Hey everyone
Just a really quick note to let you all know that I am home once again. I am feeling a lot better but am still having a bit of difficulty eating and drinking. Today, however, is much better than yesterday so thank God for that! I am hoping to help my cousin Ang with some wedding prep this afternoon. Totally looking forward to hopefully being able to do something instead of lying in a hospital bed.
Thanks again so much for your prayers
Ramona

I'm actually in the university right now showing my brother where the free computers are...Ramona is with her mom and brothers at the hospital...anyway...we come home tommorow...it was an incredibly hard morning for Ramona to realize she would have to be here another day...but she seems to be enjoying life a little more now...physically, she still has a little pain in her throat, but everything in general is good...due to the blood transfusion she has alot more energy....much more to say...but last night i once again realized how incredibly powerful Ramona's testimony is...the peace and hope of a 22 year old with cancer is jarring/fascinating for anyone thinking about the purpose of life.....my lunch is ready...later...earl

right now my mom and ramona are talking about cheesecake recipes so i decided to blog...today was a bit of a waiting day...the blood transfusion that was supposed to be starting quite a while ago just started...everything involving infections and low blood counts seems to be under control...just a matter of waiting and dealing with things until ramona is actually healthy enough to leave the hospital....yesterday they told us it would be probably be wednesday...ramona's intense pain seems to be getting better...she only had morphine twice today (if i remember correctly).....i guess that covers some facts...i think i'm out of money for my kiosk machine here again...for now...earl

Well, lets deal with some facts first, before we get carried away with anything else. Friday morning, Ramona is a feeling sick, but I talked her into coming to Hodgson with me to pick up some antibiotics. On the way there she threw up. We had planned to eat breakfast together, but honestly I don't think she has kept any food down since then. Anyway, by Friday afternoon, since Ramona couldn't drink, we decided to head to the Arborg hospital to get an IV and hopefully find a cure for the heartburn that we causing her incredible pain and keeping her from eating and drinking. We stayed in Arborg from about 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Ramona got fluids, but even in the hospital kept throwing up. The heartburn medication doesn't seem to bring any relief. Anyway, a big thank you to the Arborg staff. You guys are amazing. Whatever the case, we went home and spent the night at home. Ramona's chest kept hurting more and she would randomly just throw up. All the medication felt useless and we were both emotionally shot. And ended up praying a few times within the night that God would wake up other people to pray. By about quarter to 6 this morning we called Dr. Wong and he encouraged us to come into emergency because of Ramona's pain and her temperature was 38.9 C. I had this funny feeling just to wait a bit to see if the fever would go down before we jumped up and headed to emerge....I don't know why but by 6:24 her fever was down to about 37.7...and Ramona's pain had gone away....and we wondered if God was pulling a little miracle here or what....unfortunately by about 8:30 the pain was back...by around 10:30 we really needed to see if this was really heartburn or what the pain was, so we sped off to St. Boniface. Ramona has now been in St. B emergency for 12 hours. They are treating this "heartburn" as an esophagus infection right now...she requires morphine to sleep. Please pray hard. Her parents are staying with her for the night. I am at Al and Laura's house again.
Here is the good news. By far the most exciting thing for us (especially Ramona) was that Ramona's uncle Henry came to visit. This is a giant answer to prayer. If you read our previous blogs we were really hoping certain people would come to Christ through this cancer. Uncle Henry is one of those people. He said he would come visit again. While you're praying for a miracle in Ramona's life, please pray for Henry as well.

As I'm holding my wife's head while she vomits and writhes in pain, I sometimes think about this loving God that we worship.........................................you know, I'm just going to leave that comment hanging...I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg in how God will use Ramona's cancer..............thankyou for those comments of God's power...we hope to share more stories of our own too....in closing a quote from I Thessalonians 5:17 (New Living Translation) "Keep on Praying."
Goodnight,
Earl

