One Day at a Time For N.C. State coach Kay Yow

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One Day at a Time For N.C. State coach Kay Yow

Kay Yow, legendary coach, NCSU Wolfpack Women's Basketball. Contributed photo.

By Emily Seck

Feb 8, 2008

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Raleigh, N.C. — These days, Kay Yow is taking life one day at a time.

On Tuesday, she went to a clinic to receive treatment for stage 4 breast cancer. Thursday, she traveled to Tallahasee, Fla., to coach the N.C. State women’s basketball team in a game against ACC foe Florida
State.

And on Sunday, she will coach in Reynolds Coliseum as an inspiration to hundreds of cancer survivors at the annual Hoops for Hope basketball game.

In the middle of last season, Yow’s condition worsened and she took leave of absence. Associate head coach Stephanie
Glance assumed coaching duties, allowing Yow to focus on her health.

“Coach Yow has some great support behind her,” sophomore guard Nikitta Gartrell said. “It was a big change, but the team took the initiative to do the right thing while coach Yow was out.”

Yow returned in time to lead the team to the ACC championship and a
Round of 16 appearance. In July, she was honored with the Jimmy V ESPY for
perseverance.

The ESPY was named for Jim Valvano, the former State men’s basketball coach who lost his battle with cancer.

“He’d be very pleased today to know that we are on the same team again,” Yow said. “He’d be saddened that my cancer has reoccurred, but he’d be happy that we’re fighting together once again for a common cause. When people fight together, we motivate each other.”

On Feb. 10, ESPN will support the V foundation for the Kay Yow/WBCA cancer fund during February Frenzy, which showcases eight women’s basketball games.

Viewers will be directed to donate to cancer research; 800 schools will be participating in the initiative, which was established this fall in honor of Yow.

“This latest initiative is a basketball dream come true in many
levels, John Leshney, senior vice president of development for the V Foundation, said. “Kay was Jim’s friend. We want to support her every step of the way. We’re going to beat the disease with the drive of people such as Kay
to inspire us.”

At 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, the women’s basketball team will face Boston College in the third Hoops for Hope at Reynolds Coliseum. Breast cancer survivors will be honored at halftime and the team will wear pink jerseys to support the cause.

“It is a tribute to her,” junior guard Shayla Fields said.
“She’s still on the sideline fighting and battling even with what she’s going through. I just want to go out and play for her.”

Today, Yow is just happy to be winning her battle with cancer. She has been on chemotherapy since September, but recently developed side effects on her hands and feet. Since her tests have shown improvement, doctors have placed Yow on hormonal treatments.

Yow receives her treatments at a local clinic three times per week, where she talks with women going through their own personal battles with cancer.

“I see people with stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4,” she
said. “I just hope to put a smile on their face at some point. We all know our situations. As we raise money for research, we might not find the immediate cure.

"But we can find other drugs that can continue to extend life more and more until we find a cure. I’m a person with stage 4 cancer [stage 4 is an advanced stage of the cancer]. All the drugs that have been developed in the ‘90s and the 2000s
are what I am using now to extend my life.”

Yow feels better than she has in months and hopes to remain off chemotherapy for the duration of the season. She knows there is a chance her condition could worsen.

But right now, she is taking things one day at a time.

Most Recent Comments

pht .... in an ice cold pool of water" This is a very serious subject, but I cannot help from giving you an LOL on this comment. If I were a doctor, and I avoid them like the plague, and I stay healthy, I would hang my head in shame if I could not cure ANYTHING! If one calls him/herself a doctor, what is the use of going to you if you can't do just that and advertise it on a neon sign? I think I know .... Lawyers! Would someone go to a mechanic who says "Well, MAYBE I can fix your car if you take it to me every two weeks forever, and pay me everytime, but I can't guarantee that it will ever run right again? When doctors guarantee their work, and I don't mean going to them every year, much less every 2-3 weeks, I will go to one again (and I have GREAT medical insurance.) Until then, the Rescue Squad will take me to the hospital, where I will await death until the people for whom I pay the bills get treated for the common cold.