StumpTown Blog

I know many people are going to disagree with me on today’s primary topic. I understand and appreciate that reasonable people can approach the same topic in good faith and with all sincerity, without ill-motive and making an equal effort to form a well-reasoned opinion and still disagree. I believe people’s differences should be respected and appreciated and then corrected if they disagree with me. In that spirit of tender, loving, compassionate self-righteousness, let’s continue. First, some preliminary issues. 1. Way back when, near the beginning of this blog, I wrote some things about delis and sandwiches (nature’s perfect food), and they need some updating. First, I’m happy to report that the deli on the first floor of my building, the “Spicy Pickle” has seen fit to add a blackboard to their menu display. As you may recall, delis that have at least some of their menu written on a Blackboard are 97.4% more likely to be a place that makes a good sandwich than delis with no ...

Greetings. I think I’m actually close to being a full-fledged blogger again. I’ve missed being able to visit or comment on many of your blogs just as much as I’ve missed my rantings here. But I’m coming back. Here’s a few things that are going on: 1. My parents’ kitchen is finished an beautiful and greatly appreciated. Thank you to all who helped with time, labor, tools and money. It was a great project. If Blogger will let me, I will post a picture of the finished project, though it doesn’t do it justice, especially without seeing the before picture. If there is no picture, email me if you would like to see some. 2. My Dad is home from the hospital and getting better. He’s still tired and the recovery will be long and certainly slower than he would like. He sent me a note and suggested I post it here as he knows that many of you have been praying: To my Dear Family and Friends... This note will have to be short and cannot possibly convey my love and thanksgiving for...

My Dad appears set to come home tomorrow. The eating is going well and that was the last issue keeping him in the hospita. The doctors told him that he will be able to go home tomorrow which will allow him to see his dog again, get some fresh air, eat his favorite foods, sleep in his bed and all those little things that we all take for granted every day. Ok, well we don't all see his dog and sleep in his bed, but you get the idea. Anyway, that's the latest. We're all very excited.

I actually think my Dad is finally close to going home. Hallelujah!!! Today he ate something other than clear liquids for the first time in 2 weeks. Milkshake, pudding, soup, all the good stuff. At last report this evening, everything was going well. The stomach tube should come out tomorrow and then he can eat actual real food. To be honest, I think he is more nervous about that prospect than excited. After the nightmare of the tube and the longer than expected recovery and the horrible fluid build up, he is naturally anxious about removing the tube that was so painful to put in and test out a GI tract that hasn't exactly been cooperative lately. That said, the doctors think he's ready and like what they've seen the last couple days, so tomorrow should be the day. If everything goes well, he could be coming home by Wednesday or maybe even Tuesday, though I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. I have been happy to dedicate this blog to being a place where people wh...

Sorry for the lack of information. Here's just a few quick bits about my Dad's status. Everyone is now reasonably certain that my Dad will not have to have additional surgery. Praise God. The CT scan did not show a blockage and the build up in fluid was apparently simply due to the body not waking up as quickly as they thought it might after surgery to allow things to get flowing again. They spent the day today running a test where they clamp off the tube that is down his throat sucking out his stomach contents, for 4 hours and then run the tube for a while to see how much is staying in the stomach and not passing on. I did not hear the full day's results, but early returns were looking very positive. My understanding is that if these tests keep going well, they may remove the tube tomorrow which would be a tremendous blessing. Removing the tube means he could ease back into eating. I imagine that means liquids for a day or so and then soft solid foods. If that goes we...

I stopped by the hospital on my way to work this morning. My Dad’s not a big TV guy and now that my Mom is back at work, I was imagining his days are pretty long, so I finally managed to get him to tell me something that might make that better and I delivered an FM radio so he could listen to NPR. It reminded me how many little blessings in life we take for granted. Anyway, I’m pleased to report that he is feeling much better today. They had drained more than 3 liters out of his stomach and related areas and it has made a dramatic difference both in his appearance and the way he feels. He is no longer distended and that has affected everything from his ability to breathe to his ability to move around. And by “affected” I mean improved. Maybe more importantly the food from the PICC line (our good friend Sue who is a nurse informed me that it is “PICC line” standing for peripherally inserted central catheter, so there you have it), has really made him feel much better. He said that ...

