Update on John Stumbo

by Robb Childs, Executive Pastor

In an attempt to keep people updated on Pastor John Stumbo, we will be posting information on this site as often as we have updates to share. The most current update is posted first.

Friday, January 16, 2009, 2:00 p.m.

As Pastor John wraps up his ninth day at the rehab center, he continues to make slow, steady progress in a couple of areas.

His voice continues to get stronger as the tracheotomy hole heals (closes) and as he gains strength back in his upper chest which helps to push air through his voice box appropriately as he speaks. Joanna said the doctors described the healing process of the trach hole as something similar to getting your ears pierced, but not putting any earrings in. Eventually the hole closes over and heals completely. That’s what is happening as the trach hole heals.

John has been walking with his walker without any assistance. When I saw John last Sunday afternoon, he walked about 150 feet down to a lounge using his walker without assistance and then when our visit was over he walked back 150 feet using his walker again without assistance. It was great to see him up and moving again on his own!

In addition to the most recent prayer requests, here are two that need your continued focus:

1) His swallowing function still has not fully returned. They are having him do specific facial exercises to loosen up his swallowing muscles. Since there are 40 different muscles involved in swallowing it sometimes takes time for those fully return to normal. Pray that his swallowing muscles would regain enough strength for him to swallow again soon.

2) John indicated this week that his glands (salivary, pituitary, etc.) are not working normally. Pray that his glands would return to normal function.

3) As John finishes up his third month since his illness started, pray that God would continue to give him encouragement and hope. While we are excited about where he is at physically today compared to a month ago, for the person living the slow recovery like John it often seems glacially slow. Pray that John would stay encouraged by the regular progress he is making, however small.

As John continues to fully transition over to the road of healing and recovery, the news on John will likely be less frequent as the changes are smaller. We’ll continue to update you on news of significance and try to post at least a weekly update. Since John’s full recovery is likely going to take many months, we ask that you continue to support him and Joanna and the family in prayer during the long healing process even when there isn’t a lot of new information.

John and Joanna are so appreciative of your love and support for them during this time. They have felt your prayers and your cards and notes have touched their hearts. Thank you!

Friday, January 9, 2009, 5:00 p.m.

The great news this week is that Pastor John was moved to an Inpatient Rehab Center here in Salem on Wednesday afternoon! For an active guy like John, it is such a huge step forward to be in a place where they get him out of bed every day and get his muscles moving again rather than just lying in a hospital bed with not much to do. He will be in three hour therapy sessions twice a day; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Those therapies will primarily include physical and occupational, but they will also be working with him to strengthen his swallowing muscles.

Joanna mentioned to one of our church staff that right after John was admitted to the Inpatient Rehab Center, a couple of the rehab staff stopped by his room to let him know that they were praying for him and that God was in “this place,” meaning the Rehab Center. That was a great encouragement to John and Joanna.

Several of us from our Pastoral Management Team visited John last night in the Family Room at the Rehab Center. He was in a wheelchair, in sweat pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt, with no IVs and no catheter. After having seen him in a hospital bed for so long, it was great to see him in a wheelchair and not in a hospital room! He mentioned that one of the arm exercises they had him do yesterday was an arm curl with weights. That’s where you grab a small bar with weights on either end in your hand and move your hand up to your shoulder. While all he could handle was one pound of weight, even that is a significant improvement from where he’s been in recent weeks.

Almost every time we visit with him we share stories of how God is using John’s illness to do a mighty work in the Salem Alliance church family and throughout our city. He doesn’t tire of hearing those stories. Last night John made the statement that this whole event is of God. Not that God caused it in that sense, but rather that God has allowed this to happen for His glory and for His purposes. We talked with John about how God seems to be working in this situation at so many different levels: John’s life, our lives, your lives, Salem Alliance church as a whole and the church community in Salem/Keizer. While none of us would have wished for John to endure such suffering, it was very reassuring to hear John say with conviction that he knows God’s hand is in the middle of this painful ordeal.

As you pray for John, Joanna and the family, here are some specific things to pray for:

-John’s swallowing function still has not returned, so he continues to be fed through the feeding tube in his abdomen. He did not pass the barium swallowing test on Wednesday even though he was able to swallow some parts of the test. Continue to pray that he will regain the strength and function to swallow. This milestone alone would be a huge encouragement to John.

-The site of his second muscle biopsy on his leg has some colonized bacteria in it even though they don’t call it infected, per se. Pray that this site will completely heal and that it will heal quickly.

-Pray for continued progress in gaining strength and stamina. They have had John stand up and “walk.” For now “walking” means using a walker and having a therapist on each side holding him up. But, in spite of that, he is MOVING and getting up and out of his hospital bed.

-Pray for God’s timing for Joanna to be at a place of peace with John’s situation in the weeks ahead to be able to leave John and go back and visit her mother.

-The Stumbo family had a great time over the holidays with Anna and Jeff in town from Christmas Day through New Year’s Eve. Josiah went back to Crown College (Minnesota) earlier this week for his spring semester. Drew started classes again at West Salem HS this week. Pray for the family as they are separated again.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 9:00 a.m.

First of all, my apologies for not providing an update on Pastor John for nearly two weeks now. I know that many, if not most, of you check the Salem Alliance website often for updates on John and have been eager for more good news after John was transferred to Salem Hospital on Christmas Eve. Please be assured that our silence does not mean that we are trying to keep good news from you or limit the news we are sharing. Immediately after my last update on Christmas Eve, I went on vacation for a week and a half and truly unplugged. Thanks for letting me try your patience as my wife and I spent some time in Seattle and the Oregon Coast with our two sons and our new daughter-in-law celebrating Christ’s birth, our own family birthdays and our 24th wedding anniversary. But you didn’t come here to read about me, did you?

