A year ago, Jared Jackson, 40, was spending a lot of time sitting or lying around. But not because he was lazy; his right leg had been amputated below the knee in 2011, and the pain was almost too much to take. In fact, sometimes he passed out. “My pain started about a month after…
Patty Allen is the first to admit it: Mammograms make her nervous. With no history of breast cancer in her family, she never imagined the test would come back positive. But the experience always left her rattled nonetheless.
Carolaina Ferren uses her knitting needles, crochet hooks, and bundles of yarn to share her empathy with those who are battling cancer. “I knew there was a need so I began by making 50 or more hats a year,” said Ferren, 54, a former elementary school teacher who is legally blind. “A lot of knitting…
E-Stem High School Senior Haley Franklin will be at full capacity in time for basketball season following surgery in April to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee. “It happened when we were going over plays in practice. I bumped into another person and twisted my knee,” Franklin said. “That was in…
Bradley Patty recently finished his last cycle of chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer at UAMS. His prognosis is good. He and his wife, Marlenis Patty, are looking forward to the birth of their sixth child. Patty noticed a lump about a year ago, but he didn’t immediately go get it checked out. Soon after he…
As he waits for a follow-up appointment at UAMS, Samuel Anderson cannot help but smile when he talks about his love for gardening. “This year I planted tomatoes, beans, peas, okra and squash,” Anderson said. “It was a good garden this year.” Anderson, 77, and his wife Brenda grow enough vegetables to preserve and freeze…
On a hot July afternoon in Sherwood, three horseback-mounted children are excited to begin a therapy session at Hearts & Hooves. The students have been showing up faithfully to the ranch for their weekly sessions during the summer thanks to a grant awarded to the organization. Children in the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute school-based therapy…
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….
When Shalinda Starks had her daughter 17 years ago, she did not feel as prepared as she does with the baby she is carrying now. For this pregnancy, Starks is getting her prenatal appointments through UAMS’s Centering Pregnancy program, a model of prenatal care in which patients see their health care providers in a group…
Mother’s Day 2019 was a terrifying one for Katy Watson of DeWitt. She received a call that her 15-year-old daughter, Kenlee St. John, had been involved in an accident. St. John was riding with a friend in a utility vehicle commonly known as a side-by-side. “We hit uneven ground and it flipped, landing on my…