Relocating - need recommended Oncologist MD in Little Rock, Arkansas

Hi @burrkay Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. While we’re backed by Mayo Clinic we are a community forum comprised of members such as yourself who “connect” with each other to help find answers.

Finding a new medical care provider is always one of those difficult tasks with moving to another city. I’m so sorry your wife is ill and has a complicated condition to boot! I know you want to find the best possible care for her as she continues her cancer journey.

Have you approached her oncology team at Mayo Clinic about a referral? Often doctors and staff have Fellows or acquaintances they’ve met during their tenure and can recommend someone.
If not, I found this US News and World report which annually has listings of top doctors, hospitals, etc. There is also a large university hospital in Little Rock that appears to have a comprehensive cancer center.
https://uamshealth.com/expertise/
This is a listing for Oncologists in Little Rock with the ratings of the doctors.
https://health.usnews.com/doctors/oncologists/little-rock-ar
I hope these suggestions are helpful for you. Best wishes for your wife and good luck on the move! Lori.

Thanks Lori
We checked with our Mayo doctor…Mayo policy is no referrals to other docs, which I thought wa s rather strange, so we continue our search. I will look into your shared info…thank you for that.

👎 Re: Mayo not referring you.

Thank you for the information. I didn’t realize there was a no referral policy but I do understand that logic.

Mayo sets the Gold Standard for health care and have very high standards for the medical professionals they employ. In that light, recommending someone outside of the Clinic could have serious implication should that person not offer the same level of care or uphold the values which are the foundation of Mayo.

You and your wife are familiar with Mayo so that sets the bar very high for your expectations. When you interview potential doctors, and you should…just keep those values in mind. You’re in control. 😉

I had one more thought. Did your wife have a PCP or local oncologist who referred her to Mayo? If so, perhaps her doctor would have knowledge in their network of health care.
Again, wishing both of you all the best. Lori.

Hi @burrkay, I was delighted to see your name in my feed this morning. How are you and your wife doing?

You might look into Unity Health in Arkansas. They are a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/members
The Mayo Clinic Care Network was formed to extend knowledge, expertise and resources to carefully vetted, independent, high-quality health care organizations. The Mayo Clinic Care Network is a select group of independent health systems that are granted special access to Mayo Clinic's extensive knowledge and world-leading medical expertise. Carefully vetted and selected for their commitment to high-quality patient experience, care network members share Mayo Clinic's goal of providing patients the care they need, close to home, at no additional cost to the patient. You can learn more here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/about

All the best with the move.

Does you wife have the HER2 mutation? I am asking as that is what I have. It's rare (2%) and one of the moderaters thought she might have it also. If so, I am wondering what treatment was working for her. Thanks

Yes she does...I replied to Colleen's message...hope you received it, as I am a real amateur with this blog...
Please let me know how you are doing and we can talk more about the various treatments she has had.

Sorry for the not so timely response Colleen.
The move was painful, but we are now in Little Rock, settled into a lovely Townhome in a small gated community, and we have excellent care at UAMS (University of Arkansas Medical Sciences) which thus far we are pleased with. UAMS was recommended by our local oncologist in South Carolina, mainly because it is a teaching hospital.
The Unity Health referral would not work for us as they are approximately 2 hours from our home in Little Rock, and we feel we need close proximity...UAMS is only 15 minutes from our home.
The oncologist we found there has had two other Her 2 NSCLC patients, so we feel pretty good about him, although he (like many doctors today) is under staffed and quite busy trying to serve his patients. UAMS has a new Cancer Center on campus.
As my wife's status, I'd have to say she is struggling, and now is on full time 02. The new systemic chemotherapy recommended by Mayo has recently been determined to not be working, and her tumors have grown. Dr Molina is now recommending a different Phase 2 Trial, which we are pondering while our local oncologist seeks approvals and he is conferring with Dr Molina as to the risks, etc...
Thanks for the referral of @sboes - I responded and hopefully that response went through. I'm not real good at using this blog.
Thanks again for your recommendation.

So good to get an update. And thank you for responding to my tagging you to reach out to Sboes. Your response was very helpful. I'm so glad to hear that you and your wife have settled and are getting good care close to home. Of course, my heart goes out to both of you that the current chemo regimen is no longer working and that she is struggling. I hope she is not in pain.

Thanks Colleen…no pain just tired and still having a few side effects from the Chemo…getting stronger and ready to attack this awful disease with the next treatment!