There continues to be more wonderful news about John’s recovery. I was able to visit John last night for the first time in three weeks, due to the travel-limiting weather we had the week before Christmas and my own vacation. The changes in John during those three weeks were amazing. Let me give you a recap of the positive news: 

- John is no longer in the ICU at Salem Hospital. 

- Once a bed becomes available within the next week, they are planning on moving John to an inpatient rehab facility where John will spend six hours a day receiving rehab therapies of all kinds (physical, speech, occupational). And John is eager and ready to tackle this next phase of his recovery. It’s his new marathon training. 

- His muscle enzyme levels are now back to 100 (which is normal) after having peaked at 26,000 a few weeks back. 

- His tracheotomy tube has been removed, and he continues to breathe on his own. 

- His kidneys are functioning normally. 

- His swelling is completely gone. 

- Most of the skin break sores are healing. 

- He is able to move his arms freely, his legs stiffly and he is able to push himself up in bed with his arms to adjust his position. That alone is huge progress!

While the tracheotomy tube has been removed, the tracheotomy hole is still there and will take some time to heal (close). As a result, he loses air through the hole even though they have it patched and it makes talking a little difficult. But we had a near normal conversation, and his voice sounds more hoarse than the raspy whisper I mentioned last time. Steve Fowler and I were able to understand about 80% of what he said last night. To be able to carry on an almost normal conversation with John again was refreshing for the soul.

At one point I asked him how he was really doing, figuring that he wouldn’t lie to his Executive Pastor. His response was encouraging. He said that most days are good days and some days are tremendous. As he gains strength and energy, he is able to start reading again and spending more focused time in prayer. His spirit seemed strong and vital. John mentioned to us that he was most thankful that his memory seemed to have been spared throughout this whole ordeal. That is praise indeed! The same John we know and love is still there.

As you pray for John, Joanna and the family, here are some specific things to pray for: 

- Now that the swelling is gone, it is quite apparent that John has lost a lot of weight. When I asked him about it last night, he said that he has lost nearly 50 pounds. Since John was already slender and didn’t have any excess pounds, he looks a little gaunt as you can imagine. Which leads me to the next request. 

- John’s swallowing function still has not returned, so he continues to be fed through the feeding tube in his abdomen. While it provides him with the nutrition he needs, he would love to be able to eat normally again. And when he can swallow and eat again, he will have a ravenous appetite I am sure. Continue to pray that he will regain the strength and function to swallow. This milestone alone would be a huge encouragement to John. 

- The site of his second muscle biopsy on his leg has some colonized bacteria in it even though they don’t call it infected, per se. Pray that this site will completely heal and that it will heal quickly. This issue may influence where he is sent for rehab. 

- Pray for continued progress in gaining strength and stamina. They have had John stand up and “walk.” For now “walking” means using a walker and having a therapist on each side holding him up. But, in spite of that, he is MOVING and getting up and out of his hospital bed. 

- Now that John is close to being transferred to a rehab facility where he will probably be for several months, some loose conversations have started to occur about Joanna being able to go back and see her mother in Ohio. Pray for God’s timing in all of this and for John to be at a place in his recovery for Joanna to be able to leave with peace of mind. 

- The Stumbo family had a great time over the holidays with Anna and Jeff in town from Christmas Day through New Year’s Eve. Josiah heads back to Crown College (Minnesota) today for his spring semester. Drew started classes again at West Salem HS yesterday. Pray for the family as they are separated again.

Sorry for the long update, but I think most of you are eager for the news. Thanks again for your patience over the last two weeks.

May God be praised and glorified as John continues on the road to recovery!

Christmas Eve, 6:00 p.m.

While it won’t quite rank as the BEST Christmas gift ever, that will always be reserved for the gift of Christ’s birth, the news we received this afternoon that John had been transferred from OHSU in Portland to Salem Hospital will probably rank as the second best Christmas gift ever for Joanna, Drew, Josiah, Anna and Jeff and for most of the rest of us, too!

After having been in the ICU at OHSU since November 17th we got word on late Tuesday (December 23rd) that John had been moved out of the ICU after five weeks and a day and was moved to a bed at the VA hospital.  If you’ve never been to the OHSU campus on the southern hills of Portland, in addition to OHSU there are two other hospitals:  Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and the Portland VA Hospital.  They are all within a ravine of each other and interconnected by some amazing skybridges.  While John isn’t a veteran, OHSU does rent some hospital beds from the VA and so that was why John was transferred there on Tuesday.

But he was only there for a day, as he was then transported by ambulance the 50 miles or so from Portland to the ICU at Salem Hospital this afternoon (Christmas Eve).  It wasn’t quite the 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem that Joseph and Mary traveled and, fortunately, John didn’t have to travel by donkey, but with the snow ruts out on the Oregon streets these days the ambulance ride may have seemed like it was on the back of a donkey.

With the winter wonderland weather we’ve been having, with Josiah now home as of last Friday and with Anna and Jeff arriving at Portland International Airport on Christmas Day, having John close to home is a wonderful gift for the whole Stumbo family.  Since they’ve all but been living at OHSU the past week, to be able to be at their house and see John close by is a blessing from God.

Because John continues to be very weak, we continue to ask that you honor the no visitors policy for now.  We’d like John to be able to reserve his strength and energy for his family during the holiday season.

As you gather with your family and friends this Christmas and as you give thanks to God for Christ’s birth, say a prayer of thanks for the gift he gave the Stumbo family this Christmas, too!

Merry CHRISTmas everyone!

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”  Luke 2:13-14

Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Since last Friday John has been on and off the ventilator as they worked to bring his carbon dioxide levels down. The news today is that he is off of the ventilator and breathing much better on his own. While they have not replaced the valve in his tracheotomy that allows him to talk, there was hope that the valve could be installed again soon. With John’s setback in his breathing and the North Pole weather we have been receiving this past week, transferring John has not been an option. However, as John’s breathing and the weather improves, there is talk again of transferring John. My guess, though, is that a transfer won’t happen until after Christmas.

