Hey everyone! It’s Abby, J.D. Prose’s daughter. Many of you have seen my dad’s updates through out the last 12 months or so, and are aware of the situation our family has been facing.

For those of you that don’t know, my dad, was diagnosed with small cell squamous cancer of the tonsils and lymph nodes in September 2024. He endured 35 rounds of radiation to the head and neck, as well as seven rounds of chemo last fall.

It was an incredibly tough ride, especially because of where the cancer was, and my dad was not able to eat much by mouth without great pain. Despite pain pills and magic swizzle, dad still was suffering and hardly able to eat. He ended that round of treatment in December of 2024, and in March of 2025 we found out that the battle was not over. The cancer had spread to dad’s lungs.

In april of 2025, he had lung surgery to remove nodes from his left lung. He then had to start immunotherapy to attack the nodes in the right lung. This caused severely painful and extreme mucositis. This means that dad’s mouth, throat, and lips were covered in incredibly painful, swollen blisters…again making it nearly impossible to eat.

My family has been doing everything possible to stay afloat. On August 9th, we were thrown yet another curve ball. Dad should have received his PET scan that day to let us know what was going on. Unfortunately, dad was too sick for the scan. He instead was taken to the ER and promptly admitted for critically low white blood cell count, low platelet level, and other critical blood work. He received two blood transfusions as well as a bag of platelets, which then caused a massive fever. He spent a total of 12 days admitted in AHN Wexford, and was placed on palliative care.

While in the hospital he also was told that without a feeding tube, his outlook would be grim. He accepted the feeding tube and has been discharged home. He has home care nurses coming once a day for now, but that stops very soon. He is weak, thin, and still in pain. Our family is hurting watching him go through this, and feeling helpless.

On top of watching our loved one struggle so much, my parents are now facing massive amounts of medical bills. We are still waiting on a PET scan to tell us what the near future will hold, more treatment or remission? We don’t know right now, but we do know that we need help.

My mother, Erica Bacon, has been working full-time through out all of this. Taking care of my dad, making sure the boys (16 & 19) are good. Stress is an understatement. It is agony for both of my parents despite all the help that River and I provide for them.

I am asking for donations to help with medical bills and whatever else life may throw at us. Those who have helped us in any way shape or form along the way thus far, I thank you so much. For those who have checked up on our family or my dad, thank you from the bottom of my heart.