Hello family and friends!

It's been a while since we've posted, and thank you to all of you who have continued to pray, reached out to us, & supported us in all the ways, including financially - we are so grateful! Things with Lewis have been mostly stable for the past while, which we've been thankful for.

Last week, we got some hard news about the state of Lewis' tumor. His last MRI showed what appears to be some tumor growth in a region that has many of our doctors concerned.

After speaking to our neurosurgeon at Stanford, we've decided to proceed with a surgery to safely remove as much of the tumor as possible. We're disappointed to see the new growth, and we're still processing the many things that will change post-surgery. But we do feel like this is the right decision for Lewis right now.

Scheduling the surgery is still in the works, but this will most likely be happening within the next few weeks, around the end of the month. We're planning to be down in California for a minimum of three weeks for the surgery + recovery. (We have made a little wish list of things to keep Lewis/us occupied in the hospital if you'd like to contribute - thank you!)

As of now, we have two primary prayer requests:

First, the doctors aren't certain that the new growth is tumor growth, and there is a possibility that it could be scar tissue and/or inflammation -- not actual tumor growth. Please, please, be praying that this is just inflammation and that there's no more growth over the next few weeks! Tumor growth could mean a more difficult surgery that requires leaving behind some of the tumor, which would most likely require follow-up radiation (which is a risk at his young age). If any tumor is left behind, it will grow back - so this is a huge bummer and lessens our chance of having a surgery where we "get it all", it is hard to accept. If it's just scar tissue around the catheter, however, it might not be as big of a problem. We're taking a second scan next week to hopefully provide some more detail on the situation. This would give us our best chance at a complete resection. We are praying & asking that this would be inflammation!

Secondly, if you would, please be praying for us as we prepare. Between insurance, scheduling, flights, getting work off, and just the emotional side of preparing for this, it's a lot all at once. We need the Lord's peace, wisdom, and presence through it all. Please pray for His protection over us & especially Lewis! He is filled with the joy of the Lord, but just in the past few days he woke up screaming & said he was scared of sleeping in his room by himself, please cover him with the Lord's protection.

Oh, and we forgot to mention one thing, Rachel is pregnant!! We are very happy & Lewis is very excited to have a baby brother. Currently, Rachel is around 27 weeks and is due August 1st. Please be praying for protection & health over this pregnancy.

Thank you so much for all your prayers for all these things and your faith that the Lord will heal Lewis. We are so thankful for each of you!

P.S.: May is National Brain Tumor Awareness month! Here’s Lewis modeling his shirt at the oncology clinic. You can buy a shirt or donate to the OHSU Doernbecher brain tumor program here: https://pbtp.webstarts.com/