Will Hicklen stood by his wife, Sandy's, side for three years as she battled a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer. Scores of friends and family united around the Hicklens to help, keeping Sandy company while she rested at home, taking their adolescent girls to lacrosse practices and delivering pre-cooked meals.
Hicklen, 43, even launched a blog - StayStrongSandy.blogspot.com - where he chronicled his wife's battle. During long periods of treatment, and chemotherapy, Sandy - a vivacious stay-at-home mother - often found herself confined to her house in Towson's Stoneleigh neighborhood, waiting for nurses, drugs and equipment.
"She would say, 'I'm just so sick of being a patient, standing around waiting for someone to do something for me, when I should be out enjoying my life,' " Hicklen said.
For Hicklen, a software entrepreneur, his wife's plight crystallized into a business problem, not just a health care frustration. "We talked about it," he said. "It wasn't a long conversation. She looked at me a couple times and said, 'I hope somebody can find a way to make this better for patients.' I always found it interesting she never asked for a cure for cancer. She wanted to make life better for patients."
With his background , Hicklen wondered if he could design software to help home medical companies deliver care more quickly and efficiently. He told Sandy about his idea.
"She said, 'If you could make this work, it would mean so much to me,' " Hicklen said, choking up during a recent interview.
Sandy Hicklen died July 1 last year at 42 years of age at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, leaving behind a husband of 17 years and daughters Hannah, 14, and Haley, 12. In a devastating coincidence, Hicklen lost his mother in Michigan to lung cancer on that same day, after her own prolonged fight.
Last week, Hicklen launched Ankota Inc., a Towson-based company that purports to give home health care providers a suite of software applications that help them better coordinate delivery of care.
He brought on board his close friend, Dr. Hunter Young, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital who helped guide the family with Sandy's care, as chief medical officer, and recruited a chief technology officer, chief financial officer and a few sales representatives.
It's been a project that has breathed new purpose into life for Hicklen, who has experience working with big computer companies and start-ups in Silicon Valley, but none in the health care field - besides the personal experience.
