As many of you know, I hit pause on the blog a few weeks ago due to my daughter being unwell. Well, the reaction from readers was really quite something and I don’t mind admitting that the dozens of kind messages received from all corners of the globe brought a tear to my eye and raised spirits within the Columbophile Camp no end. You are a fabulous bunch, and your generosity of spirit is greatly appreciated in these trying times.
Anyway, to keep you updated, my dear daughter, who only turned 11 in March, has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. We’re fortunate in that it was picked up very early, but she has 8-10 months of treatment ahead of her, including chemotherapy and surgery. She’ll be in hospital for a lot of that time and we’ll otherwise be in charitable housing near the hospital for the duration.
We’ve met with her surgeon, whom I’m happy to report seems much more family friendly than the icy Dr Mayfield – although he was required to give her some dissolving sutures to seal up a biopsy, so you just never know. We’re confident the sweet young lamb is in good hands and will make a full recovery, although there will be lots of discomfort and sad moments to navigate, too. Nevertheless, we shall bravely soldier on!
This continues to leave the blog at an impasse. Although I will have free time on my hands in the months ahead, it’s the sort of hand-wringing free time that isn’t necessarily conducive to writing. Heck, I haven’t even watched an episode for weeks. I now live with a constant, gnawing anxiety, which doesn’t provide the state of mind to create light-hearted content on the world’s greatest detective (sorry Mr Steve, but I’m only human). As soon as that changes, you’ll be the first to know.
I now have to dash off and see to the young whelp’s needs (pillow plumping, slipper fetching, sweet unwrapping etc) so she can enjoy her day to the maximum before her next stint in hospital commences at the end of this week. Thanks, as ever, for your patience and kind thoughts, and thanks, too, to the many donators to the site in recent weeks, who have enabled me to buy some little treats for Columbo Junior to help keep her pecker up.
I will finish up here by saying that if you have young ones of your own, do give them an immediate cuddle and if they ever complain of having hip pain without an obvious cause, do get them checked out with a medic ASAP! Until next time, adieu…
I’ve been where you are, and my wish for you is that everything works out for the best. Your daughter has friends all over the world. Perhaps youill post sometime to get your mind off the situation.
I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s diagnosis, but am encouraged that they caught it early. I know it is scary for a parent. My daughter was born with heart defects and has had 4 open heart surgeries in her life. She’s now 19 and is healthy. Wishing your daughter the same. Best of luck.
Sending healing thoughts and prayers for your daughter, and your family. I can’t even imagine what you are going through right now.
Prayers sent to you and your daughter. May God see her through all this.
I wish I could do something nice for your family. I will be happy to buy you a cup of coffee on the link but if there is some other nice thing we can do, please tell us.
Thoughts and well wishes being sent out to you and your daughter and the rest of your family for a Speedy Recovery!
CP, while my heart sank upon hearing of your daughter’s condition, I was encouraged by learning of her prognosis and the care and attention she is receiving. You have an army of well-wishers and supporters who care because of who you are. We’re thinking of you and welcome updates independent of anything related to Columbo.
I am a newbie to your site and I LOVE ❤it!! Thank you! My thoughts go out to you and your precious family. I have been trying to find the episode where Columbo wants coffee. I believe he uses the phrase ” coming in on a dead run” can you help? I have watched Columbo my whole life! I so appreciate this and with all you are going through, you find time to reach out to us. You are strong! Thank you for doing this!
Best wishes to you and your little girl as always, Columbophile. I’m very glad to hear that the cancer was caught early and she has a good chance of recovery. Having suffered from chronic anxiety since my teens, I know how helpful it can be to have a distraction, so I hope you might be in a better place mentally to start appreciating ‘Columbo’ again at some point in the near future…
Prayers for your sweet girl and for you and your family. I’m so very glad the wretched cancer was caught early, and wish your daughter all the best.
Don’t worry about your next communication to us. We can certainly wait until things are getting better with you and your daughter. So glad to hear that you were able to find it early and take care of it. Wishing you and your daughter strength, hope and peace to get thru what’s coming.
Wishing your daughter the best of luck with her treatment. My thoughts are with you.