I've been procrastinating blogging for a few days now. I'm really not sure what to write. I scared me a bit the other day when I heard just how many people are reading this. In these last few days at home I've had so many thoughts and questions about life I can't even begin to put them to words. And I wish that I had some huge revelation of great things to share with the world....We look around us and wonder what is happening...we miss the spiritual intensity of camp...there is very little novelty left in dealing with chemo side effects....yesterday evening i was asking Mony how she was feeling....and she asked me relative to what...apparently relatively to the 4th day of the actual treatment she was fine. this morning things are still getting worse though....the heartburn is increasing making it incredibly hard to eat or drink...she threw up once this morning already...i guess as she is trying to sleep right now...i need to send out a big request for prayer...and another thing...if God has done powerful things in your life in the last day or two...let us know...it feels like we often need reminders of Gods strength...when Ramona is feeling good it is easy to credit that to prayer...when she is feeling rough....who do we credit???...the medical update is that in about 2.5 weeks we will find out if the tumors have shrunk...until then we wait and pray....in the next 2 or 3 days here is when Ramona's white blood count drops to almost 0...likelyhood of spending some time in the hospital increases...
-earl

Well good evening. The rumors flying around me seem to say that I miscommunicated a little bit with my comment about seeking medical information. It's not that we need more ideas, I was trying to hint that well-researched/proven ideas would be appreciated on the phone, It is more helpful than just posting anonomous random information. One of the frustrations for us is that there seem to be so many things that are just designed to make money off of cancer patients. Thanks so much for all the prayers and the encouragement. It feels like it has been a long day. I think I'll go crash. Later, Earl

I'm home!!!! I'm so totally home and out of the hospital. I'm so ecstatic to finally be able to be home again. This round of chemo overall was a lot easier for me. Physically it is was easier, mentally not so much.Right now however, I am not feeling super, super good. I'm still deeling with some stomach pains. And yet, I am home and am so grateful. Thanks so so much for all your encouragement. After not reading the blog for a few days and now being able to again is so refreshing. Thank you.
Ramona

in some ways it's hard to blog...it feels like we're repeating the same things over and over...but when i look at Mony lying in her bed, i realize that that is kinda where it is at...the moment we lose focus on God this all becomes discouraging...Ramona is just done her last bag of chemo, but just to finish off the other medication, it'll be Monday by the time we are out...our families are amazing...everyone is in Winnipeg today, Ramona's parents were here for the night last night....i really want to give specific information...but i feel to gittery to sit here....keep praying for Mony...she seems a little discouraged sometimes, but then people ask her about big picture dreams, and she is incredibly hopeful. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful faith.....one last comment before i'm off...if you have medical advice for us...please use the phone...later...earl

........usually words come to me instantly but this morning...i have this horrible sensation i won't be able to sum everything up....We give so much credit to God...and Ramona keeps talking about how many people are praying for her......thanks again so much...this morning was rough in some ways...we went outside for a second but Ramona is more sick and more tired today...although if you see her for only 15 minutes you might not notice...............................it's just weird for me to sum up because it's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me when Mony is throwing up.........pray that Mony stays optimistic for the next few days here...we're almost out of prison...i was so excited last night...it scares me to think that the tumors might not shrink...but from my perspective they look smaller....this is no medical proof...i'm not sure when they will do the next ct scans...but for me it is exciting to think of the possibilities.........
Keep worshiping the Creator,
Earl

Weird. We're just kinda sitting around waiting for something exciting to happen. Ramona keeps talking about how due to people's praying she feels better. She hasn't thrown up all day. This definitely leads to sitting around and dreaming of being healed and wondering how God is going to do this all.....we have only begun to see how God is going to glorify Himself....I want to write something here about being obedient to Christ but I don't know how it fits into this blog...Ramona and I have just taken note lately about how God uses people that obey Christ instantly (check out the first few chapters of Matthew)....for now...earl

I really shouldn't be on the internet right now. It's pretty amazing for us. Up until this afternoon/evening i've told everyone that I would be sleeping in a chair next to Mony from tonight on. We both expected that she would be throwing up and kinda out of it by tonight...continue to thank God that Mony is feeling good enough that she's fine for the night...she is still feeling....sick...i guess...only those who have gone through chemo will understand how she feels...I came to Al and Laura's so I could get a bit of sleep.......so i guess I'll go sleep...but we've been really blest with visitors...enough people dropping by to keep from getting bored...but we're not overwhelmed...Mony seems to be alot wiser in knowing how to deal with chemo...other than the obvious physical prayer requests...Mony and I seem to have innumerable opportunities to talk about a God that gives hope...pray for that too...good night y'all....earl

Hey just a quick note telling you all that Ramona and I are sitting together on the main floor right now reading comments. Praise God that Mony feels this well. The comments are incredibly encouraging (one thing, make sure you leave some way to identify yourself in case we know someone else with the same first name). We're going to go outside for a few minutes before they have to hook up the chemo again.

