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,…
As a minister for the Highway 77 Church of Christ in Marion, Jeremy Thornton needs to be able to read from his Bible. So when damage to his optic nerve made the Word harder for him to read, he was devastated. “When I heard that this was a permanent problem and there wasn’t really anything…
Mia Nelson, 19, knew for a while she wanted to become a health care professional. She is surrounded by plenty of inspiration. Her mother, Natalie Nelson, is an ultrasound technologist. And her father Richard Nelson, M.D., is a radiologist. After her experience as a patient at the UAMS Medical Center, Mia Nelson decided the UAMS…
Confetti flew while cheers and applause echoed down a UAMS Medical Center hallway as UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, guided Michael Kent in a wheelchair between rows of exuberant physicians, nurses and staff. Kent was the 1,000th COVID-19 patient to be discharged and to start his journey home. Kent, who works as a senior…
Cathy Christiansen, of Bald Knob, was hospitalized at least seven times in the early part of 2019 with severe respiratory infections. She had sinus surgery in July to clear her sinuses, but the problem persisted. By August, she was back in the hospital. Imaging showed her sinuses were completely blocked again. “My doctor wanted to…
Linda Cancienne of Alabaster, Alabama, and her husband, Mike, recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary by gathering with family around a backyard fire pit, socially distancing and wearing masks. “We went to our daughter’s house and enjoyed being together and recalling good memories,” Cancienne said. “I sure do miss hugging, though.” There was a time…
When two people get married, vows often include through sickness and health, for better or worse. Like most things, these words are often easier when simply spoken. Rodney Smith never expected he’d become his wife’s caregiver, especially not so soon in their lives. He met Danielle when he was 19 while stopping to fill his…
Billie O’Neel has been skating most of her life. Her first pair of roller skates were steel and they clamped onto her shoes. She wore them down to a nub. She spent a lot of time in the roller rink as a child, but when she discovered ice skating, she never looked back. Today the…
Sandra Harvey of Watts, Oklahoma, loves to cook for her husband and their seven grandchildren. She also loves to magnet fish, which is using a strong magnet to try and grab metal objects that are hidden or lost underwater. After a grim diagnosis in August from a Northwest Arkansas physician, she wasn’t sure whether she…
LITTLE ROCK — A researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how physical activity improves bone health, with possible implications for bone loss from osteoporosis and aging. Jinhu Xiong, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of…