So true, once you have kids you then realize that money and material things suddenly aren’t as important. Best of luck and keep the faith!
Good luck with your daughter’s treatment and here’s to your good times coming back.
Wishing your daughter all the best in the world, my heart goes out to you all. I am so incredibly sorry. No young child should have to face such cruel things but I am so glad you were able to catch things early. Sending all my love and positive energy I hope and wish the best for her and your family during these times. Take all the time in the world that you need, thank you for allowing us all to continue to get re-excited about Columbo from your impeccable Columbo knowledge, dedication and pure love for it as it really shines through, you’ve made an incredible mark on a lot of people, (I’ve been a twitter follower for years( inactive on there at this current time but nonetheless, i will never forget the “columbophile”)
All the best, take care of yourself
Wishing you and your family strength in this time!! This blog has been what i look forward to reading as I made my way through the entire series this last year. Thank you so much for what you do, and I hope soon you and your daughter will be able to watch more episodes together as she recovers!
Very best wishes to you all. Take care and our thoughts are with you.
It sounds like the Lt should make you one of his omlettes. Having experienced Cancer World myself, I strongly advise you to look after youself too! You must eat well and sleep/rest the best you can. It’s easy to live on junk food and drink hospital coffee – just ask Arthur Kennicutt. Thank you for keeping us posted. My thoughts are with y’all.
Dear Chief Columbo fan–
Our prayers for your little lamb are ongoing. Could you post her name, please? Although I’m sure she’s the apple of His Eye, it’s nice to have a name. (If you posted it, I missed it…)
The words “child ” and “cancer” in the same breath are an obscenity.
No doubt His Loving Hands are healing her and holding her next to His Heart.
With heartfelt prayer,
The Murff family (Trish S.)
The thoughts and best wishes of the entire Columbophile community remain with CP and his daughter during this difficult time.
I have seen many new commenters over the past months, and for first-time users of this, the largest active worldwide blog for all things Columbo, there is a treasure trove of great pieces from CP going all the way back to this blog’s June 2015 origins (6th Year Anniversary on June 29!) The “Dip Into The Archives” to the right has them all, including every one of CP’s 45 Seventies Columbo full-length reviews in order of airing. Full-length reviews of New Columbo episodes are chronological through “Columbo Goes to College”.
Some may find all the content daunting to sift through if time-challenged, so as a starting point for new blog users, I have my own humble suggestions for excellent CP topics that are apart from the episode reviews that provide the meat-and-potatoes for many readers.
Top 10 Best Gotchas – July 2015
Columbo Killers We Love To Hate – Aug 2015
6 Life Lessons I Learned From Columbo – July 2017
13 Amazing Columbo Roles for Women Aged 45+ – Nov 2017
Least Satisfying Columbo Gotchas of the 70s – Sept 2019
12 Toe-Curlingly Dreadful Columbo Moments – Dec 2019
Which is the Best 70s Season of Columbo? – Feb 2020
Hypothetical Columbo Reboot…How Might It Work? – April 2020
Plus, the epic countdown from June-July 2020 of the Top 100 Moments of 70s Columbo
And I’ll add 2 columns from guest contributor Richard Weill:
What Happens When Columbo’s Cases Go To Court – May 2017
The 5 Steps to Crafting a Columbo Mystery – Dec 2017
This list could be much longer, but those are great places to begin as CP takes a writing pause from the site. Take your time, CP….there’s plenty here to read!
Excellent!
God bless you. Prayers for your sweet daughters full recovery.💕
Thank you for sharing something so personal with your readers. You can be sure your sweet daughter and your family will be in my prayers. Your posts are a highlight to the ending of each Columbo episode I watch as a recap! I laugh out loud at your insights as I often see them myself and it so much fun to share them. Please take care, spend your time with your little one, we will be here when you return!
Be well, be happy. See you when we see you.
I am deeply sorry what your little baby is going through an extremely tough time in her life. You, as a parent, her mom, her friends, and so many others feel the pain, anxiety, the stress of unknown. The world must be upside down for you. Thanks God that was caught early and now she is under treatment. I am sending love to her and to all of you for her to be healed completely. I hope that you are taking good care of yourself too. With lots of love.