Before we get to the update on my Dad, I wanted to say an official welcome to all those who have started reading here to find out what is going on with my Dad. Welcome. A few of you have asked about the bit under that goofy picture of me that says, “The game's to 26 by 2s and 3s win by 4...winner's outs.” This comes from my days at Pepperdine, when we would play every pick up basketball game to 26. We counted both 2 and 3 point shots and, when playing half court, always played “winners outs” or “make it take it” as I’ve heard it called. It is the perfect score to play to for a half court game and yet, it is the only place in the country I have ever seen it used. If you play half court pick up basketball with a 3-point line, consider it my little gift to you. You can thank me later. Now on to more important matters,… Well, we’re not quite out of the woods yet. My Dad had a rough day and really needs your continued prayers. Today was filled with increased fatigue and loss o...

Sorry for taking a couple days off on the reports. The truth is, there hasn’t been too much to report which is both good and bad. The good news is there have been no set backs. The doctors did find some cancerous cells in the tissue they left in (i.e., they didn’t get everything), but no so much that a second surgery is required. It appears my Dad will have to take a drug called Glevak (sp?) which is type of chemotherapy with a very good track record with this type of cancer and minimal side effects (i.e., no hair loss, weakness, etc). That’s the good news. The bad news is that it is taking my Dad’s GI system longer to wake up than he had hoped. Basically, after anesthesia, your systems wake up one at a time and the GI is the last. Unfortunately, until it wakes up, you can not have anything by mouth, even water to drink and gas builds up in the abdomen causing pain and discomfort especially when you have just had abdominal surgery. That’s what my Dad has been dealing with since M...

I left out one of the important professions to know when embarking on a kitchen remodel project such as the one proposed in my last post - accountants. Why do you need accountants in this situation? Because they can tell you how to do things and still get the tax benefits. I am informed that if you are going to send a check to support the kitchen remodel, you should send it to the Church as instructed, but you should not designate on the check itself what it is to be used for. Apparently earmarked donations to the Church lose their status as a charitable donation. So, if you don't care about writing it off, designate however you would like. Otherwise, just put a note with the check (post-it?) that says "Stumps" so the Elders know the motivation of your gift. That will allow them to make an informed decision about funding this benevolent project. Or if you are more concerned about getting the money to the right place than writing it off your taxes, just make the chec...

Today was fairly uneventful on the health front and that’s a good thing. As if he wasn’t already dealing with enough, my Dad’s eye got scratched during surgery and he’s been wearing a bandage on his eye reminiscent of K-K-K-Ken from A Fish Called Wanda. That bandage came off tonight and the eye seems almost entirely healed and is no longer an issue, so at least that’s one thing. My Dad didn’t sleep much last night and was in pretty awful pain which actually got even worse this morning. Even with about 6 different kinds of pain meds, the pain is only barely manageable. Thankfully, the afternoon brought some relief. Sleep is still elusive, but the pain is getting better and my Dad’s spirits (which have never really been outwardly dampened) are getting correspondingly better too. All in all, the afternoon was positive. We also got a bit more info on the tumor today (though we’re still waiting on the pathology that will guide treatment) that I think is fairly amazing. After the CT scan, th...

Hello all. I’m posting from the surgery waiting area at the hospital. The surgeon just came out and the surgery is complete. It sounds like it was an absolute best case scenario, which of course, is exactly what we should have expected after all the time we have all spent in prayer. They were able to remove the entire tumor and believe they got everything. The tumor was attached primarily to the colon, but they did not have to remove any good tissue and were able to repair where the tumor was attached. The surgery took about 2 hours and the surgeon was very pleased and optimistic. My Dad is still in, but should be awake and able to see us in an hour or so. We don’t know exactly what follow up treatment will look like, but for now we are just enjoying the good news of the moment. If you have been praying for our family, please take a moment now and thank God for hearing and listening. More later. Thank you. God is good.

A good day today. I just left my Mom and Dad at the hospital. This was the last day my Dad can have solid food for probably the next 4 days. Those of you who know my Dad and the way he enjoys a good meal, will understand how hard that will be. If you don’t know my Dad, imagine someone who really enjoys a good meal, to the extent that those who know him know him for enjoying a good meal and you’ve got the idea. So, I brought steaks to replace the hospital food tonight and we all enjoyed a good meal together before he switches to water from a tube for the next few days. Tomorrow will be spent preparing for surgery which isn’t really a pleasant thing in itself. If there is a consolation for having to go through that and having to miss Church, at least my Dad will get to see the early football games for the first time probably since Church was snowed out in Canada 25 years ago. As far as my Dad’s symptoms, which are primarily extreme abdominal pain, they were better today than they h...

