Join Coach Roman's Fight Against Cancer

Coach Yary Roman has been a valued member of our community for 20 years as an Athletic Trainer, Physical Education teacher and Bowling and Weightlifting Coach as well as the sponsor of the GOALS club, which organizes quarterly athletic events for children with Neurodiversities, specifically autism and also sponsors the Fishing Club. Needless to say, she captures the spirit of unparalleled generosity. This being said, it is time to show our love, appreciation, and support for her.

This January, Coach Roman went in for her annual physical exam and her primary physician felt a mass in her neck. On January 16th, her birthday coincidentally, she received the diagnosis that the masses in her thyroid and lymph nodes were indeed cancerous. Surgeons expected the surgery to be a 7-8 hour procedure with a 1-2 day hospital stay, but instead, it turned into a highly intricate and invasive 10 hour surgery with a 4 day stay in the hospital, where 86 lymph nodes and her thyroid were removed and 2 drains placed in her neck. The cancer was found on the central neck and underneath the sternum, both sides of the neck and the nerves affecting the vocal cords as well as the thyroid.

Her recovery was initially expected to be within 4 weeks, but because of the depth of the surgery, it is taking much longer. She currently suffers from sleep deprivation, numbness in the lower lip, arm weakness and is still enduring a great deal of pain and swelling from the surgery. As part of her recovery, she also needs radioactive iodine therapy, voice recovery therapy, physical therapy to regain range of motion in her neck, and countless doctor’s appointments. As many of us may know, medical bills pile up quickly. She is currently on medical leave, which although it ensures she has a job to come back to, she currently does not have an income.

Although she has been fighting this battle quietly and discreetly, we feel that it is time for us to step in with an abundance of encouragement and financial support. The way she consistently shows up for others is a true testament to a generous spirit and selfless soul. We are hoping that our community can come together to help lift the burden of financial worry so she can focus on her recovery.