Posthumous degree will honor student’s dream
Ivy Tech adjunct professor works to help his former student’s family.
Kylee Yeomans’ obituary described her as “very crafty.”
“Kylee could make something out of nothing,” it states.
On May 11, she again will be making something out of nothing. Well, not entirely from nothing, but something special during next month’s commencement ceremony for Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso.
Yeomans was a student at the college while working as a CNA at Porter Regional Hospital. The 2011 graduate of Portage High School planned on a full-time career as a health professional. She wanted to follow the path of her cousin, Brittany Catizone, who would later become her primary caregiver.
“Nursing became very important to her,” said her sister-in-law, Heather Yeomans, of Hebron, who’s married to Kylee’s older brother Dan.
“She was a clinical nurse assistant, looking forward to graduating and going to nursing school,” said Lenny Corso, an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech.
Kylee Yeomans was an honor student, a varsity cheerleader and a gymnastics coach.
“She loved to travel and attend concerts, especially seeing some of her favorite country bands,” her obit states.
In 2014, following a car crash, a brain scan for a possible concussion found a brain tumor. In hindsight, doctors figured out that her crash was caused by a seizure, Heather Yeomans said.
“Usually, doctors find this type of tumor, glioblastoma, too late for most patients,” she said. “But they found it by mistake after her car accident. We thought it was a miracle.”
Her tumor was surgically removed, and for three years afterward, she had an otherwise normal life. She pursued her health career. She found a boyfriend. She lived life, though always knowing that the tumor could someday return.
In 2017, it did. She began experiencing headaches and motor skill problems. Memory difficulties also emerged, making her college classes more challenging. Eventually, the seizures returned, mostly affecting the left side of her body.
She underwent a second surgery in March 2018, with chemo treatments afterward. It didn’t halt the cancer. By August, she had trouble walking, among other symptoms.
Her family hoped for another medical miracle. The tumor ignored their prayers.
Kylee Yeomans wrote an in-depth paper for a college class on glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. The median survival time is 15 to 16 months if patients receive standard treatment – surgery, chemotherapy and radiation – according to the American Brain Tumor Association.
“Kylee knew how serious it was,” her sister-in-law said, and began checking off an unspoken bucket list of things to do before she could no longer do them – music concerts, vacation trips, weekend getaways. She also insisted on going to church every Sunday if she was able. Last fall, she was baptized.
“Her faith was very important to her,” her sister-in-law said.
Late last year, Kylee Yeomans’ condition worsened. In December, she was hospitalized and afterward, despite a minor recovery, the tumor continued to spread.
“Kylee told me, ‘Heather, I’m done with all the treatments,’” Heather Yeomans said.
She began receiving in-home hospice care at her aunt’s Valparaiso home. She died Feb. 4, surrounded by her parents, who are divorced, and her stepmother.
Kylee Michelle Yeomans was 26. “Kylee was a loving daughter, sister, cousin and friend and will be deeply missed by all who knew her,” her obit states. In lieu of flowers, mourners were asked to make donations to the American Brain Tumor Association.
Her father, Daniel Yeomans, of Portage, and her mother, Kathy Wells, of LaPorte, politely declined comment for this column, though the family doesn’t want her to be forgotten.
“It’s still too soon for them to talk about it,” Heather Yeomans told me while cradling her 1-month-old daughter whom Kylee didn’t live to see.
When one of her former professors, Corso, learned about her death, he wanted to honor her in the only way he could.
“She took care of my wife last year while she was hospitalized,” Corso said.
He found out that she was just one credit hour short for the degree she had coveted. Corso petitioned the college’s chancellor, Aco Sikosi, to waive that remaining credit hour.
“It was the least I could do for her and her family, to not let her college credit evaporate,” Corso told me. “I went to her funeral and indicated to her parents that I was attempting to get this done in her memory.”
The family was genuinely touched by his kindness.
“It was so thoughtful of him,” Heather Yeomans said.
Sikosi agreed Kylee Yeomans should get her health specialist degree posthumously.
Corso also created a customized photo engraved with these words.
“In loving memory of Kylee Michelle Yeomans, September 17, 1992 – February 4, 2019, Associate of Applied Science, Health Care Specialist, Ivy Tech Community College, Valparaiso, Indiana – May 11, 2019.”
On that day, Ivy Tech will host its graduation and commencement ceremony inside the Athletics-Recreation Center at Valparaiso University. Most of Kylee Yeoman’s family will be in attendance.
When her name is called, her big brother Dan will walk across the stage, holding the customized photo of his sister to accept her diploma.
“This is for Kylee,” her sister-inlaw said. “She would have loved it.”