March 26th and 27th

First off, thank you to all of you for your participation in both of
the ceremonies yesterday. Everything went so well and it was nice to see so many people sharing their love for my Dad! Very special thanks to Lunardi's for the food, Raleys for drinks and flowers, to the Hayward Starbucks for coffee, and to everyone for everything. It was truly a special day!

Please email us photos! Loveforlarzy@gmail.com

Part of my father's ashes are resting at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose. He is in the Hillside mausoleum, although it will take some time for the plaque to be made, so as of now it is not marked. More on that as it is available.

Today we spread the rest of my father's ashes in the bay, and what a glorious beautiful day it was for such a thing. We saw dolphins! The weather was perfect, our captain was gracious. Here this their website, we highly recommend them, they were professional and a easy to work with.

Due to coast guard regulations, we were not allowed too close to Alcatraz, but we reached a point right on the path that dad swam, said a couple words, and spread his ashes into the bay. I cannot express how therapeutic it was. It was when we were doing thing that I thought, "We did a good job." We did. The events of this month have been traumatic, we will never be the same, but after yesterday and today we cannot look back without thinking that we honored Dad in a way that he would have been proud of. We didn't do it alone either, there are so many thanks to all of you for your love and support.

In addition to Oak Hill, if you ever find yourself on Alcatraz...

There is a flat area on the island on the side facing San Francisco that has some concrete rubble. At the edge of this there is a large cypress tree, by the cypress tree there are some stairs that go down to a sitting area. Sit on the bench the farthest to your right from the bottom of the stairs; when you look at the water just off Alcatraz looking toward san Francisco you will be looking where we were today.

We will continue to run the blog, as it is a great way to keep in touch with all of you. Also, there have been talks of a Team Larzy being formed for a cancer run; we will keep you posted.

Love

TJ, Heather, and Kathy

March 24th

Just wanted to say, keep the stories coming!

loveforlarzy@gmail.com

Tim

March 22nd

I hope everyone is doing well. We are all hanging in there, there are up and downs but that's the way these things go. We are finalizing everything for this weekend and we are looking forward to seeing all of you at the memorial.

Once again if you are at all interested in speaking please shoot me an email here at LoveForLarzy@gmail.com. At the end of the "service" there will be time for anyone to speak, so no pressure about giving me heads up - however doing so will expedite the organizing and such. If you have a story about Dad email it to me here. We would like to read them and, if you like, I can read it for you at the service.

Finally, I wanted to let everyone know that most of Dad's ashes will be at a gravesite, but what you may not know is that we are spreading the rest. He had mentioned to my sister that he wouldn't mind having his ashes spread in the San Francisco bay. So, after making some phone calls we have chartered a boat and are doing so. The neat thing about it is that the boat we have chartered is the very same boat used as a saftey boat for the Swim or Die aquathon (a race my father completed and the race my father was most proud of completing). The boat will be taking us on the route he swam. We are very excited about this because we know that dad would have really appreciated it.

With love,

Tim

March 15th

Hello Friends and Family,

The last few days we have been making arrangements for a service for our dad. We have planned a memorial to celebrate his life. This celebration will include friends and family. If you know someone who would be interested in attending, please feel free to pass the information along.

Day- Friday, March 26th
Start time- 4:30pm
Ceremony- around 6:00
End time- 8:00pm
Location-
Milpitas Community Center
Auditorium
457 East Calaveras Blvd.
Milpitas, Ca 95035
Map (corrected)

When you enter the Community Center, the doors to the auditorium will be directly on your right. We will have snacks and refreshments provided by my dad's coworkers from Lunardi's in Los Gatos. (Thank you so much!) My brother will be putting together a small ceremony. If you would like to speak or if you have a story you would like him to share on your behalf, please email loveforlarzy@gmail.com. It is an open house format so please feel free to stop by at any time. We are planning for the ceremony to begin around 6:00.

**We are holding a private family ceremony as well. The details for the time and day were just confirmed. If you are a family member who does not yet have this information, please email loveforlarzy@gmail.com for details. **

March 13th

Hello everyone,

Today has been a day to decompress. We took care of a lot of details including the preliminary planning of our father's memorial service. The service will either be the 26th or the 27th of this month, we should be able to finalize a date by tomorrow. It will be in the evening if it is Friday and afternoon if it is Saturday. The memorial will be a casual celebration as per our father's wishes.

