Hello, my name is Geanna Granger. On behalf of myself and my siblings, I’m reaching out to our friends, family, and community with a sincere and urgent request for help. We are humbly seeking financial support to provide the care our beloved mother, Vicki Wolfe, and grandmother, Georgianna Kahl, require during this challenging time.

The story that brings us here today....

On October 28, 2024, our mom made a desperate call to her daughter, Heather, at work. Heather recalls, “I’ll never forget that 27-second phone call. She said, “I need help. My head and neck hurt so bad I can’t move.” Acting quickly, Heather told her to call 911. EMS arrived and rushed our mom to Albany Memorial Hospital. Hours later, we received a life-changing call: “Your mom has a brain bleed. We're sending her to Albany Medical Center to see a neurosurgeon. She has suffered from a spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage.” Shortly after her transfer, doctors were placing a drain in her head in the ER to relieve the pressure on her brain, saving her life—a terrifying start to an unimaginable journey.

She was moved to the neuro ICU where she stayed for over 2 weeks with the drain in her head. She endured numerous scans, multiple procedures due to spasming in the arteries of her brain, stroke-like symptoms, and eventually a permanent shunt placement from her head to her stomach to help the fluid drain from the brain, as her body was no longer able to do it on its own. She was left with very limited mobility, cognitive and communication difficulties.

After 3 weeks in the hospital, she was stable enough to be discharged to an acute rehab facility to begin her road to recovery. It was a roller-coaster of emotions those 3 weeks, and just when things seemed to be looking up, the very same day our mom was discharged from Albany Med, our grandmother was admitted for her own illness. Gram spent the next two weeks in the hospital recovering from these medical issues and also undergoing pacemaker revision surgery for her heart. This added even more strain as we juggled to meet her needs as well as those of our mother. This required constant communication with both of their care teams to ensure their needs were met, making sure their bills were paid, keeping up their household, and driving all over the capitol district to spend time with them.

Both mom and gram began rehab at separate facilities over the next month. Just as gram was nearing her discharge home, mom was admitted to the same sub-acute rehab center to continue her therapy. She had recently started walking with some assistance and was communicating better, though still facing cognitive challenges. Unfortunately, just three days later, on December 16, 2024, mom was back at Albany Med with a major setback. Her mental status declined, and she required surgery to revise her brain shunt due to increased fluid. At the time of this writing, mom is still in the hospital at Albany Med, slowly improving (visitors welcome!) and we’re unsure of a discharge date. (....cont'd below)

Our gram was able to make it home on Christmas Eve, where she is still receiving home-based therapy services and we are currently piecemealing care for her amongst the family, as she is unable to live on her own. Mom was our grandmother’s full-time caregiver before all this happened. In addition, she is a loving “Nana” to 10 grandkids and mother to 5 kids. We are trying our hardest to keep our gram at home, comfortable and safe, just as our mom promised her mom, our grandmother, that she would do.

Video of Mom on Jan 2, 2025

As you can imagine, the strain on all of us has been overwhelming. I’ve personally been traveling back and forth to NY from my home in Utah, with many more trips anticipated and taking an unpaid leave from work. My siblings have had to take unpaid leave or miss several days of work, all while caring for their own young children and making ends meet. Medical bills for both mom and gram are beginning to arrive. We’ve started the process of seeking Medicaid approval for gram’s long-term care needs, but this is a challenging process and can take several months. In the meantime, we’re exploring options to hire home care aides to help increase support for gram, though this comes with a significant cost. Also, we’re unsure what our mom’s prognosis is and what her life will look like when she leaves the hospital. We anticipate that she, too, will require 24/7 care at this point.

We’re finding it overwhelming to manage the physical, emotional, and financial burdens of caring for them both simultaneously. We are doing everything we can, but can no longer do it alone. Your financial support would be invaluable in helping us cover the mounting medical bills, essential home care services, and the day-to-day personal care needs of both our mom and gram. Every contribution, no matter the size, will directly support their well-being and give our family the ability to provide the care they deserve. Your kindness and generosity mean the world and could make all the difference as we navigate these uncertain times. In addition, your help in sharing our story would be deeply appreciated and can greatly amplify the support we’re seeking.

Thank you, a thousand times, over for taking the time to read our story, donate, or share. We will keep you updated. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers <3

If you would prefer another method to donate that doesn't involve the fees taken out, please reach out (I have other options).