Support Jon's Journey #StrongerTogether

To know Jon & Jutta is to love them. Below, you will see a very brief description of the journey they have been on over the past year. They've had some highs and some lows but most importantly, lots of time together. Let's help support Jon & Jutta financially so they can continue to have time together as this story continues.

Scroll to the bottom for the most recent update. ❤

December 2023

Jutta here. Our annual "Year In Review" post is a lot different than we thought it would be. We knew 2023 would be a wild year with Forged In Fire filming an episode at the forge. But we could have never predicted the last couple of weeks. Jon had brain surgery a week ago. We have canceled classes until mid-January so I can be with Jon. I've also temporarily stopped the online shopping on the site until mid-January as well. If we had to cancel your class, we will reschedule, and we thank you for being understanding!

January 2024 - Update from Jon

Felt like so radiation therapy has begun along with chemo. I believe it goes on for another month or so. Feeling as ok as I can. Jutta is keeping everything running both here and the forge; she is amazing. And then there are those incredible Cyt parents who are just always there and so supportive. Thanks for all the messages; they make me smile. A happy thought for every tear these days. That's enough for now, I think. Feel free to ask questions; I feel like I got to keep my brain working. Thanks!

January 28, 2024

It's been a rough month. Over Christmas, Jon had brain surgery to remove a tumor. This was totally unexpected. We went to the ER for headaches and instability. Then we went to Mary Free Bed in GR for 10 days for inpatient rehab. Great place, lots of improvement. The tumor is a brain cancer, so now he has started radiation and chemo, plus outpatient OT/PT/speech. And now I've started classes up again, with help.

Not going to lie, it's been rough. We have good days and bad. We're taking it one day, one class, sometimes one hour at a time. The support from friends and family--his, mine, and ours--has been immeasurable and invaluable!

We are on this journey together, though on different, parallel paths. But we've always said we're stronger together.

February 23, 2024

Proof of life update! Watch out, they gave Jon a 25lb stick to hit things with...no really. Supervised by our friendly Canadian OT, David. Treatments are continuing and Jon is working hard to get his hammering strength back. Everyone at Mary Free Bed (Kzoo branch), Bronson Cancer Center, and West Michigan Cancer Center have been great.

For classes, Blake has been continuing to substitute teach classes, and has been doing a great job! He's gotten lots of positive reviews. I (Jutta) come teach when I can, between Jon's appointments.

We are starting to reschedule the classes we had to cancel in December & January. So watch for emails and/or texts. We appreciate everyone's patience!!!

All in all, we just keep going one day at a time.

February 28, 2024

Jon's first time back in the forge! To recap, over Christmas, Jon had brain surgery, and has been undergoing radiation & chemo treatments, plus OT, PT, and speech therapy. He's been out of the forge since then. So even though he's been blacksmithing for 40 years, he started at the beginning with a taper and S Hook. You have to start at the beginning! He's still not up to teaching again yet, but today was great progress!

March 22, 2024

"Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in"

We celebrate every success! The journey's not done yet, but radiation and chemo are!

Everyone at West Michigan Cancer Center was fantastic, and made the whole process as easy as it could be. Jon is still continuing PT/OT/speech, but every success is a celebration!

August 15, 2024

I know we are overdue with an update on Jon's health, but today this is the only update I care about! We are now the Husband and Wife team at Combat Ready Art.

October 12, 2024

So I know in the summer I said we were overdue with an update on Jon. And now it's mid-October. So, here's the update. And let me preface by saying that if you're finding out new information via Facebook, I apologize. It's not ideal, but it is what it is.

When we first said that Jon was diagnosed with brain cancer, I assumed everyone would know that's really bad. But from what I've heard recently from people we haven't seen for awhile, a lot of people thought everything was ok now. It's not. And it won't be. Jon has glioblastoma, which is basically the worst brain cancer you can get. It is not curable. So the surgery, chemo, radiation, etc, are all treatments to prolong his life. He's still doing chemo too.

