Help our Mom roll up on people!

This is Chi Kaatz. She is 62 years young! She started the year working full time as a civilian on Tyndall Airforce base as a restaurant manager like she has for the past 5 years. Even though she is only 5’1 on a good day, and weighed about 120 pounds, she was the most fearsome little firecracker there! She has worked in the food industry all her life, managing and serving up good food. There is a little Chi spice in everything she serves. She attended church, sang in the choir, and did translation for them. She likes puzzles and needle point work, and created many beautiful pieces for friends and family. We tried to put her in a sweat shop to make money by mass producing her needle point work, however she fought vehemently against it (selfish!). We tease Mom mercilessly, and her favorite response “kiss my yellow ass”! Such is our circle of life. She has always been a rock for us, and a place of warmth and love that is never ending.



This year in May, she started to trip over her left foot. She didn’t tell her children. She didn’t want to worry us. She thought it was from working long hours on her feet. One day while working she fell and injured her knee. When we got the call, Mom said she was fine. She had knee surgery in June 2018. When we called to check on Mom, again she told us she was fine, and  “please don’t worry”. Shortly after surgery she developed drop foot. She fell again, this time badly injuring her head. When we talked to Mom again she was crying, she said “please come, I don’t know what’s happening to me”. She was living in Panama City Florida. Her family is in Colorado. The doctors in Panama City couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. We knew Mom must be really suffering for her to admit she was suffering.



We flew to Panama City, and brought Mom back to Colorado to see a neurologist here. On the first visit they suggested to us, she may have ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis​. I cannot convey to you the devastation those words cause. What they mean. I will try my best. (Some of you may be familiar with ALS through Lou Gehrig, Stephen Hawking and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge).  ALS is a disease that effects the ability of your brain to send signals to your muscles. Your motor neurons die, and you are eventually unable to move any voluntary muscle. Eventually it will effect, chewing, swallowing, and  breathing. This is a terminal illness. On October 23rd 2018 we got the official diagnosis of ALS. Since the diagnosis. Mom has gone through many emotions, from devastation and confusion to deep depression, and finally acceptance and determination to live.



Since the diagnosis, Mom has lost a lot. Movement in her legs and arms. Chewing and breathing are harder. Mobility is drastically decreased. We have received some help through the ALS association, and from the most generous and loving friends and family EVER! There are some things we still desperately need to keep Mom able to do simple things, like go outside to get fresh air, have lunch with friends, and most importantly, get to her doctor’s appointments (there are so many!). She needs to handicap her new house so she can get in and out. (We need to find a new place to live that can be converted to handicap accessible) She needs a safe bathroom to use, ramps, bars etc. We are trying to get her work at the local topless bar, but as usual she is against it. My siblings and I are already working full time so we can’t work at the topless bar.  Big Mike the owner is holding a spot for her. Did I mention my Mom is HOT, and not just from the menopausal hot flashes either.  She is young and beautiful, and wants to fight what this horrible disease is trying to do to her. She is not alone in this fight. We fight with her. Please join us, and help us fight this bitch we call ALS. Anything helps, even shares!



Thank you,

A Grateful Family