Okay so it has been over a month and I know it is time to give a little update. The last time I updated things were visibly taking a turn for the better for Jon but it was hard to really know exactly in such a short amount of time. One day I plan on giving a more detailed update on that crazy/awful/amazing week in February, but it will have to be for another time. 

Things with Jon seem to still be slowly but surely progressing. Emphasis on the slowly but it is there. It is hard for all of us, but especially Jon, when he wants the progress to go so much quicker. It seems like a lot of "a few steps forward and one step back". Overall we feel forward motion and we couldn't be more grateful for that. We are more than confident that this is due to everyone's prayers. 

Overall I would say we have the same continuing issues that we are hoping to progressively get better: Better sleep, Better digestion, Better appetite, Perseverance, Wisdom and Grace. A HUGE win: Jon has been fully off of pain meds for 3 weeks now which feels like a real shocker without God, but with Him makes sense! In the hospital everyone was very confident that the need for pain medicine was due to Jon's overwhelming tumor burden in his liver and that he would be perpetually on them. Well, he just stopped needing them one day and all we have is praise for that. 

Unfortunately this past weekend we had a really scary encounter on Saturday night - Jon's Blood Pressure became dangerously high followed by vomiting and then followed by sharp abdominal pains. It took a lot of medication and effort to get everything under control and we had a challenging few days afterwards dealing with the repercussions of all of he medications used. The pains went away and after running down a few things medically we discovered Jon had kidney stones :(

So as you can tell, we literally take things day by day. It varies but truly, overall, we feel forward progress and we are really grateful for the hope that we have each day as Jon is still here and as long as he is we will keep praying in faith for healing. The hospice nurse always seems surprised to see Jon when she comes by and the level of health he has maintained. Please, for everyone praying for God to heal Jon, take time to thank Him for all of the good that He has worked for us. 

The pandemic hasn't changed our lives much - we spend everyday together at home as a family and my work has not been shut down so I do that when I can. The hardest thing has been not being able for Axel to get together with friends and cousins and missing our church family in person (we are getting really good at zoom!) We had also been blessed by some visitors for Jon and seeing his parent's frequently in Dallas and it has been sad to give up the opportunity to see those people we love! Overall we are grateful that we have remained healthy and that is what we want for our family and friends as well! 

This isn't a very eloquent update but I wanted to get something out there. Please keep praying! Not only for us, but for the world. We have dear friends in the NYC area and their church family has been effected. Not to mention friends in Italy and all over. Please look out for your neighbor! I will try to continue to update as we can! 

The Banks send all the love they can muster!