Mike Yancy's Story

On November 21, 2011, my husband, Michael Kennedy Yancy, came home from work excited about starting our Thanksgiving holiday. It was a tradition for us to take off work the entire week of Thanksgiving. You could see the excitement on Mike's face when I walked to the backyard to see him after I arrived home from work as he worked in his garden. He started to tell me about a weird experience at work. He said while interviewing several candidates for a position in his company, he couldn't remain focused and he had to write each person's name on a tablet to remember it. He also mentioned that when he read, his letters became transposed. He had the look on his face that said, "I don't want to tell you this because you're going to think it's serious and it really can't be, because I don't get sick." I asked Mike to come with me into the house so I could further explore what he had told me. We pulled a book from the bookshelf and I asked him to read it for me. The love of my life held the book and examined each letter of every word using all the focus he could and slowly began to read like a 2nd grader. Even though I didn't show it, my heart dropped, I knew something was wrong. He looked up at me and said with a smile on his face, "J, isn't that the craziest thing you've ever seen? I held back my tears and joked along with him. He was trying to make sure I wouldn't worry and I was trying to oblige. That was the beginning of our journey. Mike and I played board games and read any and everything available to try to assess the situation. I decided to call my son, Austin, to inform him of what was happening because he had plans to visit Spain in the very near future. After speaking with Austin, we all decided that I should take Mike to the doctor first thing Monday morning. After making the decision to take Mike to the doctor, our weekend was uneventful. We went to church and heard a sermon titled "Is Life Fair?"  I'll never forget the sermon and how I felt it played into our lives only 15 hours after hearing it. Monday morning at 3AM, Mike jumped up from bed in a panic asking me to call an ambulance, he said, "Jackie, something is wrong." He said that he was hot, he started throwing water on his face. My husband was one of the healthiest people I knew, and he would have never freely gone to a hospital, but this morning, he was asking for an ambulance. The EMT confirmed that Mike hadn't had a stroke, but they recognized that his cognition was off and they offered to take him to the hospital for me if I wished. I told them that I would take him. They took a MRI and showed us the film, there was a mass of some kind on his brain. The hospital didn't specialize in neurology and gave us two options of hospitals in which to choose. The nurse told me that I had one hour to go home to collect our things if I wanted to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Mike sat there in disbelief. Mike was scheduled for a craniotomy on November 25, 2011 to confirm the suspected diagnosis. The surgeon came out of the operating room and confirmed that it was cancer and it was malignant. I still don't know how I remained on my feet, I guess I realized that Mike's needs far outweighed my emotional weakness. Mike opened his eyes after surgery and instead of acting like a man that was very ill, he looked at me and asked, "Are you Jesus?" and started to smile. I could breathe again, he was ok for now. Mike came out of NICU in less than 24 hours, he was awesome! Days following the surgery, the neuro-oncologist explained to Mike, his mother, Austin and I that there was no cure for the cancer in which he was diagnosed, glioblastoma, but she would present us with our options during his first office visit. Mike sat there in disbelief once again, scared for himself, his mother, Austin and me. I told Mike that just because another human being said 5 to 6 words, our life will not change, God has all power. As long as you are breathing, we're going to live the life that God gave us. We will deal with what the doctor recommends after our first office visit. Mike and I fell in love with his doctor and her staff. We opted out of radiation, but started the chemotherapy. Mike did not want his quality of life impaired in any way and made that known to his doctor immediately. Later on the journey, the doctor thought that we made a smart decision and since then others have considered the option of bypassing the radiation portion of the treatment. For two years and three months, Mike was a trooper. He did not respond to chemotherapy as others, and most people didn't know that he had cancer unless we told them. Austin resigned from his job in California and came home to spend time with his dad because we had no idea what we were up against. They shared some very special times together. When Austin realized that his dad wasn't going to let him take over his chores, we decided he should go to Spain as he had planned. Mike and I went on a European cruise to celebrate our anniversary. He worked for a full year after being diagnosed and spent the second year establishing a telephone ministry to offer encouragement to other cancer patients. He and I watched people as we sat and waited for the valet after his treatments. He realized how expensive cancer treatments were and wondered how does a person without a good job and insurance benefits survive this disease financially. That was when he decided he wanted to help cancer patients get through the toughest times of their lives. He said he wanted to provide them with free room and board for those who traveled to Houston for their treatments, he wanted to help them buy the expensive medication, he just wanted to help in any way that he could. I asked him, "So what do you want to call this place that you want to create?" He said, "Mike's Place." So "Mike's Place" 501 (c)(3) was born. Mike assisted patients with financial needs and his telephone ministry grew and HE LOVED IT. We even purchased a home with a special bedroom so it could be used by patients when they need it. Michael Kennedy Yancy passed away February 26, 2014 with his family and friends by his side. I can honestly say that Mike only showed signs of cancer the last twelve days of his life. He even joked with us on his death bed. WHAT A MAN!!! My son, Austin Kennedy Yancy, my brother, Harold Craig Lovely, and I serve as the Board of Director's for "Mike Yancy's Place, Inc." For as long as God allows us, we will keep Mike's dream alive of helping others that are less fortunate. As my dear husband would say, "Everybody Needs Help Every Once In A While."    

Jacqueline Lovely Yancy  

Mike Yancy's Place, Inc.  

CEO & Co-Founder