John hasn’t been out of his room at OHSU in weeks, although he has been moved to different ICU rooms. He has been there so long that they eventually moved him to the corner suite with the best view and the quieter end of the hall. But with his breathing improved, Joanna and the boys were going to see if he could tolerate a wheelchair ride around the hospital. For someone that has been in one room for so long, that would be a great escape if it works out!

As you gather together with your own family this Christmas, remember to pray for the Stumbo family that in spite of John’s illness and the weather that they would have a special day and time together as a family. Josiah did arrive home last Friday night during a good weather window and Anna and Jeff are due to arrive home on Christmas Day.

From wherever you are, may you have a very Merry CHRISTmas!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Friday, December 19, 2008, 3:00 p.m.

My hope was that we could have announced by today that John had been transferred from OHSU to another facility, but unfortunately a couple of events happened in the last 24 hours that prevented that transfer.

Yesterday afternoon John’s carbon dioxide levels increased to a point that they had to put the “collar” or “cuff” back on his tracheotomy to enable him to receive a better supply of supplemental oxygen. What probably happened is that while he is able to breathe on his own, he is not breathing deeply enough on a regular basis to fully exhale the air in his lungs. When you don’t exhale fully it can often lead to a build up of carbon dioxide and fluid that can, in turn, lead to pneumonia. Unfortunately, putting the cuff back on meant that the valve enabling him to talk had to be removed. OHSU was in the middle of making the transfer arrangements for John yesterday afternoon when this happened, so John and Joanna faced the discouraging news of having to stay in Portland and losing the ability to talk again for awhile. A double whammy. Josiah arrives home tonight and both John and Joanna really wanted to have John closer to home during the holidays.

Then last night (Thursday night), they had to infuse John with some platelets because he is apparently losing blood internally again. We don’t have any information yet about where he is bleeding or how much. It might be the same abscess that was bleeding before, but we don’t know. Pray that they find where he is bleeding and can get it stopped quickly.

As you think of John you can pray that he stabilizes enough in the next few days AND a bed becomes available that would allow John to be moved closer to home BEFORE Christmas. How encouraging that would be. Pray that the carbon dioxide buildup in his lungs is taken care of so that they can put the valve back in his tracheotomy which would allow him to communicate again. Being able to talk was SO meaningful for John the last few days. As you can imagine, John has been a bit discouraged the past few days. John mentioned to one PMT member this week that he couldn’t think of one thing that he could do for himself and that in many ways he is worse than he was a month ago. Pray that John would be able to find hope in even the smallest of accomplishments. For a guy who regularly ran marathons, it must be so very frustrating to not be able to do anything for yourself and to not see any real progress on most days.

Thanks for keeping up to date on John’s condition and lifting John and his family up to God’s throne of grace.

Monday, December 15, 2008, 5:00 pm

Kathy Bletscher and I took Joanna up to OHSU today (Monday) so that she did not have to drive to Portland in this bad weather. Because of the snow and ice, OHSU opened up their south waterfront parking garage and the tram for visitors for free so we took them up on their offer. That made a potentially nerve-wracking trip up the hill MUCH more enjoyable.

Kathy and I saw John twice, once around noon and then again before we left to head back at 4:00 p.m. There was a nice surprise that happened between our two visits. When we saw John the first time, we used the QWERTY communication board that I’ve explained before. We updated him on how the weekend services went and the meaningful Christmas party that our Elders, Governing Board and Pastoral Staff had on Friday night. He asked a few questions through the board and then we left so that Joanna could have some more time with him.

In between our visits, physical therapy came in and worked John pretty hard and right after that speech therapy came by. At that time they installed a valve into his tracheostomy that allowed John to talk in a raspy whisper. While it was still difficult to understand everything he was saying you could catch enough of it if you watched his lips and listened real close that I could get about half of what he was saying. Even though it didn’t sound quite like John, it was still great nonetheless to hear him speak. As John said the “world has changed” meaning that being able to talk again made a world of difference. It did for us, too.

Here are some of the changes/updates in his condition:

1. John has not been on the ventilator for more than a week. While they are still providing him with supplemental oxygen through the tracheostomy, they seem to be weaning him to lower levels of oxygen over time.

2. John’s skin looked better to me than it did the week before. Several of the weepy skin breaks on his arm had dried out and were scabbed over. He still has quite a few skin breaks, so pray for complete healing of these sores. He is still somewhat swollen in his arms, hands, legs and feet.

3. They are talking about moving him out of the ICU at OHSU but we don’t yet know exactly where to or when. Several options were being considered. The weather seems to have delayed the move the last couple of days. Joanna is so ready for him to be closer to home that each day that it is delayed has been a bit discouraging to her. Pray for the right timing and the appropriate location for this move.

4. He has been having trouble with high blood pressure and they placed him on a new medication on Monday. Pray that this medication will be effective at lowering his blood pressure.

And other prayer requests:

1. Continue to pray that John will regain his strength. This will be a long-term prayer request as it will probably take John many weeks and even months to regain normal muscle tone and function again. He remains very weak, although he was able to move his head from side to side better and Joanna said that he was able to move his leg a few inches up off of the bed for the physical therapist.

2. Pray for Joanna and for her mother, who remains very sick back in Ohio.

3. The rest of the family starts to arrive back home again shortly. Josiah flies back home on Friday night and then Anna and Jeff arrive on Christmas day.

On behalf of John and the family, thanks for your continuous prayers and love and concern for the Stumbo family. I can’t tell you how many people have mentioned that they pray for John and the family often during the day and whenever they wake up during the middle of the night. Thanks for being a praying people during this time. God is answering those prayers!