Keep going nuts,
Earl AND RAMONA!!!!

They'll be plugging in the chemo any minute now...I was getting a little gittery so i came downstairs while Ramona's dressing is being done...Everything was so crazy last time...so many tests the first day...so many unknowns...and now Ramona is pretty much telling the nurses what to do...for myself i was so glad to spend the night at Al and Laura Friesens's again...it is incredibly refreshing and encouraging to chat with Al. Ramona is waiting to get the chemo done as fast as possible to get out and healthy for Ang's wedding. It feels kinda weird for me to be in St. B and not be frantic. Ramona is feeling much healthier right now than she did when she came in for chemo last time. Pray that it translates into a much better feeling chemo treatment as well. ...I can't remember if i wrote about it previously or not but i'm a little to lazy to look back...I have been thinking about the song 'Blessed be Your Name' by Matt Redman. I was driving home from somewhere and listening to and kinda pondering the song. The line 'my heart will chose to say' is very interesting for me. The song itself is an incredibly emotion filled song. It is a perfect Christian 'feel good' song for lack of better word. And I was thinking exactly about how that fits together, the idea of energetically living a life praising God but also simply choosing to praise God when everything sucks.....and then I got home and and it almost scared me...Ramona unwrapped a gift that I was supposed to bring home and it was the book 'Blessed be your Name' written by matt and beth redman......anyway keep praying hard and going nuts everyone...out of time on kiosk again...later...earl

Ramona and I are back to the St. B internet kiosk. The emotions that hit us back in this place are.......not exactly the most pleasant. Now instead of being 2 bed 2 Ramona is 46 bed 2. That is about the extent of the new excitement around here. I'm trying to think how to sum up the last few days....The volleyball fundraiser happened...i had alot of fun playing...Ramona got to hang out with the crowds for a while...and thankyou all incredibly much for the donations...umm...on Sunday we kinda hung out with family for the day...on Monday we had an interview with Cindy McKay of the Interlake Spectator. We hope really hope God uses that. We came to the Peg last night and for our romantic date I got to shave Mony's head...Today Ramona had her PET scan which essentially is a experimental better scan than a CT scan. After the scan we finished our date with $14 worth of cheesecake. and now we are in the hospital...for another week of chemo...it honestly feels like prison here...we know how to act happy and we know how to write blogs that would sound really exciting so everyone would be really happy and really encouraged...but sometimes we just sit and ask why...thankyou for continuing to pray...we know God has stupendous plans in place..............................i guess to save money in the kiosk we'll call it a night...

for now,
earl and ramona

Another Night in the Hospital

Yeah, so I have this wound in my left underarm from the incisional biopsy that I had done over a month ago. I guess it's been getting deeper, (approx. 3 inches) and looking pussier and overall not very good in the last few days. Since I'm starting chemo again on Tuesday, I'm obviously trying to get my body as healthy as possible until then. Somehow an infection doesn't seem like a good idea. So yesterday we called my doctor and were told to come in and get it looked at and get a swab taken.
So last night after hanging around at Earl's parents for the evening we headed off to St. B. We had to wait a few hours but things went well and we're home again and Earl is now getting my prescription filled. Hopefully this antibiotic will fight whatever kind of infection I have.
That I guess kind of sums up what is going on medically. Physically I feel really good. The thought of going in for chemo next week is something that I am really dreading. It's hard when I feel so good now only to go to the hospital and feel horrible there.
One of the biggest emotional battles I'm facing now is loosing my hair. I got it cut really short a few days ago to make the loss easier. It really helped but my head is starting to look really patchy so I think Earl will probably shave it off for me just before I go in on Tuesday. I thank God that He doesn't just carry us and help with 'big' battles but He totally and completely cares about the tiny things that we go through.
Today the community is having a volleyball tournament fundraiser for Earl & myself. Earl & I are hoping to head out there today and Earl is joining a team. How do you thank people for all that they're doing? How do I hang around with all these people that came out just to show that they care? How does a person accept that? These are some of the questions I ponder.

