North Carolina State women's basketball coach Kay Yow is still in the game, despite her difficult match-up with a fierce opponent -- breast cancer.
Yow is fighting for the third time a disease that has been spreading throughout her body since last fall. She has sores in her mouth, hasn't been able to eat, and receives regular doses of pain medication, antibiotics, and nutrients to combat the effects of three chemotherapy drugs that are cycling through her tired body.
Still, Yow is never far from the sidelines.
She was right there in the mix the day NC State named its women's basketball court in her honor. Shortly after, she was wheeled off the court on a stretcher, headed for the hospital so she could be pumped full of drugs. She was at work the next day. And at the unveiling of the Kay Yow Court. And at her game that same night. And at the end of the night, with an oncologist and nurse, she was accompanied to her office where she was once again hooked up to an IV so drugs could once again drip into Yow's exhausted body.
Yow, 65, is tough and determined.
"I know people are saying I'm doing too much," Yow says. "I know I have to take care of myself. But it's not like I have a cold or pneumonia and if I rest it will get better. Rest is not going to cure cancer. If rest were just the answer, that's what I would do."
"But if someone can be involved with something that is a passion for them, then I don't think there's anything wrong in trying to do that. Coaching lifts me up. Once the ball is tossed up, I forget pretty much about everything and just focus on the game. If I just do nothing, I feel like I'm giving in to the disease."
For anyone keeping score on the battle between Yow and cancer, it's clear Yow is a winner.
Previous posts about Kay Yow are as follows:
NC State coach takes leave to fight breast cancer
NC State basketball coach Kay Yow back in the game
1. In college I had full respect for Kay Yow. She was a coach at Elon University where I attended before taking the job with NC State. Then when she took over at NC State our teams competed against each other. She instilled team work, courage, leadership, a will to never give up, and community involvement in her players, friends, and fans and has always lead as a great example. I wish her the best and my prayers are with her as she battles with the beast known as cancer. May her courage and strength lead her through.
Posted at 9:34PM on Feb 25th 2007 by Vicki Blankenship