September 14th, 2015

Well the time has finally arrived folks. I’m currently writing to you from my new hospital room at City of Hope preparing for my stem cell transplant. Starting tomorrow, I’ll begin a week long high-dose chemotherapy treatment, the result of which we plan on being the complete eradication of this cancer once and for all. In just eight days I will be given back my stem cells, a day marked on the calendar as “Day Zero.” At that point I will essentially be without an immune system, as the stem cells engraft and begin to form the new bone marrow, taking up to 2-3 weeks. So I’m settling in for this next part of the journey, a moment reminiscent of setting off on an adventure, the packing of bags and the double-checking of lists. It feels as if I’m a voyager of the starship Endurance settling in for “the long nap” or a samurai preparing for battle.

People have asked...

August 7th, 2015

Most of you have been following my journey so far, but here’s recap:

After a routine visit to a vigilant doctor, a trip back home instead of to the middle of the South Pacific, and then six challenging, but not impossible, months of chemotherapy at City of Hope South Pasadena I finished my treatment and believed that having to fight cancer was a thing of the past. I found a job in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC as a research lab technician and prepared to go to graduate school. After much consideration, I chose a Ph.D. program in Biology at Stanford; I will be doing my research with the Lowe Lab at Hopkins Marine Station. Around the same time, I went in for my 6 month CT-scan and PET-scan which together revealed that there were once again large cancerous masses in my lymph nodes. This clearly was...

June 29th, 2015

“That’s the problem” she said, “you’re always optimistic, trying to see the best possibility in every situation. Me, I’m a realist, I just don’t see it the same way as you.”*

I think it’s fair to say that this has been the case throughout life, I’ve generally been a positive person with my eyes firmly set on the future versus the past. However, these last few months it has been hard at times to see life in the same glimmering light. The last few weeks have been incredibly positive, but through it all I’ve been reminded to temper optimism.

Some great news in the last few weeks includes the fact that I was selected as National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a fellowship which will fully fund 3 years of my Ph.D. I feel incredibly honored, and honestly a just a bit lucky, as NSF awarded only 2,000 individuals from among 16,500 applicants in 2015. The...

April 22th, 2015

The waiting is always difficult. With each passing day the only news that arrived was that insurance was still “waiting to make a decision.” While it will have been more than a month from the first concerning scan to actual treatment start, the good news is the waiting is over! For those of you who walked faithfully with me during those dark days, thank you. Thank you for putting up with the fear, the frustration and the wondering. Thank you for bearing the weight of words which you never wanted to hear.

The good news is that the insurance approved the clinical trial at City of Hope, one of the premier cancer treatment centers. The trial is looking at the effectiveness of a drug that really might be a game-changer in the treatment of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Brentuximab vedotin is a monoclonal antibody linked to a cytotoxic compound which can specifically target the tumor...

March 25rd, 2015

The news came in an email:

“Congratulations! On behalf of the Department of Biology at Stanford University, I am pleased to inform you of our offer of admission to our PhD program”

The news came in an envelope:

“Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that you have been admitted as a graduate student for Fall 2015 to the Ph.D. program in Scripps Institution of Oceanography majoring in Marine Biology at the University of California, San Diego.”

The news came in a phone call:

“Paul, this is Dr. Stewart. I need to speak with you regarding the results of your CT scan. I know we have an appointment next week, but I need to speak with you before that…”

All of the emotions of the last few days, the last few months, indeed the last year struggle to make it on to this page.

Long story short, the cancer is back.
What foreign words to write, and even stranger words to...

An unlikely title never resonated with more truth.

On this Thanksgiving evening, as I settle cozily into the nook of the couch to work on graduate applications, a Glen Miller record turns and the family prepares for a rousing round of Scattergories, cup of tea in hand.

I’d be lying if I denied ever wondering if I had experienced my last Thanksgiving, last Christmas, etc. so today feels a bit of a hallmark moment.

Gratitude is an odd feeling. After this whole journey there was large amount of externalized, raw, emotional gratitude. Let’s just say the cancerfree party was a rip-roaring success. For those of you who were able to make it, please know, that the night will be one I will never forget.

In contrast is a simple evening like tonight. After a traditional family gathering this afternoon, getting to catch up with cousins and enjoy the typical wonderful Thanksgiving foods, the...

After six months of chemotherapy, I had a final appointment with my oncologist who diagnosed that my Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is showing full remission! I want to personally thank all of you who have walked so faithfully with me throughout this journey. Whether it was a card in the mail, a word of encouragement, or a “like” on a facebook post, knowing that I had an army of support behind me truly made a huge difference.

To that end I will be having a small celebration at my house on November 1st from 5-8. So if you are reading this…you’re invited! There will be a casual, light dinner served at 6 so please let us know if you are able to come!

If you are unable to attend and/or live far far away I still want to thank you for your prayers and thoughts throughout this challenging time, so please drop me a line (paulakbump@gmail.com) with your current address and I’d love to write you a short...

September 12th, 2014

Phew.

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least.

The start of a new job at USC has been quite enjoyable, picking up some useful techniques as well as being exposed to some interesting concepts in stem cell and developmental biology which I hope will prepare me well for future graduate studies. As a technician my role in the lab is varied; I help graduate students with their experiments, finish up the more mundane part of protocols, make different chemical solutions and just try to be generally helpful around the lab.

The particular project I’m working on is quite fascinating, but in thinking about how I would want to explain it… I figured a diagram would be much more helpful then a long string of big science-y words that leave us all feeling a bit confused.

*A note of encouragement to the overwhelmed reader: even with what I consider to be...

August 16th, 2014

“We only got, 86,400 seconds in the day,
To turn it all around or throw it all away, We gotta tell ‘em that we love 'em,
While we got the chance to say, Gotta live like we’re dying.”-The Script

As pop music and cultural phrases such as “YOLO” (you only live once) suggest, our time on this earth is limited and heck, we’d better be living it up! Yet at the same time there is the subtle spirit of irresponsibility which values this new found freedom over the health of the community.

Instead, I’m going to suggest a new paradigm “YOLOFTWD” (You only live once for things worth doing). But what does this all have to do with me? Well as I enter into these last few months of treatment, I’m reminded of the frailty of my body. After a recent chemotherapy infusion which left me feeling rather awful, I was equally reminded of the internal strength I can draw upon and that my power...