
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Takeaways
Summary of the Episode
In this episode of INDY Foundation: Connecting Through Cancer, host Kayla Keenan kicks off November with a reminder to be thankful for the ordinary days. Instead of the big celebrations, vacations, and milestones, she focuses on a day like an ordinary Tuesday: the morning coffee, the kids running through the house, a phone call from a friend, family dinner, and the laundry that never ends.
Kayla explains how cancer, whether through your own diagnosis or someone you love, changes how you see those days. She shares what Kyle told her during his cancer battle, that he would love nothing more than to get off the couch and go to work again. She also tells a story from two Christmases ago about a woman battling cancer whose Christmas list included a washer and dryer, because she looked forward to doing the laundry.
Kayla is careful to say that gratitude can be hard for someone in the middle of a diagnosis, treatment, or grief, and that nobody has to find a silver lining in something painful. She reminds listeners that you can be grateful and still be angry, have hope and still be scared, and celebrate someone who is fighting while missing someone you have lost.
She connects it all to the mission of INDY Foundation, which walks alongside people through some of the hardest chapters of their lives with groceries, gas gift cards, hospital backpacks, and financial support. The episode closes with a November challenge: do not wait to tell someone you are thankful, celebrate the ordinary, and remember that today matters.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the Episode
In this episode of INDY Foundation: Connecting Through Cancer, host Kayla Keenan looks past the color pink and asks what Breast Cancer Awareness Month really means. Every October, store shelves, sports uniforms, and social media fill with pink. Kayla honors the cause, then asks us to remember the person behind every ribbon.
Kayla shares what pink means to her personally and how her view of Breast Cancer Awareness Month changed once cancer touched her life. She talks about pinkwashing, when large companies lean on the marketing side of a cause, and asks a hard question: when did raising awareness become using a cause to sell something? She is also clear that not every pink campaign is pinkwashing, and that some fund important research and services.
From there, Kayla offers practical questions to ask before you buy: what is the actual donation amount, who is the recipient organization, and does the company offer meaningful support beyond the promotion? She explains how INDY Foundation has been transparent from the beginning about who it supports and how, and why everyday help with gas, groceries, bills, cleaning, or lawn care can matter so much.
The episode closes with a look at what happens when October ends. Kayla talks about metastatic breast cancer, recurrence, ongoing treatment, survivor guilt, and how she personally processes grief, through a good cry in the car, prayer, and laughter. Her challenge to listeners is simple: keep showing up when the pink comes down.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Blessing Tree Applications/Nominations: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg9dJQoUTOoeFf0b2RuuxQdY657f3qHx34wBtk2xiGUknJiA/viewform?usp=header
Takeaways
In this episode of INDY Foundation: Connecting Through Cancer, host Kayla Keenan talks about the holidays for families affected by cancer. While many people are thinking about gatherings, decorating, and gifts, cancer warriors and their families may be focused on getting through the day, managing pain, and attending treatments.
Kayla shares how the INDY Blessing Tree began. After Kyle passed away, she wanted to do something in his honor that first Christmas. His birthday is December twenty-fourth, and he always joked he was a gift from God. The first year, she put together gift packs for families staying on the cancer floors at St. Cloud Hospital. Four years ago the campaign grew through a partnership with White Peony Boutique, taking nominations and fulfilling Christmas lists for families from all over Minnesota. Last year it reached its biggest year yet, with 17 families.
She also shares stories that have stayed with her: a single mom who nominated herself so her kids could have the Christmas she wanted for them, a family that received an early Christmas during a dad's last days, a little boy thrilled with a scooter and tractors, and a mom whose wish was a washing machine. Kayla explains the many ways to get involved, including nominating a family, signing up as an individual or business, wrapping, or delivering gifts.
Nominations are open now. To nominate a family, adopt a family, or learn more, visit indy-foundation.org and look for the INDY Blessing Tree page, or find the sign-up link on the INDY Foundation Facebook page.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
In this episode of Connecting Through Cancer, Kayla Keenan sits down with Troy Lenarz of Alliance Imaging and Regional Diagnostic Radiology and Brandon Voigt, Market President and Commercial Lender at Falcon National Bank. Together they lead Think Pink for INDY, a breast cancer fundraiser that supports local patients in Central Minnesota. Troy shares that he lost his Aunt Ellie to breast cancer and named his older daughter after her. Brandon explains why he joined: he has a wife, a daughter, and family, and he believes that if you can do something, you should do something.
