Nine years ago, Jane Ketcher was unusually tired for several months. She visited her family doctor, and subsequent blood work revealed she had myeloma.
“It’s just a shock to learn that you or someone you love has cancer,” said her husband Henry Ketcher. “Back then, fewer doctors knew much about myeloma or how to treat it.”
His wife was referred to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Myeloma Center at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, where she was treated for seven years before passing away in 2019 at 77.
“It was a comfort to go somewhere where nearly everyone had the same type of cancer and all the employees were so caring,” Ketcher said.
Ketcher Family
During an early visit to UAMS, a patient from Austria underscored how special the Myeloma Center was.
“She told us, ‘You don’t understand what you have here; this is the best place in the world for this type of treatment. If the queen of England had myeloma, she’d come here for her care,’” Ketcher recalled.
He considers it a blessing that the Myeloma Center was so close to their North Little Rock home and his roofing business.
Ketcher recently expressed his gratitude with a $10,000 gift to the new Infusion B center in the Cancer Institute.
“They did so much for her, and we just wanted to give back,” he said.
Last summer, he and his adult children — Karen Keathley and Hank Ketcher — were given a tour of the new center. “My wife Jane had such a strong faith in God that she was an inspiration to everyone,” Ketcher said.
“If you ever have this type of cancer this is the place to be,” he said.