That being said, I will be officiating (for lack of a better term) the ceremony. I am looking for people who would like to speak. PLEASE contact me if you are at all interested as I would like to have the ceremony put together within the week.

If you aren't comfortable with speaking at the memorial (or if your are), or if you can't make it, or for any reason at all, we are looking for your favorite, interesting, funny, etc... stories about or involving dad. These things help our journey through these times, and we may be using them as a means of remembering him during the celebrations to come.

Please contact us for either reason at LoveForLarzy@gmail.com We would greatly appreciate it!

If you are family, please contact us personally as we are planning something more intimate for our relatives.

Talk to you soon,
Tim

March 12th PM

Our father passed away at five o'clock this evening. He was a fighter to the end. Thank you for your support and love. Stay tuned for further information.

All our love,

Heather and Tim

March 12th

Hello Friends,

Last night was a bad night. He stopped breathing for a while but came back to us. He still isn't able to speak to us anymore but overall, he is comfortable. The nurses are giving him extra doses of pain medication and another medication to help him relax. We didn't know if dad would be with us today, but he is and we are glad to have him as long as he wants to be here. There are no words to say how hard this is. We are pouring our love out to him, talking to him and holding his hand. We will be here every step of the way. Thank you friends. Your love gives us strength.

Hugs,

Heather

March 11th

Today was even more mellow than yesterday and while we are not monitoring medication, fielding questions, and meetings with doctors and nurses it has been difficult. Once again, he is in no pain, and the discomfort has all but subsided but the cancer is taking it's toll. He has been asleep since late yesterday evening minus a few brief moments.

For this reason we are taking all well-wishing and questions through the blog here or through LoveForLarzy@gmail.com, his cell phone will be turned off tonight. We cannot accept any visitors except for family (please call ahead so we can arrange to meet at the JW house or in the room depending on his situation). We have has so many visit requests and it pains me to turn away dad's friends and coworkers but we believe this is the best policy for now. I was holding out hope that he would have a good day here soon so we could usher in some of you to lift his spirits - but as pancreatic cancer goes, it is a resilient viscous thing.

Truly the hardest part for me personally was last night while I was reading all of your comments to dad as he slept. Words cannot express how it feels.

Love,

Tim

March 10th PM

Today was a mellow day. Finally, dad has not complained of pain or discomfort at all, for one whole day. The result however has been a lot of sleeping and a lot of miscommunication. All in all he seems in good spirits. When he is up he is making jokes (some that we don't quite get); he is aware. It makes us so happy to see and hear him reacting and still being dad. You'll think he is asleep and then all of the sudden he's cracking jokes at the t.v. or about something we are talking about. It is encouraging. While he may not feel like Larzy, damned if he isn't the same man we all know and love.

This mellow day while not so tumultuous has been trying as well. So it goes. I wish we could have gotten this thing up earlier because as encouraging it is to hear and dad still be dad through all of this, it is so much more awesome with all of you cheering him on. Cheering us on! That being said, i will bid you all good night as it is time for me to read him some comments.

Please keep reading.
Please keep commenting.

Sincerely,
Tim

P.S. We officially have a room at the J.W. House here. It is a wonderful establishment that provides an often overlooked process in times like these. If i still lived here it is a place that i would gladly volunteer for.

March 10th AM

Hello Everyone,

Last night dad was feeling ok and his pain was managed well and he slept a lot. A breathing problem seemed to start last night. While dad was sleeping his breathing became irregular and at times it seemed he was gasping for breath. As quickly as the problem started, it stopped and he was back to our regular snoring dad. After calling the nurse Cliff, he explained that his breathing patterns will change as his condition progresses. He also reminded me that his hearing will stay intact and to keep talking to him, even when he seems to not be listening. Ah, the comfort a good nurse can give during scary, uncertain times. But, I still never thought I would cling to the sound of his snoring as I did last night.

As for pain, the downside is the pain medications are causing him to be very confused. He isn't able to remember what is happening and why he is here at times. Because of this we are limiting visits inside his room. We know many of you are looking forward to coming to visit. If you would like to come to the hospital, we want you to come. Please call me (Heather- 408-515-3657), or email LOVEFORLARZY@GMAIL.COM with the time you will be coming. We can plan to meet you in the lobby. We will have a notebook in which you can write what you wish to my dad. You can also visit with the family members who are here. We will read the notebook to my dad during the times when we can tell he understands. We hope this doesn't stop anyone from coming, but we understand if you prefer to wait until you are able to go inside his room. For now, we know this is best for Dad now.