Friday, December 12th, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

Overall John’s status is a little improved from what we reported last Tuesday.

-John’s muscle enzyme levels continue to stay below 2000.

-While we don’t have a specific respiratory update today, the last information we had was that he was generally breathing on his own through the tracheotomy and that they were providing him with supplemental oxygen to assist him.

-Because feeding tubes through the nose and throat into the stomach are meant to be short term measures and because he is still not swallowing consistently, yesterday they took him to surgery to insert a feeding tube through his abdomen directly into the stomach wall. This is a common procedure, which is also reversible once swallowing returns to normal. It will take a couple of days for this new tube to become functional, so they will probably remove the feeding tube through his nose sometime this weekend.

-John is receiving regular physical therapy to begin to loosen up his muscles and joints. The physical therapists have commented on how hard John is working with them during those sessions. That shouldn’t surprise you!

-The doctors have started to talk about moving him out of ICU. We don’t yet know when or where he will be moved. We’ll keep you informed when we know something.

-Those PMT members that visited him this morning thought his appearance and spirits were definitely better than last week and were even better than a few days ago.

As you pray for John and his family, please remember the following: -Pray that he will continue to gain strength with his breathing.

-Pray that he will regain his full swallowing action. They test his swallowing action regularly to see if they can remove the feeding tube, but he is not able to swallow consistently on his own. This would be very encouraging for him to begin eating on his own again.

-Pray that he will begin to regain overall strength and that he will stay motivated (which shouldn’t be an issue for John) to work hard with the physical therapists.

-Pray for healing for his skin. When he was so swollen it caused multiple skin breaks where the fluid seeped out. The nurses work on those several times throughout the day, but many of those have not healed.

-Pray for rest for Joanna. In addition to John’s situation, Joanna received news that her mother is very sick back in Ohio. Ask that God would pour out double portions of strength and comfort and rest during this time.

-Pray for Anna, Jeff, Josiah and Drew as they are away from their dad on a regular basis. Drew started attending classes again back at West Salem HS last week. Josiah flies back home in about 10 days from his college studies on the East Coast. Anna & Jeff will be up for a week again over Christmas and New Years.

Among the many emails I have received from people praying for John all over the world was one from a friend of John’s to whom he had provided written counsel via email during a rough time in their life. They shared a quote with me from one of the emails John sent. We have shared this with our church staff and our congregation, but for those of you that are farther away I think you’ll be encouraged by these words from John:

“I remember a time in my past when all I could pray was ‘Lord, have mercy’ -- that's all the farther I got...time after time that was all I could pray...and somehow I believe those heart-cry's to heaven mean more than the long and articulate prayers we've prayed on happier occasions. In prayer it is better to have heart without words, than words without heart...lift your pain to heaven, refuse to give into despair, but choose hope instead." John Stumbo

Lord, have mercy. 

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008, Noon

Sorry about the web silence the last few days, but here are some updates from visits that several of our PMT staff have made since Saturday.

-John’s enzyme levels are now below 2000. While that is great news, the flip side is that his muscles have also atrophied because of lack of use. He is still very weak, which you’ll get more of an indication of later on this update.

-His kidneys are slightly improved. They are still not at normal function, but they are making slow improvements in that direction.

-He has been off of the ventilator for significant periods of time the last few days. We don’t know if that is a permanent change yet or not. He still has the tracheotomy and they are providing him with supplemental oxygen, but the good news is that he is breathing more on his own and he doesn’t have to deal with the breathing tube in his mouth.

-He slept well last night, but is still tired today.

-The antibiotic for the pneumonia has now been fully administered. While they haven’t taken another chest x-ray they are confident that the pneumonia is gone based on his breath sounds as they listen through the stethoscope.

As you pray for John and his family, please remember the following:

-Pray that he will continue to gain strength with his breathing.

-Pray that he will regain his full swallowing action. They test his swallowing action regularly to see if they can remove the feeding tube, but he is not able to swallow consistently on his own. This would be very encouraging for him to begin eating on his own again.

-Pray that he will begin to regain overall strength. He started to receive physical therapy last week, but he is so weak that it will probably take him some time to regain enough strength for simple things like sitting up for long periods of time, standing and even walking a few steps.

-Pray for healing for his skin. I haven’t mentioned much about this, but when he was so swollen it caused multiple skin breaks where the fluid seeped out. The nurses work on those several times throughout the day, but many of those have not healed.

-Pray for rest for Joanna. In addition to John’s situation, Joanna received news that her mother is very sick back in Ohio. Ask that God would pour out double portions of strength and comfort and rest during this time.

-Pray for Anna, Jeff, Josiah and Drew as they are away from their dad on a regular basis. Drew started attending classes again back at West Salem HS last week. Josiah flies back home in about 10 days from his college studies on the East Coast. Anna & Jeff will be up for a week again over Christmas and New Years.

Joanna has been reading John the cards and emails that many of you have sent and those have been an encouragement to them both. If you want to send a card or email, you can direct those to any of our receptionists or Kathy Bletscher.

As I close this update, let me share with you a bit about my own visit to see John on Monday afternoon. After arriving at the hospital in mid-afternoon, I was able to visit with John for about half an hour. They had him sitting up in bed, so he could see me as I entered his room. Because he can’t really talk except a very quiet whisper at times that is very hard to understand, most of his communication is with his eyes. His eyes are white and clear and it is very evident as you talk to him that he is mentally engaged even though he can’t verbalize his thoughts.

