Organized Chaos
Your place for sports with dashes of video games, movies and more.
Kay Yow’s passing brings back memories of my mother
January 24th, 2009, 3:40 pm · 3 Comments · posted by Brad Milner
Legendary basketball coach Kay Yow died from her long battle with breast cancer on Saturday. She was 66.
Through all of her trials she maintained a positive outlook. She battled the disease since 1987. It had spread to her liver and bone and you know it wasn’t pleasant.
It’s times like these that I think about my mother, Carol, who died while I was in college. The belief was she died of diabetic complications, as my mother was never one to want to seek medical care. She was found in the hallway by my sister at our childhood home.
Her apparent distaste for medical care was due to her earlier battle with breast cancer. Not many people know my mother also had this disease, which has a way of touching more people than you know.
She underwent a mastectomy, which is the removal of one of her breasts for those who are unaware of the term. I was younger, but it didn’t matter to me, just so long as she was OK.
My memories are cloudy, but I believe she survived 10 years after her ordeal. She very well could have had another bout of cancer for all we know, as to my knowledge there was no autopsy to show why she died, nor was there a reason to find out.
I recently saw on a television show where someone asked a doctor if a woman without a uterus or breasts was still a woman. The answer was yes.
My mother wasn’t any less a good woman because she had only one breast. In fact, she was a stronger woman for going through what she did.
As was Kay Yow, who was an inspiration to many in the face of a daunting disease. She finally gave in to the disease, but her reach and impact will be felt long after these days.
Just like my mother, who comes back to me at times like these. And thought I didn’t say it enough. I love you, Mom.
And I urge people to not be like my mother in the sense of not seeking care. You should do routine checkups so you can be prepared if this happens to you. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Here are a few resources for those wishing to gather information about breast cancer:
National Breast Cancer Foundation
Kay Yow was a class act, one of those coaches who believed that coaching went beyond wins and losses. She started out as a simple school teacher, was pressed into duty as a coach and was so good at it (and being a role model) that she is now a legend in the state of North Carolina. And her family is just as impressive, one of her sisters is the athletic director at the University of Maryland.
Your mom and I have that in common, that we hate doctors and hospitals. I usually end up wanting to punt 3/4 of the health care professionals I know, a lot of them could give uppity lessons to a French duke. My relatives keep me straight and force me see them once a year; they always give me pills that I usually end up throwing in the trash because they make me sick . Better than the alternative, though.
My mom also died from complications of breast cancer, and my neighbor has it now. It’s a terrible thing to go through; looking at how thin the neighbor is reminds me of my mom and those trying days. Hope they find a cure for it someday soon.
I live in Raleigh now and our family had many opportunities to spend time around Kay Yow. She was a great athlete and coach and an event better person. Saturday was a sad day. She will be sorely missed.
PC Resident,
Yes, it was sad. It’s sad when anyone dies. And, with all the medical upgrades and such that we have today due to vast technology, dying at 66 is still relatively young. There are a lot of people living into their 80s and 90s today.