The Friendly Thoracic Surgeon

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🪽🫶🏻🩵Arms and Hearts are Full🩵🫶🏻🪽
These sweet little angels sent me off to the Hope Ball last night! Hope Ball is the signature and singular fundraiser of the 20th Century Club - which I have been a member of since 2021. This all-women group supports and maintains our Lodge - the place where hope lives - for many cancer patients who depend on us for housing during their treatments here in Little Rock. It was a beautiful evening to see friends - some of whom I met in 2021 when it felt like I knew no one after moving in 2019 plus a pandemic in 2020 - and some I met this year. We also used this night to honor our patients, our Angels of Hope volunteers, and of course - to raise our entire operating budget - IN. ONE.
NIGHT. We have one big but simple mission: to provide no-cost housing to medically and financially qualified patients receiving cancer treatment in Central Arkansas. If you have been considering applying for membership, I’d love to talk to you about and the needs it meets in our community.

👛👩🏻‍💻💄Zoom then Vroom💄👩🏻‍💻👛
After doing my makeup and hair during virtual Tumor Board - I can happily say my first official business as Chair for is in the books! Tonight we welcomed our 2026 Honorees to for a fantastic Meet n Greet! We learned, we laughed, we almost cried at the heartfelt words that were shared tonight. I’m so grateful and excited to work with this group of honorees, our executive leadership from , and the selfless volunteers! Stay tuned for all the details on how you can be a part of Best Dressed Little Rock 2026!

🧡💌Valentine’s Shopping PSA💌🧡
Your Friendly Thoracic Surgeon here to remind you that her favorite metal may not be silver or gold. If she’s a surgery baddie with a zest for gardening - it’s stainless steel and - purchase accordingly.
(Also - she may not want a puppy and some new plants - but you should probably check. 😉. It can’t hurt.)

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👟🤍🧘🏻‍♀️Grounded in Growth🧘🏻‍♀️🤍👟
It took me 18 days and this weekend’s Women in DaVinci Surgery - Arkansas Chapter Meeting to identify my mantra for 2026: Grounded in Growth. There’s a sense permanence that we think of when someone decides to stay and “put down roots,” but that couldn’t be further from my reality. When I chose to STAY in Arkansas - I chose CHANGE - not permanence at all. When we truly ground ourselves and put down roots - like plants - we have the ability to absorb, nurture, and GROW. This weekend I shared a part of my robotic journey in the hopes it would resonate with other women to grow in their environments and work with administrators to “Bloom where you’re Planted.” Like any good gardener knows, you need sunshine, dirt, water - and the right set of tools. Honing the skillset needed to confidently work with administration is one of the most important tools we can have as female surgeons. This is especially true when we launch new services or champion the acquisition of new resources demanded in state-of-the-art robotic programs. We also had excellent talks on data, purpose, early lessons, and emotions. To round out the event - we had a wellness session spent learning QiGong GROUNDING techniques from a Tai Chi instructor.
🤍I’m proud to be a part of this amazing group of women here in our state pushing themselves and those around them to GROW. It was a privilege to speak, to share, and just to yap with each of you who attended. Thank you to our fearless organizers and for putting together an impactful event. 🤖🤖
PS - Women’s conference means three outfits in less than 24hrs and I’m so here for it.

🩺🤍Can’t Stop a Doc at the Top🤍🩺
Congratulations to the 2025 Class of Top Docs! This is an exceptional list of peer-voted physicians and I’m so proud to be amongst them. Thank you to my peers for trusting me to care for our patients. Working together with you since 2019 here in Arkansas has been nothing short of a dream job. I may just be on top of my patio, but I feel on top of the world.
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Thank you for opening your beautiful showroom to host a fantastic evening along with .
Your sincerity and kindness was so evident and I’m grateful to care for this community that we work and live in.

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🧡🤍And baby, that’s surgery🤍🧡

☕️🐶7 Years In. Going on 7 Years Out🐶☕️
It took me this long to realize a lot of things. It’ll take more than seven years to figure out the rest.
🤍At first, waking up before 5am felt like a step backwards toward days that were more like residency than I care to remember. Now, they’re the mornings I cherish the most. A cup of coffee in the sunroom. Extra trips outside with the dogs. Watering all the plants. Taking my medicine (on time😂), then my supplements, and even making breakfast at home most days - I’ve finally mastered that part of the routine.
🤍Sundays I schedule everything for the week: my to do list gets put into the calendar - that errand - I scheduled it, workout apps get synced, meals at home get planned. Habits can take years to put in place, so don’t be intimidated by a few slips - just start and restart as many times as it takes.
🤍July 1: A New School Year for those of us in Academic Medicine. There will be no new mistakes - just new people in new places. How do we know this? Because we made them, too. Have a cup of coffee, rally that support system (furry or family - synonymous in my world), and get to it - because you GOT it.

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👩🏻‍⚕️🪩Surgeon Besties🪩👩🏻‍⚕️
Love seeing my person for the Harwell Wilson Surgical Society Meeting 👯‍♀️
Congratulations and best of luck to all the graduating chiefs! You continue to be strong representatives of the Memphis Way. Thank you to the scientific panel and event organizers for putting together an educational and fun weekend. Who knew that all I needed was to learn how to SLRP and Silent Disco to get my CME! 😉
Hats off to on being recognized as the Distinguished Alimni Visiting Professor! I’m honored to share this surgical lineage with you.
If you’re an alum and missed out, DM me on an excited way to get involved - whether it’s been 2 years or 20 years since you finished residency!

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✨🤍🎗️Best Dressed Success🎗️🤍✨
Last night was one to remember! This year’s 2025 Honorees absolutely blew this night away raising over one-hundred thousand dollars for cancer patient support… and still counting!!! I was honored to be selected as the 2025 Impact Honoree for community engagement. The millennial in me wants nothing more than to go all and break a piece off for each of YOU! (But this isn’t Mean Girls, I’m not Lindsay Lohan, AND this thing is glass.) There’s no doubt that this award belongs to my entire community! In a time where it is easier to disagree and to not get along - it’s inspiring to see how many of you came together with a common goal of supporting cancer patients who need critical funding for lodging and transportation. With your help - there’s more appointments made, more treatments received, and more survivors sharing more tomorrows with loved ones.
Thank you to all of my co-honorees for your energy and dedication. To our fearless Chair - our fabulous emcees .keller and - our incredible director and the ENTIRE committee who volunteered behind the scenes to make this event an incredible success!
My friends, co-workers, and family - who traveled from near and far to be here and gave so generously to help me reach my goal - thank you! Most importantly - my husband for encouraging me to keep increasing what started as a $4000 goal up to $10000 and beyond! Your ambition is what inspires me and your belief in me is what keeps me going.

From head to toe:
Hair & Glam: Tanya - Salon
Jewels: Dave
Dress:
Shoes: .barbarajean