The two tell the story of how a chamber of commerce meeting started it all, how their first events supported a national breast cancer campaign before they brought the work home to INDY Foundation, and why they asked that the money go specifically to breast cancer patients. Kayla explains why that focus matters: close to half of INDY Foundation's nominations come from people with breast cancer, and while they are in treatment they still have to work, pay bills, and care for their families. A typical INDY check is $2,000, so a strong year at Think Pink supports around ten local patients.
The conversation also covers the Pink in the Park night with the St. Cloud Rox, where last year's honorees were all breast cancer patients supported by Think Pink for INDY, and the Parade of Hope that followed. Troy and Brandon share what stays with them from working alongside honorees, how they protect their volunteer committee from burnout, and how local schools are now hosting their own events, including a Dig Pink volleyball night that raised $9,800. They close with everything you need to attend: the date, the location, the raffles, the live music, and how to help even if you only stop by for a drink.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month closes and Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Kayla Keenan turns the usual conversation around. Instead of listing what cancer takes from patients, caregivers, and families, she asks what cancer can't take. Drawing on her own cancer journey and ten years of working with INDY Foundation, she shares a list of things that remain, and sometimes grow stronger, through hard seasons: love, memories, laughter, friendship, purpose, and community.
Kayla is direct about the loss. Cancer took her husband, Kyle, along with time, energy, and security, and she says so plainly. She also talks about what it left behind: a new perspective, deeper relationships, and a strong desire to help others walking the same road. She opens up about the guilt that came with feeling joy again, including when she started dating after Kyle's death, and reminds listeners that it is okay to laugh while you are grieving.
Kayla also explains how INDY Foundation puts this into practice. A gas card, a grocery gift card, a backpack filled with comfort items, or a simple text can send a message that someone is seen. She shares what she watched in Kyle's final days, when friends showed up and sat beside him without needing to fix anything, and she encourages listeners to make cancer support about the people behind the diagnosis, from siblings and parents to teachers and friends.
The episode closes with a message to anyone in the middle of their own hard chapter. Cancer may change your story, but it does not get to write the whole thing. Kayla returns to Kyle's mantra, "I'm not done yet," and invites listeners to take what cancer taught them and use it to leave something beautiful behind.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
In this solo episode, the second in Kayla's Living More Like Dolly conversation, she keeps thinking about Dolly Parton's words and realizes the topic has grown bigger than one public figure. It is really about how we choose to live, what happens when life gets hard, and what we leave behind. Kayla starts with a question that cancer and grief tend to force on all of us: what will people carry forward because I was here?
She is direct that cancer sucks and that there is nothing beautiful about scans, waiting rooms, or hearing a diagnosis said out loud about someone you love. From that honest starting point, she talks about the moment Kyle died, the things left unfinished, and the harder question grief raised about her own life. Not the house or the resume, but whether she loved people well and showed up. She shares how INDY Foundation grew out of that pain and why she believes you do not have to cure cancer to make a difference.
The second half turns to what anyone can do. Kayla covers small acts of kindness and the ripple effect they create, why grief and joy can exist together, and how the people we lose stay with us through what they gave us. She closes with a challenge to every listener, whether they are a patient, a caregiver, someone in grief, or none of the above: do it on purpose, and leave something good behind.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
In this solo episode, Kayla reflects on the recent passing of Dolly Parton and what her life and words teach us about walking through cancer, grief, and hard seasons of any kind. Rather than a celebrity tribute, this episode uses Dolly's own quotes as a framework for something Kayla has lived through firsthand: losing her husband Kyle, building a life and a foundation in the years since, and connecting with thousands of people navigating their own cancer journeys.
Kayla walks through several of Dolly's most well-known lines, "if you want the rainbow, you've gotta put up with the rain," "find out who you are and do it on purpose," and "storms make trees take deeper roots," and connects each one to what it actually feels like to sit in a hospital room, wait on scan results, or grieve someone you love while the rest of the world keeps moving. She's honest that living more like Dolly doesn't mean forcing positivity or pretending a hard season is secretly a gift. It means choosing kindness, humor, and gratitude where you can, and giving yourself permission to have the days where none of that feels possible.
