Memories

UPDATE:

Hey again everyone! Not much new in the Koss household. My dad is still holding up very well after the first chemo treatment! Hopefully not much changes there. My parents have been trying to go out as much as they can together before the nine day period is up where it is safe for my dad to be out in public, since chemo basically shuts down your immune system. It is definitely going to be tough for not only him, but of course his family too with him not being able to leave the house except for doctor’s appointments and such. My family and I are going to do our best to help him feel comfortable.

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Today I’m going to discuss one of my favorite memories with my dad.

Honestly? It is hard to choose… so I didn’t. I have done a ton of fun activities with my dad and family.

This is one of my most recent pictures with him. This is from my 21^st birthday in July. My parents joined my friends and I in celebration, and took care of me in my after-math. They deserve a medal for that alone.

This is a picture of all my whole family at a Tiger’s game, when my Vegas family came in for 3 weeks in the summer. My dad takes such great pride in his grandchildren too.

This picture of my dad, sister, nephew and I is from summer of 2013 at Kensington Metropark – now one of my favorite places in the world because my parents took me there when I was younger.

And this picture is from one of our dozens of vacations together. Each vacation is another memory I want to never forget!

Time spent with family is extremely important. Life is too short to spend it any other way.

Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind.

Donate to A Good Koss Here

My Favorite Vacation with my Family

UPDATE:

Hey everyone! Quick update! On Friday, October 17^th, my dad was finally approved by the insurance for his chemotherapy. We decided we needed to get the ball rolling and start his chemo as soon as possible! My dad started chemo today and was there for 8 hours. He has his 5FU drug hooked up to his port in his chest and everything is going great! Hoping not much changes. Although, there is a new rule in this house! You want to come inside? We must spray you down with a can of Lysol first. Got to keep this place clean, since chemo weakens a human’s immune system.

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Anyways, I am sure you will agree that photos are something anyone can treasure for a long time, now more than ever since they are all digital! I think that photos are even better when they are from one of your favorite vacations with your family.

When I was only 16 years old, my dad was laid off from his job at GM of over ten years. He was one of the very last layoffs when they did the mass layoffs back in 2009. My family did not know what the next step would be for us, and it was not going to be easy for my dad to find another job – he had not applied for one in over ten years! After a few months of searching, he found a well enough paying job… in Egypt! He moved there right away after accepting their offer. Of course this meant if I wanted to see my dad, I would have to fly out there – I was not complaining!

In March of 2010 I got the chance to head to Egypt with my mom. It took us 16 traveling hours to get there but when we got there it quickly became one of my favorite vacations! I got to experience new things such as their culture, their way of living, and I got to see some of the most famous landmarks, including the pyramids of Giza!

My parents and I went on a Nile River cruise, and even though my dad worked every afternoon, my mom and I did a little bit of exploring by ourselves. My dad’s apartment was in a city called Sixth of October and he lived in a neighborhood that had one of the few bowling alleys around – who else can say they have bowled in Egypt!?

There were so many other places we got to see and so many other things we got to do. I have retained the most memories from this vacation than from any other vacation I have taken with my family.

After just eight months of living there, Greece’s economy crashed which led to the downturn of Egypt’s economy, forcing business to halt funding for American workers. Just a few months before the riots began in Egypt, my dad headed home to proceed to look for another job.

Ohana means family, and family means nobody is left behind.

My Parents and I on the left side, at the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
Row 1: Left - Myself on the Nile River Cruise & Right- Outside the bibliothèque by the Mediterranean Sea Row 2: Left - Myself on the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt & Right - Myself by the Mediterranean Sea

Even though the insurance has finally approved my dad's chemotherapy, we are still accepting donations for all of the other expenses that come with Cancer! If you you would like to donate:

Donate to A Good Koss Here

Family - Ohana - Part 1

hat do you think when you hear the word Cancer? What does it mean to you? Have you ever experienced it, lived it, or feared it? It is fairly complicated to understand until you have had to deal with it yourself – whether it is a family member, friend, or even yourself that is in fear of it. What is your first thought, when the idea is put into your head by the doctor? My first thought was - how? I did not think it was physically possible for me, nor anyone in my family to have to hear that word describing their own health. It is so unreal that you just cannot even begin to fathom the idea of it becoming a reality. On September 16th, 2014, Cancer became a reality for my dad, myself and my family.

It is hard to accept at first, and it does not get much easier with the passing of time. It started September 14^th when Cancer became a concern after the doctor’s found a large mass in my dad’s pancreas. I am living a Cancer nightmare – my parents are only 56 years young.

September 18^th rolls around and we find out that his Cancer has not spread outside of his pancreas but the tumor is so large that it is inoperable, and needs to be shrunk with chemotherapy before it can be removed. Every day went in slow motion from here. To find out that he has Cancer was hard enough, but it is now October 13^th and my dad still has not started chemo.

October 7^th was the day that my father’s insurance company decided they were basically going to let him die. They will not approve the chemo and procedure unless the procedure to remove it is done first. The only reason my family has decided to do the Chemo first is because, according to three different doctor’s, the likelihood of death is 40% when doing the surgery first, before shrinking the tumor.

We are all at a loss for words when we look at our dad, our husband, our friend. We wonder how long it will be before something happens to him. But you know what? We can’t keep thinking those things. Our dad, husband, and friend needs us there. We need to be strong for him, help him keep his mind off these things. Yesterday I witnessed him being the happiest and most active I have seen him in months, and it was not until then that I realized how much he was hurting before, how much he had changed because of all of the pain he was in.

Pancreatic Cancer is one of the leading cancers for death but I know we will continue to create memories together for years to come – we got this, we are fighters.

Ohana means family, and family means nobody is left behind.

Donate to A Good Koss here ❤

Koss/Vacante Family August 2013