Woman Resumes
HUMANITARIAN TRIPS TO CHINA
after Myeloma Treatment
C
indy Sites loves sharing her gift of music with others. Whenever she visits the Myeloma Center, she plays the Steinway 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. “I enjoy visiting with the people who come along.” The excellent treatment Sites received from the Myeloma Center over the last decade allows her to bring care and comfort to others in an even more profound way. Sites and her husband, Doug, live in Springfield, Missouri, but their humanitarian work through a foundation recognized by the Chinese government, keeps them on the go. They often visit remote, rural areas of China to help others, specifically children with special needs. They provide goats and other 14
agricultural items, winter clothing, school supplies and offer family training and music seminars. “Before my medical issues, we took up to three major trips annually, some lasting as long as six weeks,” said Sites, who has two adult children. “But for more than four years, I couldn’t go overseas because I was receiving weekly chemotherapy shots.” After Sites’ diagnosis of high-risk myeloma in 2009, the couple lived in Little Rock for seven months while she went through five heavy rounds of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants at UAMS. Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., and his team treated her. “His mind was so sharp to catch a few numbers in my reports that indicated I was high-risk,” said Sites.
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