Thank you for taking the time to keep us updated. I’m sure I speak for all of us out here when I say we are sending much love, best wishes, and prayers to your daughter and you and your entire family. I’ll look forward to enjoying that bottle of Full’s with you when this treatment is over, and be aware, we will blow right past that mark on the label!
Hi, Columbophile, hope your daughter is doing better. She’s in our prayers, God willing she’ll get better soon.
Regards,
Ed the Florida librarian 🙏
Okay, so this is not to be read by children but by parents with sick children:
In the final case of the first era, Columbo connects conspiracy with poetry, and that’s what I do now. The German poet Eugen Roth once wisely wrote:
„Was bringt den Doktor um sein Brot?
a) die Gesundheit, b) der Tod.
Drum hält der Arzt, auf dass er lebe,
Uns zwischen beiden in der Schwebe.“
Translation:
What endangers the doctor’s salary?
a) Health, b) Death
Therefore the doctor, who wants to survive,
Keeps us in balance between the two.
Nowadays the conventional medical industry is all about making money. Even when the kind doctors, to which we speak as patients, are not like Barry Mayfield, the chiefs of their chiefs still are. This is why the system has no interest in curing diseases but in holding on to them. More diseases = more patients = more money for the industry. Plain and simple.
Now allow me a columbolike combination: When it comes to cancer, every patient should be bothered by the question: Why do the doctors not suggest to cure the cancer the cheap and easy way, without the help of chemical devices? Almost a century ago, the biochemist and nobel prize winner Otto Warburg found out, that cancer cells cannot survive within an alkaline milieu, so all a cancer patient needs to do permanently is eating the right food which changes his body into a less acidic, more basic organism, and in time his cancer will perish. Instead, the doctors say “No, that’s not worth a try, that’s not what we were taught in the university, so that’s not what we are gonna do.”
Just a thought. Columbo taught me so, and he was always right.
Just see Japan and Japanese people. They have a mix of western-like, evidence based medicine, healthcare (80%) and ancient eastern techniques, like natural medicine, acupressure, acupuncture, and so on (20%). They have a quite healthy cuisine in addition. The results are: Japanese people have the longest expected life. Also in Japan, the number of centenarians increase the highest speed in the world.
So in summary I have to say, evident based healthcare is GOOD, and signs don’t show it keep people ill.
Columbophile: best wishes and quickest recovery for your daughter!
Regards from Hungary, Budapest (home of the Culombo & Dog statue… 😛 )!
If this is your experience, fine. I think it could depend a lot on the culture someone lives in. All I can say is: Every cancer patient that I knew, including two family members, died shortly after or during the therapy, which raises the question: Did they die in spite of or because of the therapy? But I understand, this is the wrong place to discuss or investigate the subject.
Best wishes to every suffering human being.
Continued prayers for your daughters full recovery and comfort to you and your family. Been there and know the anxiety. Concentrate on yourselves and take care. Much love and prayers to you all 💓.
Thinking of you and your family at this difficult time. I’ve donated a few coffees either for you to have more coffee during your hospital visits, or treats for junior. x
Will be praying for your daughter and your family.
Merci pour votre message rassurant sur votre fille, je lui souhaite du courage et de se rétablir au plus vite. En ce qui concerne vos messages et informations en attente sur Columbo, je n’aurai de plaisir à les lire de nouveau que si je sais votre fille en bonne santé. Alors prenez soin d’elle, prenez soin de vous, la santé n’a pas de prix. Cordialement, JPhB
All the best to your daughter!
Praying for a full and quick recovery for your little one may God be with you and your family
Thinking of you and your family at this difficult time. Completely understandable putting this blog on the back burner. Hope your daughter gets well soon.
Will be keeping your daughter in mind for a full recovery, and best to your whole family. Keep us posted.
Creative writers (that’s people such as you) find refuge at such awful times with their inner self, it comes as no surprise then that you have suspended the allusion of drama whilst your daughter gets her treatment.
I, along with thousands of others, wish you and your family well at such times of “Troubled Waters”. We all share your anxiety. When you can keep please your Columbophile ‘family’ updated.