So, I guess we haven't technically written on the blog that we're home. ya...we're home...I'm going to try to keep this short....Mony and I spent a day apart for the first time in a long time...i went to go move houses and Mony hung out with Becki and her mom and all those sorts of things....it was fun, in a way, for us to do something different so we have new things to chat about....anyway...it's incredibly encouraging for us to read the comments...there is so much focus on the greatness of God...and that encouragement is so fitting...just a huge thankyou to the people doing fundraisers...and so many people still praying...there are many things I want to write....but i have a date....talk to ya'll later....earl

Well, right now I'm lying in the motel bed in Fargo quickly giving an update before we leave. Yes, Earl & I should arrive home sometime today. In some ways I'm really glad about that and in other ways I wish that Mayo would have had some grand solution that would have forced us to stay out there.
Anyway, the thing on my mind to pray about is that the tumors shrink. God can totally prove the doctors wrong with their statistics.
Thanks for your prayers,
Ramona

We're in Fargo for the night. Ramona's comment right now is "i'm tired and my head hurts". I feel like sleeping too. Goodnight Y'all.

If you're looking for big medical news today is the day to read the blog. Well....sort of. At 6:40 this morning we arrived at the Mayo Clinic. Honestly, it felt like we were walking into an airport. Mayo is quite a bit different than St. Boniface. Anyway, Ramona had a few X-rays and blood tests first thing in the morning and that would be all for actual testing. The rest of the day was spent talking to different doctors and looking at the information from Winnipeg with those doctors. And this is where we put in a plug for Winnipeg. Mayo can't really do much more for Ramona than Winnipeg. First step is to see how the Sarcoma responds to standard chemo (what we're doing). Statistically there is a 24% chance that the tumors will shrink. Winnipeg could not differentiate what type of Sarcoma Ramona has, but now Mayo will try (the little pieces of Mony's body should be shipped down here shortly). Unfortunately, the information specifying the Sarcoma will only do a little bit of good. The type of treatment does not change. From what we know, it only changes the likelyhood of the chemo being effective on whatever type of cancer it is. Here is the interesting challenge. Ideally, Ramona will still have an operation after chemo and then they will remove the shrunken tumors and all will be well. They are still making it sound like a long shot. Ramona will only be a good candidate for surgery if she has an incredible desire to get well (and of course, the tumors have shrunk). I'm so thankful she is such a determined person. On another note, she is starting to lose her hair. This is obviously rough. She is an amazingly beautiful woman.......I wish I could kiss away the pain of losing hair, but it's probably not that simple (I'll try though). I guess it's time to start dealing with wigs.
While sitting in the Mayo Clinic I kind of needed to think about how pathetic we as humans are compared to God. Mayo has these little pamphlets celebrating human achievement and whatever. Then we talk to some of the top doctors in the world about Sarcomas and chemo and stemcells and nutrients and all those things....and the amount they don't know compared to the things they know is unbelievable. We're not even close to understanding the human body.
Anyway, we are done at Mayo for now. We will start to head home tomorrow sometime. We will keep in touch with them about how the treatments are going at home and send all the CT Scans here to Mayo. We will definitely consult these people here if we change treatment plans or need their opinions or want to try experimental treatments.
Check I Corinthians 13 about how many times the definition of love involves having hope and never giving up. It is pretty encouraging.
Prayer requests
Still, that God would be glorified by what we do and with what He does with the cancer.
That the tumors will shrink
The hair loss and next round of chemo will be incredibly hard for Ramona

