About Keri
Born Keri Blickenstaff, now Keri Kinsel, she found her first love, playing the
violin, in the 5th grade... and it loved her back. She raked in awards from
county and Florida All-State orchestras. Eventually, she earned her Bachelor’s
degree in Music Education and taught orchestra in the Florida public school
system. She knew she wouldn’t be content with this station in life, however,
and relocated to attend the University of Georgia in Athens to further her
education. She received her Master’s degree in Musicology in 2009, and is
currently working on her PhD in Musicology, specializing in Russian and Soviet
classical music.
It was in Athens that Keri met the love of her life, Carl Kinsel. They felt the
immediate connection that cannot be confused for anything other than finding the
one whose chord rings out in perfect harmony with your own. They were smitten,
never wanting to spend a night apart. Meeting Emma (then, 13) and Olivia (then,
9), Carl’s daughters, only sealed the deal. Carl and Keri were married in a
beautiful ceremony, surrounded by friends and family, on July 2,
2011.
Before the newlywed bliss had even begun to fade, in the fall of 2011, Keri began
having pain in her back and right forearm. Sure there must be a logical and
easily postponable solution, Keri went on with life, without complaining. She
had a lot on her plate- working on her Doctoral dissertation, teaching at UGA,
helping out at Carl’s graphic design firm. But by Christmas, her back pain had
grown into a monster that could no longer be shut into the closet. Scans
revealed cancerous tumors in both her forearm and spine. In January 2012, Keri
was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. In
late January she underwent spinal surgery to remove a portion of the tumor in
her spine. In February she began chemotherapy and radiation treatment on her
spine and right arm. She is currently undergoing treatment in Tampa,
FL.
She has responded well to treatment thus far, however, Ewing’s sarcomas are known
for an uncanny proclivity to creep back into a cancer survivors life, from the
perceived abyss of remission. Keri’s doctors feel that she is a good candidate
for a promising, novel procedure, whereby some of her bone marrow
will be extracted and stored, followed by a very powerful type of chemotherapy,
killing everything in her body but the kitchen sink, so to speak. Her doctors
will then re-infuse her with her own bone marrow to help her body begin the long
process of healing.
Unfortunately, at a time when they least need the added stress, Carl and Keri’s health
insurance deemed this treatment plan unnecessary, refusing to provide payment.
While her physicians are moving forward to petition the Moffitt Cancer Center,
Keri’s hospital, to cover half of the cost of the procedure, Carl and Keri will
still be responsible for $225,000... in addition to almost $100,000 that has not
been covered by her insurance for treatment up to this point. And, as if that
were not enough, they just received word from her insurance company that the
annual cap on Keri’s health insurance has been lowered from $250,000/year to
$150,000/year.
violin, in the 5th grade... and it loved her back. She raked in awards from
county and Florida All-State orchestras. Eventually, she earned her Bachelor’s
degree in Music Education and taught orchestra in the Florida public school
system. She knew she wouldn’t be content with this station in life, however,
and relocated to attend the University of Georgia in Athens to further her
education. She received her Master’s degree in Musicology in 2009, and is
currently working on her PhD in Musicology, specializing in Russian and Soviet
classical music.
It was in Athens that Keri met the love of her life, Carl Kinsel. They felt the
immediate connection that cannot be confused for anything other than finding the
one whose chord rings out in perfect harmony with your own. They were smitten,
never wanting to spend a night apart. Meeting Emma (then, 13) and Olivia (then,
9), Carl’s daughters, only sealed the deal. Carl and Keri were married in a
beautiful ceremony, surrounded by friends and family, on July 2,
2011.
Before the newlywed bliss had even begun to fade, in the fall of 2011, Keri began
having pain in her back and right forearm. Sure there must be a logical and
easily postponable solution, Keri went on with life, without complaining. She
had a lot on her plate- working on her Doctoral dissertation, teaching at UGA,
helping out at Carl’s graphic design firm. But by Christmas, her back pain had
grown into a monster that could no longer be shut into the closet. Scans
revealed cancerous tumors in both her forearm and spine. In January 2012, Keri
was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. In
late January she underwent spinal surgery to remove a portion of the tumor in
her spine. In February she began chemotherapy and radiation treatment on her
spine and right arm. She is currently undergoing treatment in Tampa,
FL.
She has responded well to treatment thus far, however, Ewing’s sarcomas are known
for an uncanny proclivity to creep back into a cancer survivors life, from the
perceived abyss of remission. Keri’s doctors feel that she is a good candidate
for a promising, novel procedure, whereby some of her bone marrow
will be extracted and stored, followed by a very powerful type of chemotherapy,
killing everything in her body but the kitchen sink, so to speak. Her doctors
will then re-infuse her with her own bone marrow to help her body begin the long
process of healing.
Unfortunately, at a time when they least need the added stress, Carl and Keri’s health
insurance deemed this treatment plan unnecessary, refusing to provide payment.
While her physicians are moving forward to petition the Moffitt Cancer Center,
Keri’s hospital, to cover half of the cost of the procedure, Carl and Keri will
still be responsible for $225,000... in addition to almost $100,000 that has not
been covered by her insurance for treatment up to this point. And, as if that
were not enough, they just received word from her insurance company that the
annual cap on Keri’s health insurance has been lowered from $250,000/year to
$150,000/year.