The episode closes on the idea of legacy, not as something reserved for the end of life, but as something built daily through the way we treat people. Kayla ties this back to Kyle, to the nine-year anniversary messages she still receives from people who remember him, and to the community INDY Foundation has built around exactly this kind of small, consistent showing up for one another.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
This episode is a replay, bringing together Kayla's full three-part miniseries on joy from earlier this year into one place for a fall reset. It kicks off with the case for treating joy like an obligation instead of an afterthought. Kayla walks through why she blocks off her calendar for fun the same way she'd block off a work meeting, why she thinks people who let vacation days go unused are making a mistake, and how a Mental Health Awareness Month lens shapes the way she thinks about prioritizing happiness.
From there, the series moves into the art of saying no. Kayla gets personal about her own history with FOMO, tracing it back to going to work at sixteen years old and spending most of her twenties saying yes to everything out of guilt or obligation. She reframes saying no as a direct act of self-care, offers a few practical ways to say it gracefully, and lands on a line that carries through the rest of the series: every no is a yes to yourself.
The final piece is about figuring out what actually brings you joy in the first place, since it's hard to prioritize something you haven't named. Kayla breaks joy down into four categories, creative, physical, social, and relaxation, and walks listeners through building a joy inventory they can return to whenever life feels heavy. Even though this show is built around cancer and caregiving, the message underneath all three episodes is one Kayla comes back to often: joy isn't something you earn after everything else is handled. It's part of how you get through the hard stuff in the first place.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
In the final installment of the Signs From Heaven series, Kayla shares the story of how a puppy named Indy found her way into her family, months after they lost their 13-year-old lab, Max. What started as a passing thought after seeing a photo of an available puppy turned into a chain of small, specific coincidences: the puppy's birthday on the Fourth of July, a breeder's phone number that showed up as Hallock, Minnesota, the exact town where Kayla's late husband Kyle once worked on the pipeline, and a personality video showing Indy as the bravest, first-out-of-the-litter puppy of the group.
Kayla walks through the decision itself, the wait list, the deposit she almost didn't put down, and the moment she knew she had to say yes, while being honest about what the choice actually looked like: very little sleep, a few accidents, and a daily moment of "what did we just do." She holds space for both the chaos of a new puppy and the deeper reason it felt meaningful, without ever pretending the two cancel each other out.
The episode closes out the three-part Signs series with the show's clearest statement yet on what these moments are and are not. Kayla is upfront that she can't prove any of it, and she's not trying to. She offers a way of thinking about signs as personal rather than universal, and a reminder that new joy after loss doesn't undo what came before. It just adds another chapter.
Key Topics Covered:
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
Takeaways
Summary of the episode
In this second episode of the Signs From Heaven miniseries on Connecting Through Cancer, host Kayla Keenan opens the conversation up to the INDY Foundation's community. After the foundation's Facebook page asked followers to share their own signs from loved ones who have passed, Kayla reads through what came back and walks through the signs people report most: feathers found in unexpected places, coins (dimes more often than the usual pennies), songs that seem to find you at exactly the right moment, and dreams that carry a sense of peace.
She then shares four submitted stories in full. Laura describes a cardinal that raced her son's three-wheeler on the day of a funeral. Sarah Schmidt talks about her mom calling her phone for two years after she passed, always for a half ring and a hang-up, and how the number was disconnected when she tried calling it back. Kelly Summers shares a cross made of leaves that appeared on the fifth anniversary of her dad's passing while Higher by Creed played on the radio. And the show's own producer, Abbey, shares that chickadees visit her every hunting opener, a sign she connects to the grandfather and grandmother she lost to cancer.
Kayla closes by reminding listeners that a sign doesn't need to be proven to matter. She encourages everyone to stay open-hearted to the mundane, unexpected moments, and invites listeners to keep sending in their own stories of connection.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to the INDY Foundation: Connecting Through Cancer hosted by Kayla Keenan, founder of INDY Foundation, a non-profit located in central Minnesota. Here at INDY, we believe in supporting andโฆ
Join us as we share inspiring stories, valuable resources and important updates to help you and your load ones navigate the challenges of cancer with strength and hope. Each episode will feature heartfelt conversations with cancer warriors, their families, and experts in the field, offering insights and encouragement for every step of the way.
INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/
Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761