As many know, my beloved mother, "Jeannie Ketcham," was rushed to the hospital on Aug 26th. She was quickly transferred to UVM, where she was placed in the ICU and put on life support. The first week, we were told they didn't know if she was going to pull through due to having sepsis on top of her cancer and other underlying health conditions. My mother is a fighter, and when the doctors asked how far I wanted to go with life-saving measures, I said do anything and everything. It's not her time, and you don't know my mom. If anyone will pull through, it will be her. Well, a week later, she started passing her breathing tests and was finally to a point they thought she could come off the ventilator. Well, in true Gma fashion, about 2 hours after they took her off the vent, she opened her eyes and glared at us all for staring at her, having no idea what her body endured the past 7 days. She made it through the sepsis and is now out of the ICU but has an extremely long road ahead as her body strength has quickly deteriorated, and her kidneys suffered injury due to the sepsis. Doctors are still working hard to try to get her body functioning properly and to get her levels down to where they were before. We really are still unsure why they are not going down. With no discharge date in sight and weeks, even months, of rehab ahead of her, we are asking for a little help during this time.

My mother has spent her life helping others. From helping anyone anytime they called when I was young, to then at only 45 years old, stopping her entire life to care for her husband who was diagnosed with ALS so he could spend his last 8 months and pass away where he wanted, at home instead of at a hospital/hospice. She then returned to work shortly after, finally retiring from IBM after 30+ years less than 5 years later. She then moved to Eden with Eric! But she couldn't sit still and enjoy retirement, so she took on a caregiver position at the Manor in Morrisville, caring for their residents for over 7 years. She left the Manor because Eric's muscular dystrophy had progressed, and he needed more daily assistance. Meanwhile, this woman still helped me whenever I needed her, never said no to babysitting her granddaughter, and took care of our horse farm day in and day out, while always being there for Eric as well. She helped me teach many kiddos over 14 years the ins and outs of horses and spent endless hours driving the truck and trailer to horse shows for us. She has spent her entire life making sure everyone else was good, and that's what made her the happiest. She never complained or ever asked for help for herself, which she has now realized help is needed sometimes. So as much as we hate to ask for it, we are in need of some assistance at this point. With the medical bills continuing to grow, travel expenses, loss of wages, alternative assistance needed for Eric, her beloved horses, and all her other responsibilities, things are starting to accumulate. Anything raised will go directly towards her ongoing medical expenses, along with anything else needed to get her home where she belongs. My mother is the strongest, most caring, giving, hardworking, and prideful woman I've ever met. I am asking our friends and family to show our little family some love by donating or, if unable to, just sharing this link. Gma has helped and touched so many lives, and now it's our turn to help her worry less and just focus on recovering because we need her!

Jamie, Jaylynn & Eric