When you’re tempted to think that you’ve exhausted all possibilities, remember: you haven’t.

Hi All - this is Kira speaking!

I get my sense of humor from my dad, so I hope you can appreciate my attempt to plop a couple of jokes in here. My dad loves Mel Brooks, Monty Python, South Park, and Spinal Tap (to name a few). Ultimately he is the reason why so many of you join David & I on Monday Nights, looking forward to the humor and laughter that we love to share with you.

My father, Ron, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2020 (the same infamous year that brought us a global pandemic and murder hornets). The diagnosis itself was just the tip of the iceberg for what was to come; the cancer spread throughout numerous lymph nodes, into his bladder, and into his bones. To complicate matters, the new Covid-19 pandemic rules (at the time) made seeing the proper doctors and getting treatment extremely difficult & stressful.

My dad has tried everything in his battle: chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, hyperbaric treatments, and even tried holistic Eastern therapy. Unfortunately, this cancer has continued to ravage my dad’s body. Most recently my dad had surgery on his back. Cancer ate its way through a vertebra, which made walking, standing, and even sitting excruciating. The surgery removed this decimated bone and placed pins alongside the neighboring vertebrae, kind of like a bridge connecting two islands to each other… or kind of like the bridge in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail that the Bridgekeeper watches over and asks questions at.

My father has been so strong throughout this fight. He’s been keeping a positive outlook on each setback. He’s a man who loves spending time with friends and family, playing music (he’s a musical genius), and rewatching The Office a million times. He can’t get enough of Kevin’s inappropriate jokes! But despite the smile, we all know he is suffering and struggling just to feel comfortable. This is beyond difficult for our family to watch. A hundred thoughts run through my head every day: What can we do? Is there anything else we haven’t tried? Is today a good day or a bad day? Has he been able to sleep or rest at all?

Insurance isn’t covering much of the treatment, and I fear the stress of thinking about things like, “Can I even afford to get well?” will feed into his cancer cells. In my mind, it’s kinda like the shows I love to watch, like how Zak Bagans says that fear can feed demons, or shadow people, or skinwalkers, or cryptids, or the IRS, or whatever (I watch a lot of Ghost Adventures ).

No one should have to think about, “Can I afford the treatment I need?” while trying to heal, while trying to get well, and while trying to live during a battle like this.

My father is not the type to ask for help, but he has always been the one to give help to others. I pray that we can provide my dad with the comfort of knowing he’s going to be taken care of and that he can afford the treatment that he needs. We humbly ask for your help in raising funds to help cover the treatments, the medication, and the care that my dad needs. So much of this fight is unexpected, just like how nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Love you all,

Kira and David Collins