North Carolina State University Athletics
Messages Keep Coach Yow's Spirits High
12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Send a Message to Coach Yow
Hoops for Hope
NC State women's basketball coach Kay Yow, on a leave of indefinite leave of absence from her team while she fights the progression of her breast cancer, wants NC State fans and the basketball community to know that she reads all of their thoughts and prayers. She reads the poems and looks up the Bible verses they suggest.
In short, they are all sustaining her as she steps away from the Wolfpack to embark on her full-time job of taking chemotherapy treatments and continuing the determined fight against cancer she began when she was first diagnosed in 1987.
Always open to be a role model for those facing similar battles, Coach Yow wants fans and supporters to know about her treatment and progress throughout her fight. So while she is away, she will give regular updates about her progress here on www.gopack.com.
Fans will also be able to write a brief message to the coach and let her know that she is in your thoughts and prayers. And if you think that a brief comment isn't important, read what Coach Yow says below.
There are several ways to help Coach Yow during this time. Prayers and thoughts are always appreciated. Cards, letters and e-mails are inspiring. In addition, for the second year in a row, NC State will be hosting "Hoops for Hope," a game on Jan. 28 against Boston College, with proceeds from ticket sales going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Check the link above for more information.
And, nothing makes Coach Yow feel better than watching or listening to her team win. Coach Yow is grateful for any support you can give to her team and her staff during this time, especially by attending NC State games and cheering the Wolfpack to a victory.
Tim Peeler
NC State women's basketball coach Kay Yow
First of all, I would like to thank every one who has taken the time to write and call and send messages. They all mean so much to me.
I am now in the third week of my first cycle of chemotherapy. Each round lasts four weeks and each week there is a different treatment. I am about to begin my third week of this cycle and after next week we will start all over again. I am anxious to see how the treatments go and how my body responds to them.
Right now, I am just taking one day at a time. I don't every really know how I am going to feel from one day to the next. When I have a really good day, it is great. When I am having a bad day, I just really know in the back of my mind that a good day is coming. So far, I have had a lot more good days than bad days. Early on, after my first treatment, I actually took medication for pain and I have other medications for when I need it. I have been very fortunate that after the first couple of days, I have not needed to take the extra medication.
This is the middle of basketball season, so I do keep up with what is going on with my team. I stay a little bit closer to the program than most people know. I listen to the games on the radio. I watch replays of every game and take notes. I talk to my staff - associate head coach Stephanie Glance and assistants Jenny Palmateer and Trena Trice-Hill - every day. Two times I have gone over to watch practice, the day before games. I have twice talked to the team in the lockerroom on speakerphone prior to a game. I stay in touch with everything that is happening, every challenge, every problem. I am there to help my staff with any advice or suggestions that I can give. So I am still very much involved.
But, most of the time, I am here at my home, resting. My doctor likes for me to go out and test my endurance to see where I am. The majority of the time, I am here doing things like reading my mail and my e-mail messages that have been forwarded to me. I try to return some of those messages to let people know that I have received them.
My staff has been able to take a great burden off of me. At the same time, it has also been a great burden on them. One of the things about the diagnosis is that it happened so quickly. We didn't really have time to talk about it. During the week of the UNC-Wilmington game, I had not been feeling well. The day of that game, I was able to lay down and rest for a while and fortunately that gave me a surge of energy for two hours. After that game, I left the arena and went home and called my oncologist, Dr. Mark Graham. The next morning, I met him at the hospital at 10:30 a.m. and we started a series of tests. We finished those tests on Tuesday, at which time he found that the cancer had progressed. I was taking chemo from about 8 until 4 p.m.
Our team was supposed to be leaving to go out West the next day. So I had to meet with them and let them know what was happening. We didn't have enough time to think through this and give ourselves time to prepare for anything. It has been a tough thing for the players. The schedule has been so hectic for them. We had game-after-game-after-game during that stretch. They have been trying to survive and to practice and prepare and get ready for a physical and demanding stretch on the schedule. It's all been very draining for them. Now, we don't play again until Sunday. It is the first break that we have had since I first started feeling bad. I just hope they can all get rest and come out of all this stronger.
For me, my faith is everything in getting me through this. Many people, in cards and e-mails, send me Bible verses and poems that I read each day. I am uplifted by what I read in the Bible and what people send me. There have just been so many things. In Psalms, there is a passage that says "The Lord is the sustainer of my life." I believe what He says. There is a great verse in Psalms that says "You have cloaked me with strength for battle." My favorite verse is in Phillipians, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And there is a verse in Psalms 18 that says "Lord, You light my lamp, and my God illuminates my darkness. With you I can attack a barrier, and with my God I can leap over a wall."
Every day, I read something different or another verse and it continues to lift me up. It continues to give me strength and it continues to give me joy. I am really grateful for some of the poems and scripture verses that people have sent me because they are so uplifting. That's what keeps me with a joy and a peace.
When you believe in God, as I do, you know that worship and worry cannot co-exist in the heart. So when you are worshiping god and He is your focus, worry can't be there. I also find that gratefulness and thankfulness can replace worry and depression. I cannot even count all the blessings I have had in my life. There are too many. I can't even write them all down. When you are grateful and thankful, that is the opposite of discontent or discouragement or depression. If you just focus on gratefulness and putting God first, there is no room of the other. When I read the card and e-mails, I know that God is using those people to reach out to me. It is very up-lifting and very encouraging.
Thank you all for your concern, thoughts and prayers.