Since he was so engaged I took the opportunity to bring John up to date on a number of different things. [Note: While John and I converse most every work day here at church, the two of us have lunch almost every Friday since I joined staff 2 ½ years ago. We use that time to stay connected personally, to inform each other about meetings we had where the other wasn’t present, and to talk through in more length the issues and decisions we are facing. So, our inability to communicate over the last few weeks has been a huge hole for both of us.] I brought him up to speed on specific decisions we had made related to the Broadway project during the last month and told him about church staff news. I told him that he would be so proud of the way that PMT, the staff, the church and even the city was responding during this time. I let him know about your generosity at Thanksgiving (11,000 pounds of food collected for the local food bank and $20,000 donated for our Arab lands partnership). I told him about the work that God was doing among us as evidenced by the special prayer and worship services we’ve had. I told him that our times of worship together as a church have been deep and rich. I told him that Steve Fowler was starting to sound more like John in his preaching. I told him that he was loved deeply by people all over the world as demonstrated by all of the emails I’ve received. You could tell in his eyes that he was hungry for all of the information I could give him.

Right now the way John communicates back is through the use of a QWERTY communication board. It is a sheet of paper that looks like a keyboard. Since John is not able to even lift his fingers to point, you have to first point to the row of letters one at a time and wait for him to nod. Once you have the right row then you move your finger across the row before he nods which letter is the right one. So, letter by letter you put together the words (along with guessing) and then put together the question that he is asking. It’s slow, but his questions clearly indicate that he is right there with you.

About halfway through my time with him, he asked how I was doing. That’s so like John. So I rolled my eyes back at him and said that I was doing fine, but that I was very concerned for him. Towards the end of our short time together he said “Good stuff” meaning that he really appreciated the updates. Then he said “Thanks.” As I was letting him know that I didn’t want to overextend my stay and was going to wrap up our visit, he looked down at his arm and kept looking down. So I looked down, too, thinking something was wrong. Instead I noticed that he had opened up his hand and lifted his arm off of the bed about three inches wanting me to grab his hand. I grabbed his hand and, after losing my composure for a few seconds, I told him that I loved him and missed him and encouraged him to keep fighting. And then I prayed for him, for Joanna, and for Salem Alliance.

As I left his room and walked back to the waiting room there were a lot of thoughts and prayers running through my mind. It was SO good to see him and spend some time with him, but it was hard, too. I thought about the three half marathons I’ve run with John and others from our church staff and prayed that there would be more of those times in the future. And I prayed, once more, that God would have mercy and restore John to full health and vitality and ministry effectiveness for his remaining years. I’m sure there are thousands of you praying the same thing.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are ALL things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36

Friday, December 5, 2008, 3:00 p.m.

If you missed our special service last night, it was another great time of prayer for John, Joanna, the kids and for us as a church. It seems like every time we’ve gotten together as a church family over the last few weeks, whether it has been a regular service or Thanksgiving Eve or a special prayer service, they have been unbelievably rich times of worship, of unity and of prayer. As Mike Jared told John directly on Tuesday when we visited him in the hospital, God is using John as he lies in his hospital bed to do a significant work among us. May God fan the flames that have started into a roaring fire of the Spirit’s work within, among and through us.

Once again, there is some good news and some not so good news to share about John since the last update on Wednesday. I’ll let you formulate your own items for prayer from this information.

-John had a pretty rough night on Thursday night. He went into respiratory distress and his carbon dioxide (CO2) levels shot up pretty high. They worked on this most of the night and by this afternoon his CO2 levels have returned to near normal levels and he seems to be breathing much easier. They don’t believe that the little bit of pneumonia in his lungs caused this respiratory distress, but it probably didn’t help either. He is obviously tired today, but in between sleeping/resting he has been awake and alert and in good spirits.

-His muscle enzyme levels have now dropped to around 7600, the lowest they’ve been in some time!

-In spite of getting a call from the hospital in the middle of the night, Joanna slept well last night. That’s a praise!

-On Thursday, before the respiratory distress episode, John had some physical therapy in his hospital bed as they start working his muscles again to prepare him to start sitting up and standing.

-On Wednesday afternoon he was in good enough condition to have Joanna read him the cards and notes and emails that they have received and that was a great encouragement to both of them.

-Joanna has indicated that he seems to have a little more swelling in his face today, which she is concerned about. We don’t have any information on how the swelling is in his extremities.

-They are sending a blood sample to a specialist in Massachusetts for diagnostic purposes. We don’t have any information yet on the type of specialist or the reasons why they are using this specialist. Please pray, though, that this will be a step towards identifying the underlying cause of John’s illness.

-The last information we had showed no change in his kidney functions from what we’ve reported in the last few updates.

Thanks, too, for your prayers for the Salem Alliance staff. At the service last night, the Spirit led prayer time for the staff was VERY meaningful for those of us that were present. Your prayers have helped to sustain us and have allowed us to continue serving/ministering even while we walk through our own emotions at the same time. Thank you for holding us up in this way.

Let me close with some words that Don Bubna, a former senior pastor here at Salem Alliance, shared during his impromptu benediction at last night’s service. As part of that benediction he defined hope in this way: “Hope is the expectation of God’s intervention.” May you continue to place your hope in that confidence as you pray and seek Him with all your heart.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008, Noon

I apologize that today’s update is a little slower in getting to the web, but a steady flow of meetings made it difficult to get enough computer time to put this together.

As has been the case over the last few weeks, there is some good news and some not so good news to report. Here is the good news first:

-John was losing blood on Tuesday, but they did discover the source of the blood loss. Apparently he has some sort of abscess in his lower back that was bleeding, but the bleeding has now been stopped.

-He slept well on Tuesday night and was awake and alert on Wednesday morning and was in a positive frame of mind.

The not so good news:

-They did a tracheotomy on Tuesday afternoon. Breathing tubes through the mouth and throat (like John has had) are meant to be temporary measures. Until John is able to regain the strength to breathe deeply and consistently on his own, the tracheotomy allows the ventilator to be connected to a tube directly in the trachea (the windpipe right below the voice box). The benefit is that the breathing tube in John’s mouth and throat has been removed and John will be able to communicate verbally once again.

