VOORHEESVILLE – Jimmy Pincheon is a happy, "do-anything-for-anybody kind of kid," says his mother, Stephanie Pincheon.

Jimmy,12, will be a seventh-grader at Voorheesville Middle School next year. He was diagnosed last month with chronic liver failure and is hospitalized at Mount Sinai in New York City while he awaits a liver transplant.
"It’s very nerve-wracking," Pincheon said. "It’s hard to watch your son deteriorate." A single mother, Pincheon feels pressure to return to her job but will not leave her son alone in the hospital.
"He’s really happy and positive," Pincheon said of Jimmy, who was asleep when she spoke to The Enterprise on Tuesday. "He loves to be outdoors," she added.

Jimmy plays trumpet in the middle-school band and enjoys golfing, his mother said.
Pincheon picked up Jimmy from school at the start of Memorial Day weekend, and, though he didn’t appear sick, she noticed that his eyes were a very dark yellow color, she remembered. "Kind of like contacts for Halloween," she said of how his eyes looked.

She took Jimmy, or Squeaky as he is more casually known, to Albany Medical Center, she said; she thought he needed some eye drops. He was diagnosed with liver failure, and, after a few days, was transported by ambulance to Mount Sinai, she said.
"Now from tip to toe he has a golden-brown color," Pincheon said. "Jaundice has taken over." She joked that she doesn’t dress him in yellow shirts because of his coloring.
Besides his color, Pincheon said, "You wouldn’t think he was ill."

The team of about 20 doctors which cares for Jimmy has been unable to identify what exactly caused his liver to fail, Pincheon said. Doctors tested for 53 common viruses in Jimmy that could lead to liver failure, and they all came back negative, Pincheon said.
The doctors do believe that it was caused by some kind of viral infection, she said. "It is not uncommon for them to never know what virus," she added.
Pincheon said that she has accepted the fact that Jimmy needs a new liver. "We keep a positive attitude," she said. "There’s no point in letting it overwhelm you" I keep a bright face for him."

Single mom

Pincheon has three sons. She and her ex-husband were divorced when Jimmy was still an infant, she said.
"We don’t really talk about him," she said of her ex-husband.

Justin, her oldest son, graduated from Clayton A. Bouton High School last year and joined the United States Marine Corps in September. He is currently stationed in Japan.
It is really hard for him being so far away, Pincheon said of her oldest son. "He is concerned" for his baby brother, and will take emergency leave to come home if he needs to, she said.

Justin joined the military at the same time as George Ward, another Voorheesville graduate. George’s mother, Darlene Ward, helped form the second chapter of the Capital Region Blue Star Mothers of America, made up of those whose children are serving in the military.

Ward asked Pincheon to join the group, just as her son talked Justin into joining the Marines, Ward told The Enterprise with a laugh.

The Blue Star Mothers group sent Jimmy a portable DVD player and a bunch of movies, Ward said. The doctors try to keep Jimmy as active as possible, she added. Ward has also set up a Jimmy Pincheon Benefit Fund at the First Niagara Bank in Voorheesville.

Rocky and Rochelle, the Pincheon family ferrets, have been staying at Ward’s house. Ward’s 8-year-old daughter, Lauren, said she plans to draw a picture for Jimmy and also wants to have her mom take a picture of her playing with Rocky and Rochelle to send to him.
"She is very close to her sons and they are very protective of her," Ward said of Pincheon’s relationship with her children. "Stephanie is unbelievably strong, I don’t know how she does it," Ward said.
"We feel he’s going to do just great with this," Pincheon said of Jimmy.
"Darlene Ward has been a godsend to me," Pincheon said. "She’s a great, great lady" She’s stepped right up as if we’ve been friends for years," she said of Ward, whom she hasn’t known all that long.

Pincheon’s middle son, Jason, just graduated from high school on Friday night. Pincheon drove back to Voorheesville for the ceremony, while her mother stayed with Jimmy in New York.
"We never leave him," Pincheon said. "He’s always with a family member."

Pincheon says that, as her children were growing up, she always took part in their activities. She helped coach baseball when her sons joined the baseball team and became president of the wrestling club when Justin and Jason starting wrestling, she said.
"Whatever the boys did, I was right behind them," she said. "It’s kept me young and motivated, so far."
Pincheon has taken a leave of absence from her job as a warehouse administrator for a local security-systems company, to be with her son. "Unfortunately, they’re not the most understanding people," she said of her employers, who want to know when she will be back at work.

The employer could not be reached for comment this week.

She said she tells them that when her son is better, she will be back at work.
"I wouldn’t ever think of leaving any of my sons alone in the hospital," Pincheon said.
"My boys mean the world to me" I wouldn’t trade them for anything," said Pincheon.
Jason and Justin are both "very concerned" about their brother, Pincheon said. "If it came down to live-tissue donation, they want to be here," she said.

Caring community

The walls of Jimmy’s room are covered with countless cards sent from family, friends, and members of the Voorheesville community, Pincheon said.
"The whole community has been overwhelmingly generous," she said.
Jimmy is a "nice, likeable kid," said middle-school guidance counselor Barbara Blumberg. "He’s a well-liked, well-thought of student," she added.
She said that every Friday the staff at the school can pay a dollar to "dress down." The school designated two of the dress-down Fridays to help Stephanie Pincheon with her daily expenses, Blumberg said.
Pincheon has no income while she is out of work, and, though her landlord has been understanding, Pincheon said she is "not quite sure how things are going to work out."

Her main concern, though, is Jimmy, and helping him to get better.
Every day, Pincheon and Jimmy read messages posted on a webpage at caringbridge.org, that is set up specifically for Jimmy. "There’s been an influx of prayers and thoughts" through the website, Pincheon said.
Jimmy "misses everyone so much," she said. "It’s a little hard on him," she said, adding that he still manages to keep up his positive attitude.
"I have a feeling he’s going to be just fine," Pincheon said optimistically.
The staff of doctors and nurses at Mount Sinai, she said, are caring and wonderful. "It’s like we have an extended family."
Pincheon said that she stays strong, in part, because of the incredible support from her parents, her sister, and brothers. "My family has been a backbone for me," she said.
"This is just a bump in the road, and we’re going to get over it," Pincheon said. "We’re going to take out the old batteries and put in some new ones, and be just fine."