Myeloma Patient Stories

Patient stories about Myeloma

August 22, 2019

Woman Resumes Humanitarian Trips to China after Myeloma Treatment

Linda Haymes

Myeloma patient Cindy Sites of Springfield, Missouri, and her husband, Doug, credit her physicians at UAMS with extending her life and allowing her to see her first grandchild.

Cindy Sites loves sharing the gift of music with others. Whenever she visits the Myeloma Center in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, she likes playing the Steinway grand piano in the lobby. “I usually play for an hour or so in between my tests or while waiting for my appointments,” Sites, 57, said….


July 11, 2019

Subaru, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Blanketing Myeloma Patients with Love

Linda Haymes

Myeloma patient John Tyler of Conway accepts a blanket from Shane Haas, communications manager of Subaru of Little Rock

July 12, 2019 | Patients undergoing treatment at the UAMS Myeloma Center received throw blankets recently along with written messages of hope, courtesy of the Subaru Loves to Care initiative. Six employees from the Subaru of Little Rock dealership — many of them with connections to cancer through their own loved ones — and the…


July 1, 2019

Cross-Country Cyclists Stop by UAMS Cancer Institute to Promote Research and Fundraising

Linda Haymes

Myeloma patient Melissa Durham of Strawberry, Arkansas, and her husband Eddie visited with nearly 30 students from The University of Texas at Austin in Texas who recently visted the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. The students are part of a larger group cycling 4,000 miles from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, in support of cancer treatment and research.

Nearly 30 students from The University of Texas at Austin in Texas, riding bikes from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska, were greeted by cheers recently when they stopped by the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. The students, part of the 2019 Texas 4000 for Cancer, the longest annual charity bike ride in the world, began…


June 4, 2019

Myeloma Patient in Remission, Grateful for Additional Time

Linda Haymes

Linda Reins of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and her husband Robert recently learned she is in complete remission. "Dr van Rhee has given me time and hope," she said.

Linda Reins, 73, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is no stranger to cancer. In 1985, when she was 40, her local gynecologist’s office floored her with the first diagnosis. “They told me, ‘You’re pregnant and oh, you also have cervical cancer,’ said Reins, who had two teenaged sons at the time. “The next day, my husband at…


May 22, 2019

Commentary by UAMS’ van Rhee Featured in Blood Journal

Linda Haymes

“Significant progress has been made in recent years in the field of multicentric Castleman disease,” Frits van Rhee wrote in a recent commentary in Blood, a publication by the American Society of Hematology, noting several advancements.

Frits van Rhee, clinical director of the UAMS Myeloma Center, weighed in on a new combination therapy for treating newly diagnosed Castleman disease patients in the April 18 issue of Blood, a publication by the American Society of Hematology. In the commentary, “Storming the Castle with TCP,” van Rhee and coauthor Katie Stone, then-director of…


May 6, 2019

Florida-based Friendship Transcends, Through Sickness and Health

Linda Haymes

Myeloma Center patient Gail Naimo of Port St. Lucie, Fla., (right) encouraged fellow myeloma patient Sergio Pinango and his wife Blanca Nieto (left) to seek treatment at UAMS. He did and today is in remission with no evidence of the disease.

A Facebook friendship that formed over an illness in common proved lifesaving for a Florida man who found what he needed at the UAMS Myeloma Center. Myeloma Center patient Gail Naimo of Port St. Lucie, Fla. met fellow Floridians Sergio Pinango, 56, and his wife, Blanca Nieto, 50, on a myeloma Facebook page five years…


April 1, 2019

Patient Bikes East Coast to Fight Myeloma

Linda Haymes

This year, myeloma patient Alan Wolfson of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, will take an 18-day, 500-mile ride from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the destination of his first ride in 2002. He’s leaving May 1 and has already gathered more than $4,000 in pledges for the Myeloma Center.

Since 2002, Alan Wolfson of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, has taken an annual bike ride most years along the east coast to raise money for the UAMS Myeloma Center. Averaging about $20,000 in contributions from his friends and supporters for each ride, he’s already pedaled his way to about $210,000 for the center. This year, Wolfson,…


March 21, 2019

Grateful Texan Holds Party for Myeloma Center

Linda Haymes

Myeloma patient Laura Drake and husband Marty of Idalou, Texas, celebrate her continued remission annually with a cocktail party in Lubbock with their friends. The party raises awareness of the disease and money, more than $5000, for the Myeloma Center.

March 21, 2019 | Texan Laura Drake loves a good party — especially when it’s raising money for a worthy cause. Since Drake’s remission from myeloma in January 2014, that worthy cause has been helping fellow myeloma patients at UAMS. For the past three years, the 57-year-old church secretary and husband Marty, a cotton farmer,…


March 1, 2019

Cancer Survivor Hits High Notes, Inspiring Fellow Myeloma Patients

Linda Haymes

Jay Edwards

Even during his own battle with myeloma, Jay Edwards, 60, of Fort Worth, Texas, is always looking for opportunities to comfort and inspire fellow patients at the UAMS Myeloma Center. The musician shares his soothing sounds on the saxophone whenever he has the chance. One memorable occasion was when, as a patient in the midst…


January 22, 2019

UAMS Myeloma Center Social Work Manager Harold Dean to Lead National Association

Linda Haymes

LITTLE ROCK — The Association of Social Work Boards recently elected Harold Dean, LCSW, OSW-C, clinical social work program manager for the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), president-elect of the association’s board of directors. Dean will serve as president-elect for one year, followed by a two-year term as president…



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