It’s late, so I will be brief. Mostly good news today. First, the CT came back and showed no cancer in the lungs. Then the doctors were able to check the bladder and found that the tumor had not invaded the bladder as feared, which is great news. Surgery is planned for Monday morning at 8:30. We won’t really know more until then. It looks like my Dad will stay at the hospital until then and then probably be there 4-6 days for recovery after the surgery. Keep praying. Also, if you would like to check out a “care page” that has been set up for my Dad, you can find it at www.carepages.com and look for the page for RonStump. More later

My parents met with their first choice surgeon this morning, Dr. Johnson. Several bits of news came out of the meeting. First, the good news is that the CT performed last night showed no indication that the tumor had spread into the lungs. That is wonderful news. Praise God. And more good news, Dr. Johnson is available and willing to perform the surgery which is a comfort to my Parents who really like him. The bad news is that Dr. Johnson wants more tests run which means the surgery may not take place until Tuesday or even as late as Thursday. What a way to spend Thanksgiving. Right now, the primary concern is that the tumor may have invaded the bladder which would likely mean the bladder would have to be removed. Of course, not only would that complicate the surgery itself, but would make recovery much more difficult. I haven’t had a chance to ask or read what it means to live life post bladder removal, but I can only imagine it is difficult. Please pray that this will not be ...

Today was another busy day in the life of the Stump family. I imagine this is only the beginning for at least a little while. First, thank you to the many people who have commented on this blog or sent me and my family emails with your words of encouragement and your prayers. It has been an enormous sense of comfort for my whole family. Thank you. I noticed in the last post there are comments from some good friends who are new to the blog and it made me think that this is actually a pretty good place to keep people informed about how things are going with my Dad. So, I will try to keep this site as current as possible, though your calls and emails are still welcome. Here’s the latest: We got the results of the biopsy and they confirmed that my Dad does indeed have cancer. We were told that was likely the case from the beginning, but having it confirmed was still another blow. There is something psychologically damaging about hearing a diagnosis of cancer. It is so mysterious, s...

In July, my Dad had some pain and discomfort in his abdomen. The doctors thought it was an infection (though tests indicated that it was not) and gave him some antibiotics. He took them and felt better and didn’t think much more of it. A couple weeks ago, the pain and discomfort came back. They ran more tests and again concluded it was an infection regardless of the fact that the tests indicated otherwise. Again he took antibiotics and again the symptoms were relieved. But this time they did not go away and after a week they became quite severe. My Dad went back to the doctor and got a CT scan. To the shock and fright and sadness of our family, they discovered a tumor in his abdomen roughly the size of a grapefruit. The tumor is very large and almost certainly cancerous. The worst case scenario was that the tumor was coming from his colon. That would have made it inoperable and treatment possibilities would have been very limited. Tests were done yesterday that determined that...

Ok, so I think I’m officially going with a weekly post for a little while. If I get time and inspiration, I will do more, but for now I have 2 trials coming up back to back in early December, and that is keeping me pretty buried. More than time, it is really about mental energy. I could probably make time to write something here, but it would probably be about proving fatigue in the rear axel of a pickup truck or determining whether a regulation is exempt from the waiver requirement of another statute because it restricts or prohibits activities to protect public health and safety. And I don’t even want to read that. So, here is this week’s update: 1. I posted a couple things to my sports blog if you are interested and want to check that out. It is basically my thoughts on the first week of the NBA season and then there is a second post about the new NBA ball. 2. I haven’t posted anything new on my entertainment site in a while which is too bad, but it’s sort of the lowes...

Hey. I’m back and I didn’t really go anywhere. Just had so much going on, I kept meaning to blog and then I would put it off a day and then another and now here we are. Maybe if I could get past the idea that every blog needs to be 5000 words, it would be easier. Sorry for the absence. Thanks for the patience and especially your prayers and comments from the last blog. It made a difference to me and I know it did to others as well. Thank you. I’m single parenting this week. My lovely and mactastic wife and youngest son Griffin are in CO visiting her sister who just had a baby. Gibson, now of school age, had to stay at home with dear old Dad. That meant I had Halloween duty. Fortunately, my wife keeps us well stocked in costumage and so even with the last minute costume waffling that seems to be necessary as breathing for a 6 year old, I was able to get through Halloween with only a couple semi-panicked “where is the ____” calls to my wife. Here are some things that are mostl...

Time and other circumstances have kept me away from the blogging world for a few days. I miss it, but I can’t dive back in today for very long either. So, let me just say this. I often use this space for my attempts at humor. I love laughing and joking and being sarcastic. I’m glad that my blogging has brought me into contact with so many people who enjoy the same. But today, I need to be a bit more serious and ask something from you and then I promise I’ll go back to trying to be more entertaining. My heart has been pretty heavy for a few weeks now. It seems that all around me the marriages of my friends are breaking down or falling apart. Remember back in college and right after when it seemed like all your friends were getting married and you spent entire summers going from Church to Church hearing vows exchanged? Well, now here I am more than 10 years removed from that and instead of happily lending my witness to the beginning of two lives becoming one, I see friend after ...

