Monday, February 15, 2010

Come celebrate his life...

Come join us in the celebration of the life of Marshall H. Kosoff (also know as Grandpa Marshmallow) on Sunday, February 21, 2010. Memorial service at 3pm at the Lakeland Hills Community Center at 5801 Lakeland Hills Way, Auburn, WA 98092.

We will have a "Marshall-style" BBQ following the service including steak, baked potato and salad. Kordell is in charge of beverages.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

He's gone.

We love you Dad! We will miss you!

It's time to let him go...

After an incredible fight, Dad has decided to turn the machines off tonight.

It's so hard to let him go. Hospice will make it peaceful.

Please pray for his comfort.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Surgery on the artery

This morning Dad has surgery. It went well and he came out ok. They went through his stomach which means he is going to be in a lot of pain once he wakes up. There is good news and bad news. The good news is the artery that was bleeding a few days ago is no longer bleeding, the bad news is the artery that was bleeding a few days ago is no longer bleeding. Which means the source of the internal bleeding is unknown. For now they will watch him closely, keep him comfortable and hope his blood count goes up over the next 24 hours. If it does not correct itself then they will do a Colonoscopy. We will update the blog as soon as we know more. Thanks again for all of your prayers.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Happy 67th Birthday DAD!

With balloons, two colorful birthday banners and jazz music blaring in the background we celebrate Dad's 67th birthday here in ICU. You can hear the music from down the hall, but no one is brave enough to tell us to turn it down. We are determined to make this a great day for Dad regardless of how disobedient his body is being.

They have been watching him closely the last 48 hours. He had a decent night with no major incidents. His blood count went slightly up which pleased the doctors. As for now they will continue to watch his blood count and as long as it is the same or a little higher they will not do the surgery. We will keep you posted.

We are trying to keep his spirits high. He had a lot of calls from people wishing him a Happy Birthday. The nurse was trying to cheer him up when she put water on a swab and told him to imagine it was cupcake flavor. She said she didn't think he was amused. I guess it was the thought that counts.

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Not out of the woods yet, but better!

He is much more alert today which is great to see. His coloring is so much better. Yesterday he was white as a ghost and his eyes looked so distant. His vitals are back to where they should be. Hallelujah! His kidneys are better, but not quite where they need to be. But at least he is stable. His blood tests show there is still internal bleeding. They decided to avoid the coil procedure and move forward with the surgery. This morning they asked his permission to do surgery on the artery if they have to. We will know more later today.

Our biggest concern was how aware he truly is. The nurse said they did a brain function test on him and he was able to blink correct answers that indicate he is still totally coherent of everything. He is one stubborn guy, obviously not willing to give up!

I will update when we know more. Thanks again for your prayers!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

It's time to PRAY again!

Just got an update from the nurse...

We were told Dad was going to be transferred last night at 4pm. We were sad to hear at the last minute he was not going to be transferred to Rainier Vista because they had not had a final signature from the doctors. What a blessing that ended up to be. This morning at 4am Dad's blood pressure and heart rate went dangerously low. They discovered he was bleeding internally which presented itself through his rectal tube (sorry for the details). It was pretty scary for several hours. They put another camera down his throat to determine it is an artery that is bleeding. They used epinephrine to close the artery. They will watch him closely to see if that is enough to stop the bleeding permanently. If he begins to bleed again they will do a procedure where they put a coil in the artery. Unfortunately this procedure has only a 50% chance of success. If this does not work they will do a more invasive surgery to repair the artery. Since he is not a good candidate for surgery we need to PRAY the epinephrine stops the bleeding.

Again, what a blessing he was not transferred to the nursing home last night.

He has had 3 units of blood already and they are planning on one more. He is stable but still critical. On top of everything else his kidneys are not working. Let's pray he has a better night tonight! Thanks for all your prayers!