Maris, M.D., completes proton therapy

A Voice Recovered: Physician Fights Larynx Cancer with Proton Therapy

When longtime Harrison, Arkansas, family physician Mahlon Maris, M.D., began experiencing hoarseness in late 2023, he chalked it up to a bad bout of COVID-19 and the lingering inflammation that can sometimes follow. But months passed, and his voice still hadn’t returned. It was the first sign that something more serious was going on. “I…

Father’s Cancer Battle Inspires Son’s Research

Father’s Cancer Battle Inspires Son’s Research

When Don Tackett learned that he had prostate cancer, his first call was to his son, Alan. “It was difficult to hear,” said Alan Tackett, Ph.D., a leading UAMS cancer researcher whose life’s work collided with his father’s health that day. “I’m used to researching cancer, but not my father being a cancer patient,” said…

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