1. How is it even possible to be a bad MAX light rail driver? It’s a train. Don’t you just basically go and stop? Here in Portland we have a fantastic public transportation system. The buses are clean and actually arrive on time and we have this great light rail train called MAX which stands for nothing because no useable word starts with X unless this is something like “Mobile Active Xylophones,” which I don’t think it is and therefore I conclude it stands for nothing and was named after the Mayor’s dog or something like that. Anyway, MAX is great and I ride it at least 4 days a week to and from the office. However every once in a while, they allow the drivers to bring their 15 year old children to work to learn how to drive on a MAX train. I see no other explanation for the fact that while 8 out of 10 trips are smooth, the other two the whole trip is one extended lurch fest. FEATHER THE BRAKES for crying out loud. I actually wondered this morning if the driver had pl...

I don’t understand why certain things become fashionable in clothing. Why does this year need or have a color? Why was pink the new brown last year when everyone in fashion still seems to mostly wear black (no doubt afraid they may have forgotten what this year’s color is so better to play it safe)? I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t care to know. With an ever invading cynicism taking hold, I’m trying to avoid experiences and information which are highly likely to only lessen my opinion of my fellow man or woman. I know how those decisions are made of course. “They” make the decisions. You know “They” right? “They” are responsible for most of the important things that happen in life as in, “You know ‘They’re’ saying now that eating just the yoke of an egg could decrease your odds of getting the flu by as much as one half of one percent.” “They” say stuff, and do stuff and conspire, etc. Well one subgroup of “They”, known as “Snobs” gets together in an opulent over decorated sitting room i...

Ok, so I know I have a sports blog where I’m supposed to put this kind of thing and I will put a more detailed sports fan report together for that blog, but this post is really more about a fun day with my kid than it is about sports, so I’m posting it here. Gibson and I went to the Portland TrailBlazers Fan Appreciation event at the Portland Rose Garden where the Blazers play yesterday. This made it two years in a row for this event and we had a great time, so I thought I would share. The event consists of an autograph signing session with the players followed by a short practice and then an intersquad scrimmage. Let me start by saying, I’m not an autograph guy. I’ve gotten things signed a few times over the years, but it has never been a big deal to me. Usually, when I’ve been in a position to get something signed, I didn’t have anything worth signing (do you keep a scrap of paper? I know some of you do), or it wasn’t someone I cared enough about or whatever. But now that my in...

I finally got the sports report up on my sports site. I wish I had more time to spend on that, but oh well. Also, there are a few of the more significant questions in life that I have been struggling with more lately. If any of you have the time and insight to provide the answers, I would be eternally grateful (and by “eternally” I mean until I forget about it which will probably be tomorrow). 1. Why is macaroni salad so much better when served at a Hawaiian restaurant? Is it the combo with the bento style meat and rice? I mean, I never eat mac salad unless I’m getting Hawaiian and then I can’t get enough. Why? 2. Why does the Coke at McDonalds taste so much better than anywhere else? I’m a Pepsi guy myself, but the Coke at McDonalds (where I never eat if I can avoid it), is notably better. Why? 3. Why do 40% the telemarketers that call me at home ask if they can speak to “Joseph Stump?” Did my name get misprinted on some globa...

Wow, two posts in one day! Unheard of. Of course this second post of the day is really just to let you know that I have finally finished two movie reviews I've been writing in bits and pieces for a week or more and posted them on my entertainment blog. They are for "The Departed" and Jet Li's "Fearless." Should have a sports post up tomorrow. And, for no reason other than I love the picture, here is a photo of one of my little angels. In case you need any halloween inspiration.

The other day my buddy Randy posted to his blog a running diary of a day he had spent with his son and his son’s friend who was visiting from out of town. He described it as the perfect day for his son. It was spent with a good friend, fishing, eating In and Out Burgers, video games, basketball and Sonic slushies. The thing is, everyone who knows Randy knew that he was really describing the perfect day for himself. What’s more, I am certain many if not most of the people reading that would have considered that a pretty great day. But Randy had to pass it off (sort of) like it was all for his son and not also for him. He had to pretend at least a little that he wouldn’t really enjoy that kind of day, but it was for the kids. Why? So, here’s the question for the day. Why do we stop doing the things we love in the name of adulthood? Is it the apostle Paul’s comment about putting childish ways behind him? Is it because all of the people who didn’t know how to enjoy themselves as ...