Support Judy Seitz after the Loss of Her Husband, Marty

We are Marty and Judy Seitz. Our life story seemed rather uneventful until the first week of 2025, starting out the new year, when it suddenly changed dramatically. My husband, Marty, works as a psychologist in a counseling center, and I dedicate a lot of my time watching our 10-year-old grandson while our daughter is at work. The reason for creating this account is because so many people have asked what they can do for our family during this time when we have found ourselves in great need.

Over the first weekend in January, Marty became ill, getting worse daily, and January 7th he was rushed by ambulance to the ER and diagnosed with legionella pneumonia (yes, Legionnaire’s Disease) and septic shock. He was in the ICU for 8 days, including my worst nightmare, having to be intubated. He remained intubated for 7 days, and was fighting for his life. The doctors were starting to talk about the possibility of doing a tracheotomy. After some complications were discovered and addressed, Marty had the ventilator removed. He was then moved to a regular room for 9 days and finally into a rehabilitation hospital for 16 days. Thankfully, he was finally released to go home on February 9th.

We almost lost my husband, beloved father and admired grandfather, that first week. His grandson Isaac said of his grandfather while he was in the ICU, “I feel the saddest I have ever felt in my life. Abuelito is my favorite person.” Thankfully, Marty is recovering, but he can’t walk on his own yet and has lost a lot of strength. Finally, he’s facing complications with his heart. In 2018, Marty had open-heart surgery with a mitral valve replacement. That valve seems to have been damaged due to this illness, and he is facing either a repair or another full, open-heart surgery, which he wouldn't be able to do until he's much stronger. We are grateful to have Marty still with us, but we are unsure of the road ahead.

We are incredibly grateful for your support! Being self-employed, Marty loses all income every day he doesn’t work. He has already been out of work for more than a month and will only be able to work a few hours per week using telehealth when he believes he’s strong enough. We're looking at months of inadequate or nonexistent income. He won’t be driving for some time, which means he can't go back to the office. I had foot surgery in December and am not allowed to begin walking until the first week of March. I have no idea when I’ll be allowed to drive, so I can’t transport Marty to and from work, much less to all the follow-up doctors’ appointments.

Finding ourselves in this difficult time, we’re asking for financial assistance from anyone willing and able to help. We’re trying to cover immediate and future loss of income, house, and medical supply expenses to cover us from January 1 for several months. For all these necessities, we have set a goal of $50,000. We will update you on Marty’s progress and needs in the coming days. We are grateful for each of you and for your willingness to consider contributing to our medical expenses and loss of income.