Thanx for joining us in prayer,
Earl

Well...we're in Rochester...we just got to our hotel and Mandy and Ramona are upstairs dealing with dressing changes and I went to go look for a computer...sure enough...I found one...in case Ramona doesn't come down here I'll just write for a bit. Prayers were answered left, right and center today. The border crossing was no problem (atleast for the vehicle with all the medications and medical supplies). Mandy and Marlene spent some time in the garage. But all is well. For a large part of the day Ramona felt very well. The intense heartburn/hiccups/convulsing side-effects that go with chemo were almost non-existent today. Ramona and I spent alot of the time in her special back-of-van bed and watched a DVD on our computer to try to distract ourselves. Anyway...Ramona isn't exactly looking forward to the potentially innumerable tests in this next week. Tommorow we beg everyone to pray for a miracle. Pray that the tests come back showing no cancer. If God can do little things he can most certainly do big things.
Well, guess it's my turn now. Looks like Earl pretty much summed things up. I am so incredibly grateful that I felt so good today. God definitely answers prayer! One thing that God really showed me today is how important it is obey Him when He speaks. There were some things that God had really laid on my heart during chemo that I had still not yet done. One huge reason was because I wasn't brave enough fearing other's opinions. One of those things was sharing a song with my church that God challenged me to share over a week ago. It plagued me every day. Yesterday my pastor asked if Earl & I had anything to share with the church and I thank God for second chances as today my church heard track6 from Casting Crowns. I really feel that due to my obedience, God blessed me.
Well in a few hours, the tests begin. Right now I feel pretty emotionally unstable and wish this whole cancer thing were just some horrible nightmare. I praise God that He's in control but am anxiously waiting for His healing.
Thanks for your prayers and goodnight
Ramona

Financial link wannabe

Dear readers of this blog. Earl had asked me to see to getting the financial link happening. So far it hasn't. Something about people not answering their phone on the long weekend after Summer camp. Following is the cover letter which was to appear on the financial link to this blog.Thanks to all for the overwhelming encouragement and practical support.
sincerely,
Tim Reimer


Medical Alert
Aug. 3/06
In July of 2006, Ramona Reimer was diagnosed with an aggressive soft tissue cancer named Sarcoma. After several tests in Winnipeg her doctor referred to her cancer as incurable.
After much praying and researching we have decided to seek further medical help at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. An appointment has been made for Monday, August 7. The hope and prayer is that what Mayo offers will prove helpful.
Mayo is a private clinic. Our medical insurance does not cover expenses incurred there. Many friends have already shown interest in sharing in what may become a huge medical bill. A fund has been established which will serve as the official way through which anyone may participate financially. The fund is at the Arborg Branch #567 of the Canadian Bank of Commerce; account number 72-44533. Donors may deposit funds directly from anywhere into this account or send donations to fund manager Dan Reimer Box 1311 Arborg, MB R0C 0A0.
Costs are highly unpredictable. The initial expense of several thousand dollars has been covered by generous donations already. There is no urgent need for funds at the time of this writing. However, costs may escalate soon so interested donors are invited to keep in touch through the financial info link of Earl and Ramona’s blog: earlramona.blogspot.com.
With the eager interest shown by friends combined with the unpredictable nature of the amount of funding required we have decided that in the event that more funds come together than needed the extra monies will be forwarded to Cancer Research in Canada.
The prayerful generous support shown by numerous friends has been deeply encouraging. May God reward all of you!
Earl Reimer
John Petkau
Tim Reimer