-They discovered a little pneumonia in his lungs and have started him on antibiotic treatment.

His kidney function is still about the same, not horrible but not great either. His swelling in his extremities is also about the same. We have no new information on his muscle enzyme levels, but last we heard they were rising again.

Pray for:

-The antibiotic to effectively treat and eliminate the pneumonia in his lungs.

-John to regain strength first in his swallowing and breathing muscles.

-John to continue sleeping well.

-Joanna to sleep well, too.

-Strength and comfort for the kids

-Drew as he is back attending classes at West Salem HS again

-Josiah as he finishes up this semester’s coursework back on the East Coast over the next couple of weeks

-Anna and Jeff as they are back at work/school in Phoenix again

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008, 3:00 p.m.

After receiving word this morning that John was having another setback, our entire Pastoral Management Team drove up to OHSU late this morning to be with Joanna. [Note: when we refer to our Pastoral Management Team that includes John, Steve Dangaran, Barbara Fletcher, Steve Fowler, Mike Jared, Laura Scharer and myself.] Since I wanted to get another quick update out on the web, I let the rest of PMT go on ahead and then I left about an hour later for the hospital. After they arrived and connected with Joanna, John was awake and alert enough for them to go back to his ICU room for a short visit.

It was the first time any of us had seen him in over two weeks, so you can imagine their joy in being able to connect with him. While John was not able to speak because of the breathing tube and was not able to move because of extreme weakness, he was able to communicate a thousand words with his eyes. They were able to anoint him with oil, pray for him, read some passages from Isaiah to him, tell him they loved him, and encourage him with news about Salem Alliance and how all of you were showing your strong love and support for John and his family with your concern and prayers. They also told him how much we still needed him and encouraged him not to give up, but to keep on fighting. At one point they asked him to wink back at them to express his love for them (the only thing he could physically do) and he blinked furiously for several seconds. He looked each of them in the eye and you could tell that he was communicating back to them his own love. Their hearts were warmed and so should yours that the John we know and love is still there in spite of his body being ravaged. They had a sweet time with him and John seemed to be deeply encouraged by their visit. Joanna indicated that John was the most alert that he had been in days during their visit, so that was a gift from God.

The rest of PMT was just coming out of the ICU when I arrived, but I was also able to go back for my own short visit with John along with Joanna. I, too, was able to communicate how much I missed him, how much I needed him, and that there were thousands of people praying for him. Then I prayed for both he and Joanna before I left. Even though you couldn’t be there, we hope your hearts are encouraged by what we were able to communicate to John on your behalf.

That’s the good news. Now let me turn to the more discouraging news and specific ways for you to pray.

-John’s setback this morning was because he was losing blood, presumably from internal bleeding. Right after our visits they were taking John to have a CT scan to help them detect where the internal bleeding was occurring. First and foremost, pray that the internal bleeding will stop. Short of that, pray that they would determine where he is bleeding and are able to stop it.

-They gave John some medication over several days last week to attempt to help him regain some strength. The side benefit was that it helped to lower his muscle enzyme levels. Now that they have stopped this medication (they can’t continue to give him indefinitely the levels of medication he was receiving), his enzyme levels have started to rise again. And, the medication didn’t work to help him regain strength either. Hard news on both counts.

-This morning the doctors seemed to be taking several steps backwards on his diagnosis. For most of the last week, the doctors had all but given a definitive, specific diagnosis. But now today they were much less certain that they had a diagnosis. To their credit, none of the symptoms and test results are confirming a typical (or normal) presentation of the auto-immune disorders under consideration. If John indeed has an auto-immune disorder, then his symptoms and test results are atypical (not the normal) presentation. Pray for a clear diagnosis.

-Please pray double-duty for Joanna and the family (Anna, her husband Jeff, Josiah, and Drew) today, but especially Joanna. The up and down nature of the news from the last few weeks coupled with general fatigue are taking its toll. She needs a special measure of God’s strength, courage and wisdom today.

For other requests you could continue to refer to the requests listed in the updates since last Saturday, November 29th.

As we heard during the worship services here last weekend, let me remind you:

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10a)

Monday, December 1, 2008, 3:00 p.m.

While there are not a lot of changes in John’s condition today, there are a couple of positive things to report.

1) John’s muscle enzyme level is now down to 10,000 after peaking at 25,000 last week. That’s a praise!

2) While John is still on the ventilator (breathing tube), they have noticed that he is taking breaths on his own a good portion of the time and not fully dependent on the ventilator. While they have not yet given a timeline for getting John weaned off of the ventilator, the fact that he is taking breaths on his own is a positive step in that direction. They have been sedating him while he is on the ventilator.

Other than these changes, the other concerns (i.e., swelling, fever, kidney function, weakness) are still about the same. Rather than listing them again, please refer back to the prayer requests from last Saturday afternoon. Thanks for being a praying church!

Sunday, November 30, 2008, 11:00 a.m.

Right before the 11:00 a.m. service this morning we received an update on John's condition that we announced only at that service. If you were at earlier services during the weekend you would not have received this information.

As Joanna was driving back to Salem late Saturday night (November 29th), she received a phone call from OHSU asking her to return to the hospital. John was placed back on the ventilator (in other words he was reintubated) because of breathing difficulties and he was also spiking a fever. Unfortunately, this is all the additional information we have as this update goes to the website.

In addition to the prayer requests from the last update, please pray that they are able to stabilize John's fever and his breathing and that his condition will NOT spiral downhill again. Pray that God will grant Joanna an extra measure of strength for today. We have a couple of PMT (Pastoral Management Team) members up at the hospital with Joanna and Drew this afternoon.