Please refer to the first blog post for directions to the hospital.

March 9th PM

Hello Everyone,

Today was an ok day. He is adjusting to the tube in his nose but has had some relief from the nausea. Our great nurse Cliff just came in and dad said he was feeling comfortable. The meds keep him feeling tired and at times, a little confused.

We were contacted by an old friend who works at the JW House. This great resource will give us, our family and friends a place to come visit and talk together, take a shower, rest...etc. Please click on the link for more information on the JW House.

We were given a small journal. We will keep it in dads room. If you happen to stop by and he is sleeping, you can write him a note which he can read when he is awake. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for visitors. We will try to post an update about that early tomorrow.

Thank you for all the phone calls, emails and comments. It feels so good to read them.

Hanging in there,
Heather

March 9th, AM

As these things go, we must take every day as it comes. Late last evening after examining some x-rays the doctors here have found the reason for dad's nausea. There is an obstruction in his upper intestine which explains not only his lack of appetite but why it is so hard to keep things down. This also is a cause of some of the pressure he was feeling in his abdomen (in addition to the fluid retention from the distention). He has been given another procedure to help relieve the fluid that has been gathering inside his stomach and intestine.

This morning he does feel a whole lot better, so far. For now we are limiting visiting to family for the day, please keep in touch about when is best. This may change depending on how he feels as the day progresses.

Love,
Tim

Monday, the 8th

Dad had a bit of a rough night last night, but all in all he did get quite a bit of continuous sleep, which is good. The three things we are trying to tackle with his stay here are the pain, the distention (swelling), and nausea (which affects food and drink intake). The first part of last week we tackled the pain and last Thursday he underwent a procedure that will aid in the relief of fluids. The issue this morning is the nausea. We are currently working with the staff here to find the best combination of medication a well as a regimen for them so that he can feel as comfortable as possible.

That being said, today is not a good day to visit. We are hoping he will feel well enough for visits tomorrow.

If you are thinking of visiting tomorrow please contact us at LoveForLarzy@gmail.com and we can set up a good time.

Thanks for checking in.

Love,
Tim

First Update

Hello Everyone. Thank you for checking out the blog. I hope it really helps everyone stay connected during these difficult days. We hate to keep people out of the loop but it is really hard to call everyone with updates. We (Timothy and Heather) will try our best to constantly post updates on dad's condition and important information. We would also love for you all to comment on our posts and send well wishes which we will read to dad.

This last week has been truly difficult. It began 2 weeks ago when he was not feeling well and his pain was increasing due to his pancreatic cancer. Last Sunday he was admitted to the ER with a lot of pain. After a very long, scary day we made it through. My brother Timothy and his wife Alicia flew in town right away to be with Dad and they have been here since. After two days on a floor down stairs he was moved to the Oncology unit on the third floor. It has been very comforting to have nurses who really understand how to take care of him. The week has been spent with family staying here around the clock to keep him company and to keep informed regarding his plan for care. We have good days and bad days but the goal is to manage dad's pain so he can be comfortable. I will post again when I can.

Hugs,
Heather

Information

Dad is currently staying at Kaiser Santa Clara.

Kaiser Santa Clara
700 Lawrence Expy
Santa Clara, California 95051
Room 3322

Directions
His room is located on the third floor Oncology Unit. If you are planning a visit, please stay tuned to see which days are best for visitors. When you arrive at the hospital, park in the parking structure to the LEFT of the Emergency Room Entrance. Enter through the doors on the RIGHT of the Emergency Room entrance. Go down the long hall way on your left hand side. Go up the elevators to the third floor. Exit the elevators and turn RIGHT. His room is past the nurses station on your RIGHT hand side.

Information Regarding Your Visit
-We ask that only two visitors come into the room at a time.
-Use hand sanitizer on your way in and out.
-If a procedure is taking place or medicine is being given, please step outside the room.
-Please refrain from bringing hot food or scented plants. Please avoid strong scented lotions/perfumes.
-If you feel you may be coming down with a cold, please get a mask from the nurses station.
-If you are currently sick please send your love with a card or a phone call.