Katrina Dupins

UAMS News •

Little Rock Woman Walks Out of Hospital Two Hours After Back Surgery

Little Rock Woman Walks Out of Hospital Two Hours After Back Surgery “It was excruciating pain that went from my thigh all the way up to the lower part of my back,” Rose said. “I could not sit in the bathtub, and that’s one of my favorite things to do. I was having a hard time cleaning my house. I’d do a little, and then have to sit down. What usually took me a couple of hours took half a day.” Rose’s primary care provider referred her to physical medicine and rehabilitation physician Antonio
UAMS News •

UAMS Neurosurgeon Performs State’s First Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for epilepsy is designed to help manage seizures in patients who have not responded to medication. DBS, which is a type of neuromodulation, has been used primarily for patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and some psychiatric disorders. The Food and Drug Administration granted approval for use of DBS therapy for epilepsy in December 2018. The Epilepsy Center at UAMS is the only adult comprehensive level 4 epilepsy center in the state certi
UAMS News •

Marathoner Thanks Heart Team at UAMS

Sixty days after a sudden cardiac arrest, Jon Norcross, 60, of Little Rock finished a half marathon. It was an exceptional journey to recovery, and he took a moment in January to extend his gratitude on social media for everyone who kept him alive, including a team of cardiovascular experts at UAMS Health. “Cardiac arrest is usually caused by heart disease, blocked coronary arteries, weakness in the heart or long-standing high blood pressure,” said J. Paul Mounsey, M.D., Ph.D., director of the
UAMS News •

Pine Bluff Coach is Ready for the Ballpark Thanks to UAMS Surgeon

Pine Bluff Coach is Ready for the Ballpark Thanks to UAMS Surgeon “She made me feel like I was family,” Stargell said. “Like she had known me for a while.” Stargell was exposed to baseball at a very young age. It runs in the family. His father played; and his uncle is Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. Sebastian Stargell played with a semi-professional team called the Pine Bluff Braves for more than 20 years. All of his sons played at the collegiate level. Baseball is still a big part of his life
UAMS News •

UAMS Surgeon Provides Long-term Solution, Peace for Patient

Vascular Surgeon Provides Long-term Solution, Peace of Mind for Fort Smith Family After her experience as a patient at the UAMS Medical Center, Mia Nelson decided the UAMS College of Nursing would be her number one choice for nursing school. She feels a connection to the campus and plans to apply this spring in hopes of starting in the fall. Three years ago, Mia had surgery in St. Louis to fix a narrowing in her left iliac vein, a vein in the pelvis. “At some point, they went through a small
UAMS News •

Professional Figure Skater Enjoys Freedom of Movement with New Hip

Professional Figure Skater Enjoys Freedom of Movement with New Hip Today the professional figure skater of Little Rock is grace personified. She makes complicated movements on the ice look easy. Her passion for the sport and the art shows in her performance. “I love music. I love dance and I love the freedom of movement. And skating gives all of that to you,” O’Neel said. O’Neel has skated competitively and professionally. She’s played in many shows and brought to life characters like Glenda
UAMS News •

UAMS Remembers Those Grieving Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Every year, UAMS Love Lives Bereavement Program organizes a Day of Remembrance to observe Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and remember grieving families. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were restrictions that prevented Love Lives from holding its usual ceremony. NICU nurse BJ Thorn and patient educator Emily Paul thought of an innovative way to commemorate the occasion. She asked the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub to create floating lotus flowers for the remembrance ceremony
UAMS News •

Second Opinion Leads to Life-Saving Vascular Surgery

After a grim diagnosis in August from a Northwest Arkansas physician, she wasn’t sure whether she would ever do either of these things again. But a second opinion and then surgery from a UAMS physician restored her hope for the future. She first visited her doctor because of symptoms of severe almost constant dizziness and fatigue. She was diagnosed with global brain ischemia, a condition that occurs when the brain is not getting enough blood due to narrowed vessels. Her doctor told her there w
UAMS News •

Exercise Program Helps Slow Parkinson’s Symptoms

She begins leading about a dozen people through an hour-long exercise class for patients living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). “Next, get on the edge of your chair, rotate your knee down, lift your heel up and stretch your leg back,” Coleman says as she demonstrates the stretches for the class to see. Six people are in the room with her, each with 12 feet between them. There are several more tuned in to a Zoom call. COVID-19 has changed the class format since last year, but the health benefit
UAMS News •

Surgeries Resume, Clinics Reopen, Care Remains

All patients are screened before coming into the office or clinic areas. Health care professionals, patients and staff all wear masks and keep a six-foot distance between themselves whenever possible. “We’re back at full strength. Our operating rooms are full but things are different,” said C. Lowry Barnes, M.D., chair of the College of Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. “Patients are being tested for COVID-19 two days before their procedures. We’re not allowing visitors, which cuts
UAMS News •

Students, Educators Transfer Teaching to Virtual Learning

“We had to be flexible,” said James Graham, M.D., executive associate dean for academic affairs in the UAMS College of Medicine. “The online format had some challenges at first, but we found ways to work through it. We understood it was important that the students finish their education so they could graduate, go on to residency training, and become part of the health care workforce.” Because it was clear that the novel coronavirus would not be going away anytime soon, College of Medicine De
UAMS News •

Law Student Doesn’t Miss a Beat with New Leadless Pacemaker

But around August, she noticed something was off. She would occasionally experience shortness of breath, heart palpitations and fainting. “Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and have to catch my breath, she said. “Other times my heart would feel like it was beating really fast. It was scary.” Clevenger, 62, made an appointment with UAMS heart rhythm specialist, Hakan Paydak, M.D., a professor of Medicine, director of the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Program, and associa
UAMS News •

Family and Baby Stay Close with Ronald McDonald Family Room

And now their son Joshua, born Jan. 14 at 28 weeks and 2 days, is in the NICU. But this time is different for the Newport family thanks to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. Instead of having to leave Isabella and Bradley at home 100 miles away while she is with Joshua, the family is able to stay in the newly constructed Ronald McDonald Family Room in the NICU. “This means the world to a parent like me who is so far away from home,” Baker said. Three days after they moved in, the si
UAMS News •

UAMS First in Central Arkansas to Use Nitrous Oxide for Laboring Moms

UAMS First in Central Arkansas to Use Nitrous Oxide for Laboring Moms Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is sometimes used during dental procedures. This option is gaining popularity in the United States, but has been used in practice for centuries in other parts of the world. Vivianna Imbert was the first patient to use nitrous oxide at UAMS. Her baby boy, Diego, was born Jan. 15 and weighed 6 lbs., 2 oz. Diego is the second child of Imbert and her husband, Gabriel Hernandez, M.D