Chad Kinsey Assistance Fund

Our creative friend, colleague, musician, producer and sound engineer Chad Kinsey started to feel like something was out of the ordinary in September of 2022. On September 23 he drove himself to the emergency room and he remained under increasingly intense medical care for five solid months.

Chad was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and didn’t see his home again until January 11, 2023. Chad spent 111 days in the hospital unable to move, in a medical fog. During that time he underwent all manner of rigorous testing and treatments to diagnose and combat the horrible disease.

Chad's Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) triggered several life-threatening episodes: sepsis, which damaged his kidneys and had him on dialysis for two weeks; a fungal infection, which required surgery in the nose and had him on a ventilator for days; severe edema, which expanded his limbs two to three times their size preventing any movement for most of his hospitalization; and many more episodes which had him going back and forth from the Cancer wing to MICU too often.

Many days were touch and go for Chad.

Chad has little recollection of his worst days in extremis where hallucinations were common but there was pain, confusion, and hospital-induced delirium. He lost weight, muscle mass and cognitive ability but Chad kept fighting and, after nearly half a year, made the careful transition back home where he is slowly gaining weight, working on walking and rediscovering guitars.

Through it all, we cannot overstate the support offered by Chad’s girlfriend Ju-Ping Song and what that has meant to his recovery. From navigating the healthcare labyrinth to communicating with friends and family, she's been a heroine in this dark comedy. The diagnosis and resulting new reality also placed Ju-Ping's career on indefinite hold.

Although his spirit is strong and his mind is sharp, Chad is still a shadow of his former physical self. He remains on a chemotherapy regimen and is anticipating a bone marrow transplant in June. He is healing and will one day be himself again. We believe that.

Needless to say, Chad has been unable to earn any income during this time and, given his current state, that is unlikely to change for some time. He is actively strength training but his decline was so great that he cannot hold, let alone play, an instrument.

This fund will raise money directly for Chad Kinsey’s discretional use to offset lost income and out-of-pocket costs associated with the staggering resources required to fund deductibles and life as a cancer survivor.

Chad's done his part in remaining hopeful and working on improving every day but he'll still have months and months of treatments and rehabilitation in the future. Chad's livelihood will be disrupted for an untold period, and I'm asking his friends to help make sure he and Ju-Ping can focus on his recovery with less financial stress. They are a lovely, interesting, hardworking, independent, generous and immensely talented couple who would never ask for our help but certainly need it.

I hope you'll contribute as generously as possible.

Sincerely,

Todd Palmer