Stay strong. Do not let any “Negative Reaction” become a “Deadly State of Mind” “Playback” the happiest of days when such thoughts strike, and within your Columbophiles’ community your daughter is NOT a “Forgotten Lady.”
Consider us all “A Friend in Deed” at such times.
Praying for your daughter, your family and you, Columbophile.🙏🙏🙏
We, your Fans, appreciate you taking the time out to even update us, and appreciate knowing the emotional and health status of you and your family!
There’s so much material within the Columbo- “phile” already that it seems to be churning out a lot of conversation among ourselves. Not to say you aren’t of course very much missed.
You and your family are in my best thoughts and thank you so much for remembering to think about your audience. It says much about your commitment to a special interest!
Mostly unrelated to your case, I’m sure, but my wife underwent hip surgery less than two months ago and she’s doing great. The surgeon was fantastic and the recovery is going off smoothly. I’m confident your daughter is in good hands and she’ll fully recover. All the best for her!
Prayers earnestly offered for you & your family – esp your daughter. My dd was diagnosed with Lupus at 13, I remember that heart stopping moment that doesn’t seem to end, only thuds along because you must. Remembering she’s your child first, the health issues second, is a struggle some days, but hang on to that truth, it will matter to her in the long run. Also, embrace any hour of rest as if her life depends on it, eat healthy, drink plenty of water and step out in the sunshine or rain to gain moments of perspective so you can keep on keeping on. Listen to her, let her feel what she needs to, reminding her frequently that she is so much more than a malfunctioning body or results of labs or a # on a chart or her birthdate which she will recite 400 times a day – or it’ll seem like that eventually :g:. You will get thru this & so will she!
Hey man, thanks for the update. All of God’s blessings to your daughter and to you as well. Don’t worry about this site- you’ve given us so much joy with all this content your fellow -philes will content ourselves with re-reading your awesome content. Even if you have “A Friend in Deed” and “A Stitch in Crime” ranked too low on your rankings. 😂
God bless you & your family, Columbophile, in this difficult time, and prayers go out to you (& especially your little one)! 💛
May the Good Lord’s blessing rest upon you at this time and give you the strength and capacity to keep moving forward. I myself have a 19 year brain tumor survivor. Onset at age 4. We love your Colomophile comments. God Bless
My heart goes out to you and her – the whole family. I hope she is declared cancer free soon and that it never ever returns.
Keeping your daughter and your family in my prayers. Strength of faith will help get her through the hard days ahead.
Forgive me if I double post but I don’t see that my earlier comment made it into this section so a quick recap: Appreciate all you do to keep us Columbophiles happy and emotionally well fed. Sending healing thoughts your darlin’s way and hope you’ll be back soon regaling us with your extensive knowledge of this iconic and beloved show. Blessings to you and your family. Take care of yourself. Oh…one more thing…big hug!
My prayers for your daughter and your family!
I hope all will be well!
I am a 12 year cancer survivor myself.
Are you in England?
I’m in the U.S.
Sending you and your little one lots of love and healing thoughts
Praying for your daughter and your family, hope everything turns out okay and she beats this 200%.
Best regards,
Ed the librarian 🙏
That’s too bad. All best wishes to you, your daughter, and your family.
Sending prayers and love your way. I sincerely respect your silver lining spirit in the face of trouble and will gladly assume young CP is a chip off the old block. Best wishes to your clan.
Columbophile
Somehow i missed ur original post.
I’m incredibly sorry to hear this news.
Warmest thoughts your way….truly.
Don’t give us a second thought my friend…..
Be strong.
M
Gosh I’ve not been reading your wonderful blog for a bit due to this or that, and am sorry I’m learning of your absence and your personal travail so late. As you have written above others have sent their support either through donations or through their words and I want to also add mine. Your love of Columbo and ability to reach all our hearts with your sharing that love has been a blessing and a joy. I wish you and your family all good things and a complete recovery for your darlin’. We’ll miss you but know that you’ll be filling these pages again soon. Big hug and one more thing….love.
I hope that everything works out for you, your daughter, your family, and quickly as possible. And that you and your family can resume watching Columbo without a care in the world.