Woman Resumes Humanitarian Trips to China after Myeloma Treatment

Cindy 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

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.

In 2010, she returned home in remission and with a three-year maintenance plan. About a year later, she convinced Doug to return to China without her to continue their work.

“It was a very challenging time, but it was what we needed to do. I needed to get well because I fully believed I would be working alongside him again someday.”

She remained in Missouri, traveling to a nearby treatment center for weekly chemotherapy shots while Doug traveled overseas for three weeks at a time.

“It was quite a struggle, but I pushed through,” Sites said. “I followed the doctor’s orders, took all my medications and came to UAMS for my checkups every three to four months,” Sites said. After three years of maintenance, she was in remission.

“It was quite a moment of rejoicing!”

Sites returned to China a little less than two months after completing chemotherapy in late 2013. For the next two years, she continued traveling overseas and in the United States.

During a checkup in 2015, a small lesion on her leg indicated the myeloma had returned. By then a patient of UAMS’ Frits van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D., she underwent additional chemotherapy and by May 2016, the cancer was gone.

She credits van Rhee with providing the care that returned her to her life’s mission.

“He listened to my story, heard my desires and worked on a treatment plan that would allow me to get back to China as soon as possible,” Sites said. “He believed that a third transplant was necessary to extend my life because he saw my passion for the work we felt we needed to do.”

“The third transplant was more difficult and I was sicker, but about three weeks later I was back home and recovering for a few months.”

Sites was put on a one-year maintenance plan and in early 2019 learned she was in complete remission with no sign of minimal residual disease.

“As Dr. van Rhee said, ‘You can’t get any better than that!’”

She remains in remission, has had no chemotherapy for more than a year and continues to travel regularly.

“I am extremely grateful to Dr. Barlogie and Dr van Rhee and all the staff who went beyond the call of duty to restore me to complete health,” Sites said. “I am thankful every day for this great gift of life.”

“I am convinced that if we had not come to the top doctors at UAMS I would not be here today,” said Sites, whose first grandchild arrived in late 2018.

“I prayed that God would allow me to see my children’s children. I have seen one and hope for many more.”

Editor’s note: When news of the coronavirus erupting in China broke in February, Cindy and Doug were in Hong Kong. From there, they traveled to Thailand and changed their tickets to return home early.

“I am here, but my heart is there, in China, with our friends at the orphanage and villages we have had our hands in helping for many years,” she reported after returning home. “He listened to my story, heard my desires and worked on a treatment plan that would allow me to get back to China as soon as possible.”