Thanks for responding to the prayer needs as they change from day to day.

Saturday, November 29, 2008, 6:00 p.m.

Here is the latest update on John’s condition:

-The swelling in John’s face, neck and upper chest is gone, but there is still swelling from his chest down to his feet.

-His muscle enzymes have now dropped to 16,000 after getting up to 25,000 (normal is 100) earlier this week.

-While his kidney functions are no longer falling, they still need to continue to improve.

-He is having trouble breathing and swallowing. They are giving him supplemental oxygen through nasal tubes (and sometimes an oxygen mask) and he is still on the feeding tubes.

-He is still very weak and they are giving him some medication to address the muscle weakness.

-The pain management is under better control and John seems to be more comfortable.

-John and Joanna both had a good night sleep on Friday night.

Here are some specific things to pray for:

1) Pray that his kidney functions would return to normal, that his muscle enzyme levels would continue to fall, and that the rest of the swelling would go down.

2) Pray that he would regain the strength to breathe and swallow normally.

3) Pray that the medication for the general muscle weakness would help him to regain strength throughout his body.

4) Pray that the doctors would have a breakthrough in identifying an exact cause of John’s illness.

5) Most of the extended family have now returned home. As they settle in to the more longer term recovery, pray for continued rest and strength for Joanna.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for John and his family.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 4:00 p.m.

Even though Pastor John Stumbo’s condition has not changed significantly from the news we reported Sunday night, there remains several items that need your specific prayer attention.

Here is the latest update on John’s condition: 

- The swelling in John’s face is nearly gone, but there is still swelling from his neck down to his feet. 

- His muscle enzymes got up to 25,000 (normal is 100) before dropping to 20,000. 

- While his kidney functions are no longer falling, they still need to continue to improve. 

- Now that the doctors are not solely focused on keeping John alive, they have refocused their attention on diagnosing his condition/illness. They are conducting another muscle biopsy today as a diagnostic test.

Here are some specific things to pray for:

1) Pray that his kidney functions continue to rise and return to normal. This will help his muscle enzyme levels to fall and will help reduce the swelling.

2) Pray that his muscle enzyme levels would continue to fall.

3) Pray that the doctors would have a breakthrough in identifying an exact cause of John’s illness.

4) John is pretty uncomfortable. Pray for effective pain management.

5) John has not slept well in the last two days. Pray that the God of Shalom (peace) would give John restful sleep and surround him as he is now awake enough again to wonder what is going on with his body and the long-term prospects. Specifically, please pray that John would experience Jesus’ words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

6) Joanna is very tired. Pray that she, too, will find restful sleep tonight and in the days ahead.

Thanks for all the offers for brownies for John. Your love for John and his family continues to overwhelm us. While John may be hungry for brownies, he is not yet able to eat them. Some day we’ll have a brownie party for him.

We plan on providing an update on John at our Thanksgiving Eve service, tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 6:30 p.m. From this point forward we plan on sending out emails when there are significant changes (either positive or negative) to report. We will, however, be updating our website (www.salemalliance.org) on a regular basis, including at least once over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Thank you for your prayers. As you gather together with family and friends over the Thanksgiving table this week, please join us in giving God great thanks for his mercy on John’s life so far and for the work that He is doing in us as a church during this time.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” I Chronicles 16:34

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 10:00 p.m. (U.S. Pacific Time)

One word sums it up: WOW!

The news on Pastor John Stumbo from Sunday is significantly better than it was on Saturday. There is all good news and NO tough news this time!

Here is all the good news. 

- John had the breathing tube removed and taken off of the ventilator. Before they removed the breathing tube he had been writing notes to his family, asking questions. His first words (barely audible) were: “I want a pan of brownies made with love.” 

- His kidney functions were no longer falling, but were starting to rise. 

- The swelling in his body has gone down quite a bit. 

- The high risk medication for his blood infection was to be out of his system by 3:00 a.m. on Monday (this morning). That means that the risk for the serious side effects from that medication will be over.

As you can imagine, the family was elated and they spent a lot of time in John’s room (per John’s request) singing and talking to him. As he was being weaned off of the sedative, having family nearby to interact with was helping to calm him down. Based on the stories I was hearing, you can be assured that his brain function and humor are still intact.

They still have not diagnosed the underlying problem, although they have ruled out infectious diseases.

Here are some specific things to praise/pray for:

1) Praise God that his kidney function is rising and pray that it returns to normal. This will have a cascading effect and will help his muscle enzyme levels to start falling and will help continue the process of cleaning his blood.

2) Praise God that the administration of the high risk medication for his blood infection is now done and with no serious side effects.

3) Praise God that he is off of the ventilator.

4) Pray that John would continue to fully recover.

5) Pray that God would give the doctors wisdom as they work to identify an exact diagnosis and put a treatment plan in place.

6) Pray that the God of Shalom (peace) would surround John at this time as he is now awake enough again to wonder what is going on with his body and the long-term prospects. Specifically, please pray that John would experience Jesus’ words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

7) As always, continue to pray for Joanna and the kids (Anna, Josiah, Drew).

It is no small coincidence that we as a church family gathered this past week at two critical points. First, last Wednesday night as they were beginning to administer the high risk medication for his blood infection. God answered your prayers that there would be no serious side effects and that the medication work as planned. Second, this past weekend, God answered your prayers that his kidney functions would start to rise and that he would be taken off of the ventilator.

Thank you for your prayers and please continue to keep John in your prayers.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 5:00 p.m. (U.S. Pacific Time)

Today’s update on Pastor John Stumbo includes several pieces of good news and a couple of tough news items. John is still not yet out of the woods.

First, the good news. The high risk medication for his blood infection continues to work as it should without any of the adverse side effects. The swelling from all the fluid in his body is slowly starting to recede. If all goes well he should be off of the ventilator in 2-3 days. The doctors have said that his brain has not suffered any oxygen deprivation during any of this, so there is no concern for brain damage.

