Pete Ambrose 1940 - 2010

Dad passed away peacefully in his sleep last night, with family at his bedside. An open house and celebration of Petes life will be held in Bellingham in a few weeks. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.

Pat, Heidi, Kari

Update

It turned out that Pete's stroke was more severe than initially realized and we are finding that he is not making progress. We greatly and always appreciate the thoughts and prayers of all his friends and family. Unfortunately, we are trying to come to terms that there may not be much of a recovery. He is not taking visitors right now, but greatly appreciates your support.

Quiet time and rest

Dad continues to make progress in movement and communication, but this process occurs over days not minutes. My mom read all the cards, letters, and emails from all his friends and family to Dad and he really appreciated them. The physicians have again told us that we should have fewer visitors and give him more time to rest. So for the time being we are not going to have visitors, but greatly appreciate all your prayers and good thoughts.

New Home: Mirabella

A few pics of a 2007 trip to Wash DC with Dad. He is wearing ortho hand surgeon operating glasses looking dashing.

Pete has been moved to what we like to call "the Ritz" of nursing facilities....it really is great and the therapists and staff so far have been wonderful. He is getting more attention to his recovery and getting treated likely the regal gentlemen he is :)! The new location is called Mirabella and it is a retirement community. It has one floor with nursing assistance and that is where dad is for now until rehab. Actually, we were very fortunate to get accepted at this location (it was our top choice) because it can be hard to get into and they happen to have a bed available when dad was ready!

As far as his recovery, he continues to do new things everyday which is very early progress and great. He still hasn't been able to speak to us, but he is able to let us know what he wants. We are greatful for all the love and support from all. Visitors are greatly appreciated. However, due to his increased focus on therapy we have to plan times for visitors. It is best to talk to pat (pamboses@aol.com) or kari (kari@stavangerinvestments.com) about when to come and to plan on a 2-3 hour stint. Since he is spending much of his time getting therapies and working on his recovery....we try to let him reserve his energy for this. When he closes his eyes....he probably needs a rest. Otherwise, outside of his therapies and sleep....we see him light up at a good friend or family's visit and we know he enjoys it greatly. Good humor usually gets a smile too :) Thanks for all the love, the fam.

Graduating Again!

Dad is amazing and he continues to work hard and make progress. We have gotten a little excited about having visitors and we have been instructed by the therapists that it is tiring him a little for his therapies. Doing his rehabiliation and therapies is his biggest job right now and it does take a lot of energy out of him. In an effort to conserve his energy, we are going to have 2-3 hour scheduled visits and if you are interested in this email pamboses@aol.com
On an exciting note Dad has started writing a little and eating on his own! All these early improvements are an incredibly good sign and we are all right there beside him cheering him on! He is aware of the situation and gets frustrated because he hasn't been able to talk yet, but he will get there with time. Thank you all for your love and support.

Pete is continuing to make strides ahead. He has recently enjoyed a few visitors and it really seems to spur him on and encourage him....thank you! These past few days he has started to write a little and do more himself. Also, today his trach was removed! One more step in the right direction. In the next week or so he will be moved to a new facility because he is graduating from hospital level care!!! This is a great thing....he likely will remain in the seattle area due to doctor appointments, but we will let you all know where he will be as soon as we know. My mom and he are both looking forward to getting back to Bham and their friends as soon as dad is ready. Thank you again for all the support and love. The fam

Pete is getting settled at his new location Kindred Hospital in Seattle. We have loved the care he has received there and he continues to do better each day. He is now is in the phase of rehabilitation and recovery! We have started having a few visitors and if you would like to visit him we would love that. The best times are late afternoon/evenings and weekends because he doesn't have his therapy then. A little side note: he gets tired at times and still needs his rest, so if he seems to want to sleep ....he probably just needs some shut eye but he would still love the quiet company. We like to have someone with him most of the day so he knows we are with him. If you are comimg, it would help us a a great deal to let either heidi, kari, or pat know so we can adjust our schedule if needed. If you don't have our contact info ...you can email heidi.shors@gmail.com. Pete will continue to need his friends and family more and more as he improves. Your outpouring of support and love for him has been so wonderful. Thank you again.

Finally! Dad is getting discharged from the hospital! He is going to an acute care facility in Seattle to get ready for the next step after that...inpatient rehab! Today was a fun day, dad gave us a few smiles at his cousin Peter's good humor, and gave us a high five. He still is tired from the ICU marathon and needs medical care and rest, but the last four days have continued to be better and better. Keep up the prayers and good thoughts...they are working. We deeply appreciate all the well wishes, cards, meals, and flowers, and are continually touched by the the outpouring of support for dad. Thank you all for being such good friends. With Love, Pat, Heidi, Kari and Family

Pete transferred out of the ICU to the floor today. He is making small improvements each day. He had a small surgery yesterday which he is recovering from. Overall he is improving.

Update 4.09.10

Dad continues to make improvements. He has stabilized from him surgery and we are hopeful that he will get out of the ICU in the next day or two.

On Monday Pete had surgery. He is in the ICU recovering and we are hopeful. We are so thankful for all of your good thoughts and support. Pete is not up for visitors right now but he looks forward to it when he reaches rehab, which may be in several weeks.

On March 29th, Pete suffered a stroke. This resulted in weakness in the right side of his body. While we deeply appreciate all of your well wishes and offers to help, at this time we are not encouraging visitors due to the sensitive environment needed for Pete's recovery. Once we make it out of the hospital and to a rehab site, we would love for each of you to visit. For the time being, we will update this website with any change in Pete's condition and plans for transfer to a rehab site, which we anticipate in the next several weeks. Thanks to all of you for your understanding during this difficult time. Our family has been overwhelmed by all of our friends' support and love.

Love,
Pat, Heidi, & Kari