Wow, so much has happened since somebody wrote. As Earl's Dad mentioned, Thursday night Earl & I as well as my parents headed off to St. Boniface. My fever was too high for comfort and so the doctor there told us to come in. When we were in Teulon I checked my temperature only to find that I didn't have a fever and I felt pretty good. However, we kept traveling and once in St. B. my fever resurfaced. I spent the night in emergency connected to IV antibiotics as well stuff to rehydrate me. Friday morning they released me with more antibiotics. My doctor is quite confident that with the antibiotics my fever should eventually go down.
I am also struggling quite intensely with heartburn. Seems that nothing is able to take away the pain and tightness I feel in my chest. Apparently this a side effect from chemo. Due to this intense pain, I am struggling to get anything into my system. I know that I am not drinking near enough, but the pain is so great it's hard. Earl has set his watch alarm to beep every 5 minutes so that I try to take a sip of something at regular intervals. Right now, the heartburn is pretty big on my list of prayer requests.
I guess it is obvious that we are not enroute to Mayo at this point. Due to my fever and overall feeling of discomfort we have decided to wait to leave until tomorrow morning. It is our hope and prayer and I will feel healthier by tomorrow morning. Please join us in prayer that God would give strength for the journey as it will be a lot more rushed than anticipated. Our appointment is now at 7 a.m. as oppossed to 8 a.m. as previously thought.
It has been so amazing to read this blog. The other night as we were enroute to the hospital, I mentioned to Earl that soon people would start praying for me, cause Earl's dad would put something on the blog. How encouraging to know that I've got so many prayer warriors.
This whole experience has instilled a real passion and desire in me that the people close to Earl & I , friends and family, who do not know Christ, would come to Him. That is my prayer and I invite all of you to join me in that.
The body of Christ is absolutely amazing
I love you guys
Ramona

Thursday evening ride into Winnipeg

Good evening,
This is Tim (Earl's dad) writing for Ramona and Earl.
After struggling with slight fever much of the day and eventually calling the Doctor in Winnipeg, E&R decided at around 11PM to head into the St. Boniface Hospital. They hope to get the fever issue under control before the trip to Rochester on Sat.
Pray about the fever, pray for God's peace to permeate all the details of planning this trip!
Tim for E&R

Hey again there everybody. First of all, an apology that Ramona and I aren't more addicted to our computer. As previously mentioned we are at home and the last two days feel like a blurr. Mony was amazingly well at times, and from meeting her you never would have known that she had just been through chemo. Today went to camp to meet our friends and to close that chapter of our lives. It is incredibly encouraging to see how many kids our coming to Christ. Give Evan a hug if you meet him. But, on the way home from camp Mony's temperature seemed to be going up and her body was chilled and so we stopped at the hospital in Hodgson. We just got home from the hospital with the antibiotics and our watching her temperature intensely. Our doctor gave us pretty crazy warnings about what can happen if you ignore a fever. The slight fever is the immediate prayer request as I sit here and write. As far as the Mayo plans go- I would have had to make a post every 4 or 5 minutes to keep everyone up to date with how often our plans were being adjusted. At this point we our taking Ramona's parents' van to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Saturday August 5th. We hope to get to Rochester on time to be well rested for the appointment.After haggling through many options (including fly and RV's)that seems to be the wisest. There is no change in any plan that could suprise me though. We have an appointment Monday, August 7th at 8 a.m., it is a 2 hour consultation. Unfortunately that's about as much as I know. Mayo is the epitome of ethical and they will not randomly do any diagnosis over the phone. Out there they may say, there is nothing we can do for you head back to Winnipeg or they may do every test in that exists and Mony may have some experimental form of treatment that puts her in intensive care for a year. We just really have no idea. And here is the most exciting option of them all, maybe we need to go to Mayo to do tests to prove that God has made the tumors benign. Along with the Mayo Clinic will come the question of finances. And here is the deal. Dan Reimer(the treasurer of our church) has agreed to help set up and manage a Trust account. This account should be set up by tomorrow morning. Between both my fathers and Dan Reimer the organizational part of finances will be taken care of. I am so incredibly thankful that they are willing to handle these things. I will try to have a link set up to this blog that will deal strictly with financial needs. At this point we have money available to get through the doors of the Mayo clinic (it requires a $3000 U.S. deposit to even see a doctor). From there we really hope we will have a picture of what our needs our. We have been incredibly overwhelmed by all the financial support and fundraisers that have happened. Even as I'm looking at this sentence I'm writing, I'm blown away by the inadequecy of it. When we see how much people are sacrificing......we just realize there is something greater happening. I think I need to comment on this later, there doesn't seem to be any words that suffice. God is working through so many people it bloggles my mind. I seems so weird to know how to spend the next two days. Mandy just finished Ramona's dressing as I am writing here which reminds me of the verses she showed us this morning. Check out Psalms 127. It really keeps things in perspective. We can have any doctor in the world we can eat any herb or any drug, unless God heals Mony, there will be no healing.
Later,
Earl