On the tough news side, his muscle enzyme levels are at the 20,000 level, the highest they’ve been. A healthy person would have muscle enzyme levels around 100. His kidney function is falling. This is the most urgent issue at the moment. His kidneys need to be fully functioning to help the muscle enzyme levels to drop. John continues to be heavily sedated and he is still at risk for unexpected problems.

The doctors continue to say that, if he hadn’t been in such top physical condition heading into this illness, he probably wouldn’t have made it this far. While that’s probably true, we know that God deserves all of the credit.

Here are some specific things to pray/praise God for:

1) Pray that his kidney function starts to rise and returns to normal. If this happens, it will help the muscle enzyme levels start falling and will help to continue the process of cleaning his blood.

2) The high risk medication is being infused over a four day period which ends on Sunday night. Pray that the medication continues to work as it should without any of the serious side effects.

3) Pray that he would continue to improve enough that they can remove him from the ventilator in the next 2-3 days.

4) Praise God that there has been no brain damage so far.

5) As always, continue to pray for Joanna and the kids (Anna, Josiah, Drew).

A verse from Psalm 23 seems appropriate for John’s situation and for us: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”

Continue to pray with that confidence.

Friday, November 21, 2008, 4:00 p.m. (U.S. Pacific Time)

Dear Church Family,

The latest news on Pastor John Stumbo today is not that much different than yesterday. In certain ways he is slightly better and in other ways he is slightly worse.

The positive news is that the medication for his blood still has not produced the negative side effects. They have also weaned John off of the medication to assist his heart and his heart has continued to beat strong on its own. So, all of those miles he ran were good for something! They are keeping John sedated most of the day. In order to keep the sedation medication working at its best, they wake him up for a few minutes every morning. When they do wake him up he is in a good deal of pain and discomfort.

The discouraging news is that his swelling is the worst it has been. John’s body has not been absorbing the fluid they have been administering and which he so desperately needs. To give you a sense of how significant this is, John has gained 50 pounds (all liquid) just since Monday.

Here are some specific things to pray for.

1) Pray that the blood medication will continue to do its work without any serious side effects.

2) Pray that his body will start absorbing fluids and that the swelling will go down. Now!

3) Continue to pray for Joanna and the kids. They are doing amazingly well, but it is still very hard as you can imagine.

4) Pray that they can help manage John’s pain and discomfort when he is awake.

We have been encouraged by the emails we have received from people around the world that have been touched by John’s ministry and are praying for him.

Thursday, November 20, 5:00 p.m. (U.S. Pacific Time)

After a very difficult day yesterday (Wednesday), the latest news on Pastor John has some signs of encouragement. In the doctor's words to Joanna this morning, John is still "very sick but seems to be on a new trajectory." John is not out of the woods yet, but the signs over the last 24 hours have been more positive than negative. We attribute that change to the power of our great God and to your prayers.

John started to receive some new medication last night that has the potential for great benefit (i.e., cleaning his blood from the blood infection) and for some potentially serious side effects. So far the medication is having the hoped for positive benefits without the serious side effects.

Here are some specific things to pray for.

1) Pray that this new medication will continue to do its work and that there would be NO serious side effects.

2) Pray that this new positive trajectory will continue in a sustained manner.

3) Pray for continued strength and courage for Joanna and the kids. They are doing well. Anna and Josiah arrived today to join Joanna and Drew. Lots of other family members have been arriving over the last 24 hours.

4) John's birthday is tomorrow (Friday). Pray for a special sense of God's presence for the family.

We have been passing on cards and notes to Joanna and sharing news with the family about the many ways you have shown your love and support. That has been a great encouragement to them. Thanks again for your prayers for John and his family. Thanks, too, for the support and encouragement you have shown to your church staff this past week. We feel your prayers.

May God be highly exalted.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Salem Alliance Church Family,

As you know, Pastor John Stumbo was admitted to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland where he has been in the ICU. This morning John's condition took a turn for the worse, but he seems to have stabilized over the last couple of hours.

The doctors have determined that John is fighting a blood infection and are now taking steps to address it. In short, John is seriously ill.

We are cancelling our normal Wednesday night activities tonight (November 19) and instead are inviting our congregation to a Prayer & Worship service in our Worship Center tonight at 7:00 p.m. Since we will not be offering childcare tonight to allow our childcare workers to attend the service, you are welcome to bring your children to the service at your discretion. The service will be family-friendly in that sense.

We continue to covet your prayers for healing for John, for wisdom for the doctors as they start treating his blood infection, for strength and comfort for Joanna and their kids, and that through this God would be glorified.

Thank you for standing in the gap on behalf of John and Joanna during this time.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Salem Alliance Church Family,

As you’ve heard over the last couple of weeks, Pastor John has been sick with an undiagnosed ailment that has caused elevated muscle enzyme levels creating muscle weakness, fatigue and other issues affecting his body. John spent a week at Salem Hospital before coming home early last week. Once he was home John improved for a few days, but during this past weekend his symptoms began to reappear. While he received excellent care during his stay at Salem Hospital, the doctors informed him that if his symptoms persisted the next best step was to seek care at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland.

We wanted you to be aware that John is now in the process of being admitted to OHSU. The same “no visitors” policy is still in place to give John every opportunity to rest. Thank you for respecting this “no visitors” policy.

We covet your prayers for healing for John, for wisdom for the doctors as they diagnose what’s wrong, and for strength and comfort for Joanna and their kids. Thank you for standing in the gap on behalf of John and Joanna during this time.

Remember our God is trustworthy and faithful. In light of Christ’s frequent command, “Do not fear,” we choose not to fear but to hope and lean in to prayer.