Seventh Annual Griffin's Game Set for Sept. 6 - Kennesaw State Athletics

By: Mark Wasik

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KENNESAW, Ga. – Volleyball season is just around the corner for Kennesaw State, which means it's also time for one of their biggest games of the season, as the Owls will host the seventh annual Griffin's Game on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 6:30 pm against the Samford Bulldogs in the Convocation Center.
 
Named in honor of Head Coach Keith Schunzel and volunteer assistant Briana Schunzel's son, Griffin, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the KSU volleyball team selects a family to honor and support in order to help with their expenses in their fight against childhood cancer.
 
For the 2022 Griffin's Game, the Owls will honor Emily Kate McKinney, from Marietta, Ga.

 
Help us support Emily and her family by marking your calendars for this year's Griffin's Game. Tickets for the contest are $10, with $5 from each ticket sold going towards Emily's family, and can be purchased HERE. Fans also have the opportunity to make a donation to the fundraiser, as well as donating and/or purchasing an official T-shirt from the game on the KSU donation page HERE. 
 
The Schunzels received an overwhelming amount of support when Griffin was diagnosed in March of 2015 and they, along with the volleyball program and the KSU athletic department, want to be able to give that same level of support to a local family dealing with a similar struggle.

"As Emily and her family fight this horrible disease, we're looking forward to this opportunity to surround them with love and support through what is a very trying time in their lives," said Schunzel.

Emily Kate "EK" was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic neuroblastoma on December 13, 2021, at just 16 months old. A small swollen lymph node on her neck popped up out of nowhere which brought her to the pediatrician's office. Continued swelling, additional lumps, and a rough virus let to numerous doctors' visits until her parents were eventually given an ENT referral, which lead to a biopsy, and then to the call that no parent is ever ready to hear - "Emily has cancer". Their little family of four had their whole world turned upside down with that one phrase.
 
The next few weeks were full of scans to determine her final diagnosis, staging, and treatment plan. The cancer had spread to her nearby lymph nodes and bone marrow. EK began chemotherapy at CHOA Scottish Rite the week of New Year's. After four cycles of chemo her bone marrow was cleared of all cancer cells. She would go through eight more cycles of chemo, adding in a stronger chemo, to see if the treatment could get the tumor to respond better. Each cycle brought more nausea, possible long term side effects, and stress. Yet each day, Emily played as much as she could, and never let it get her down. 
 
After a trip to Chicago for the National Neuroblastoma Conference, Emily's family met with the top Neuroblastoma oncologists, and will now be traveling to Memorial Sloane Kettering in New York City on Sept. 12 for surgery to attempt to remove a majority of the tumor. 

To date, Emily has been through: 24 days of chemotherapy, 61 blood labs, three bone marrow aspirations, 16 days inpatient, 4 MRIs, three chest x-rays, two lymphadenopathy surgeries, and one: CT scan, MIGB scan, PET scan, Echocardiogram, port placement surgery and ultrasound.

Emily just turned two. She wakes up every day with a smile and proves to the world she is the biggest warrior.

 

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https://ksuowls.com/news/2022/8/22/volleyball-seventh-annual-griffins-game-set-for-sept-6.aspx

2022-08-22 15:23:29Z
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