Since the surgery in December, Jon had never gotten back to his previous "normal". He has done PT, OT, and Speech therapies. Those have helped some. The cancer has just gradually made him weaker and weaker. He's been in and out of the hospital several times throughout the year. Last month, he lost the ability to walk or stand. We were fighting that one for a long time. But there started to be too many safety issues with fighting it. So he is now bed-bound, except for transferring him to a wheelchair for a monthly oncology doctor appointment. This does mean he needs 24 hour "supervision". So I've hired someone to be at home with him while I teach classes at the forge, and if adam has classes.

I'm incredibly thankful that Jon isn't in pain, besides some mild-medium headaches. He is still on steroids to help with that. And even though physically he is weaker, his personality is still there. More tired, but still there. He can still name the drummer of a random band from 1971, and quote any movie line. But he does sleep a lot during the day.

Emotionally, we are both as good as can be expected. We have good days and bad days. We try to keep some humor going, in between breaking down. I've read that some glioblastoma patients don't have as much depression and anxiety as you'd think; but their caregivers on the other hand...Thankfully I have a fantastic ability to compartmentalize.

I know people always want to know a prognosis. Well, they don't do that for glioblastoma. You know, the brain is complicated, and this affects everyone differently. I know we are at 10 months, and that's a hell of a lot longer than I thought it'd be when I was sitting up next to his bed in ICU after his neurosurgery.

I read an article about Demi Moore. She said this about Bruce Willis and his dementia. I really feel this. When people ask how jon is, I say "stable". And yes, although you can talk about memories, you have to see them how they are now, not last year.

"Given the givens, he’s in a stable place...you meet them where they’re at. You don’t hold on to who they were or what you want them to be, but who they are in this moment,” she said. “And from that, there is such beauty and joy and loving and sweetness.”

So that's where we are. You are more than welcome to visit him. Message me and we can arrange times. He's living at my house, not downtown anymore.

As we continue on this journey, I know I will need more help. It is almost impossible for me to ask for help. But I have every ball in the air right now, and I know there will one or 100 that will fall. So if you'd like to help in any way, I will accept it.

To those amazingly wonderful people who have already helped, oh my god, you have no idea how much we appreciate it!! Whether it was a meal, or helping with the cats, or sitting with Jon when I didn't have anyone else, or dropping everything when i needed help, or helping me understand dr speak, or sharing your experience so I know this isn't my imagination and it really does suck, or just bringing pizza and talking sh*t with him, THANK YOU!!!!

The future is going to be hard, but right now, he's here, so I'm ok.

October 30, 2024

We get so used to hearing people "beat cancer" and recover. We forget that for some cancers, the only goal of treatments is time. We have now come to the part of this journey where Jon's treatments have given him as much time as they can, and now we just have to appreciate however much time we have left together. This last weekend we made the decision together to transition Jon to hospice care. He will still be at home, and now he has a medical team that can come to him.

Just because this was the right decision, doesn't mean it was easy. There have been other times when I thought we were at this point, but for many reasons, this time is different. Heartbroken doesn't even come close to how I feel right now. He is still awake many times, and is still eating normally for now. But he does have good days and bad. Having hospice will hopefully manage any pain before it gets too bad. In true Jon fashion, when I told him he could finally have morphine, he said I needed to learn to play the sitar and hang up Grateful Dead and Hendrix posters. So his sense of humor is still there too.

He is still having visitors. We have had some wonderful people coming over. Former CYT families, K students, Forge students, friends who have known him for decades. And thank you to everyone who has brought food over, or given DoorDash gift cards. And those who have sent texts and emails saying how much Jon has meant to them and changed their lives. He is grateful to know he made a difference. And thank you to everyone who has reached out to me, who may not even know Jon, to offer support.

With the forge, I'm working on getting a couple of people to cover some of the classes. Some classes I will still teach, unless necessary to cancel. I've been working so hard at the forge to get as many classes in because I knew this time would come.

As I told one of our dearest friends, I can reschedule classes. I can't reschedule my time with Jon.