I feel like I'm in the all too familiar state of being entirely overwhelmed. Check out a piece of this email....



Our lives are brightened by the memory of Ramona, her beautiful smile and her huge heart for Jesus and the poor.
May her compassion and joy, triumphant even in the face of terminal illness, be multiplied to many precious souls among the desperately needy children of Africa.
Here in Pemba we are naming a baby house after her and know that Jesus will honor Ramona with His rich presence among all the children who will feel the love of God in this very special and anointed house.

Much love in Jesus,

Heidi and Rolland
and all of Iris Ministries




Wow! When Trev first read this to me, the first reaction in my mind is that I couldn't wait to tell Ramona that Heidi had named a baby house after her.........

I know Ramona would be incredibly excited.

I want to throw out an encouragement to our blogging community. This is an awesome time to pray into some of the dreams/visions/ideas that Ramona had. God obviously has something amazing in store...

I'm not exactly sure how frequently I'll be posting but this story is definitely not over yet....

- Earl

The day after the funeral was our anniversary. Among other things that day, Jake and I went to the forks to see what Ramona and I had carved on the bridge. We actually carved something like this on our first date...but I think someone painted over it and Ramona and I couldn't find our original scratches...so this one was carved sometime within the last year and a half......

Mony I miss you so much...

I just got through my giant stack of cards from the funeral. Thanks for all the love that's been sent my way in the last while...

-Earl

Hello... this is Jill again. I am posting the full obituary which was printed in the bulletin at the services. Hopefully it works! :)
As well, Earl has asked me to post the tribute that I gave at the Wednesday evening service in Winnipeg. May the Lord bless you where you are at!

My tribute:
When thinking about where to start in giving honour to a woman who managed to become one of my best friends, I can’t help but feel at a loss for words. How do I possibly put into words what this last year has meant to me.
It was about a year ago at this time, when I first heard about Ramona and her journey. I was instantly burdened to pray for her... this woman who I hadn’t even met. Little had I known that it was the beginning of a God planned friendship.
I always joked when meeting Ramona’s family and friends that I was her stalker... I prayed for her before she even knew me! Finally I thought enough with this, I need to connect with this girl. So off the Facebook message went and as I sat and read back to that first message the other day, I kinda laughed how it was sent as though I already knew her, except for the “hi my name is Jill” introduction!
It was shortly after that when I first connected with Ramona and Earl here at Calvary Temple at the beyond service.

Ramona immediately left an impact on me. In the months that followed, as our friendship began to take shape, I was unaware of the way her life, passion and faith would have such an impact on me - how I would be challenged to that same level of faith that she stood on.

As Ramona and I grew our friendship and shared our life stories with eachother, God was at work. And when God is at the center, you know it’s going to be great!
I remember so many times being so humbled when she would faithfully pray for me and my needs and desires of my heart, especially when the battle she was facing seemed so much more important.
I would tell her that it didn’t matter what time of day or night that if there was a need to tell me and I would pray... and eventually she took me up on it! I loved praying for her and praying with her! Wow, did we have some good times praying for eachother. Even just a few weeks ago, the week before she was admitted to the hospital, we were to pray for eachother at beyond and she was so tired but wanted to pray for me, and again I was just so blessed and humbled and thankful for what are now precious memories.

My friendship with Ramona was in many ways that of a spiritual one. Our connection began with God and the burden that He had placed on my heart to pray for her. Often during our times together we would talk about the things that God was doing in our lives or showing us.
However we did share some great times laughing! Nothing beats a girls night searching on Facebook for the perfect husband... for me of course! She had hers! Such good fun times!
So many good times... visiting Africa during Folklorama, Canada Day fun, numerous encouraging text messages, plans for me to come visit the “bush”, chats over coffee, well I mean passion tea with light ice... and endless hours praying...

These last 2 weeks at the hospital, I watched as Ramona never gave up. I watched as she fought and as she continually kept her eyes fixed on Jesus. I witnessed even then lives being changed and challenged. I experienced peace, and joy and love. I saw a wife, a sister, a daughter and a friend. I saw compassion. Last Wednesday, I was blessed to have been given about an hour to spend praying over her. I will never forget that, as she just asked me to keep speaking out loud and as I watched her agree and pray with me, as she smiled at our own little inside thoughts, and as she simply just soaked up everything and continued to trust her Lord.

Ramona was a woman who was loving, compassionate, caring, faithful, genuine and real. She was who she said she was. She was a friend in every way. She was the real deal. In facing the battle that was so real in front of her, she was still a young woman who wanted to live life fully, a friend who wanted to hang out and talk... and cared so much about the needs of others.

Why did God allow me to have such a role in her last chapter of life? Why did Ramona feel as though she could let me in? I don’t know.... I’m humbled to be standing here. I’m humbled that God allowed me to be a friend to her during this last year. I’m thankful for every moment invested, every conversation, every encouraging word.

Ramona, you have changed my life. You have impacted me in a way no one else has. I already miss you like crazy, but I know you are free - I know you are home. Dancing, singing, resting, and enjoying the fields of blue gerbera daisies that Jesus has prepared for you! Thank you for being an amazing friend, a best friend and for bringing so much joy to my life. I love you so much...

Tribute from Ang:
I first met my cousin Ramona when we were only babies. As little girls, Ramona & I spent a lot of time at each others places playing dolls, having sleepovers, and being together at Grandpa & Grandma’s for family gatherings. We would pretend and imagine what we would do or be when we grew up. As we grew up we began to dream and pray about our passions and dreams. In December, 2004 Ramona and I headed out to the mountains of Haiti for 3 months to be used by God in an orphanage.
In Mark 9: 37 (The Message) it says “Then cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me- God who sent me.”
Ramona, I feel that verse speaks of you. Your heart of love and compassion shone through as you interacted and cared for the children at God’s Littlest Angels orphanage. You didn’t just love the most lovable kids but especially the ones that were neglected.
You spent time with Josianne, a little girl who had cerebral palsy and was partially blind just showing her love and interacting with her. You were her therapist! Without loving volunteers like you, she may have been left in her crib for a lot of the day.
Remember, the transformation you saw in little Claudy from looks of rejection to actually giggles and smiles by playing with him and showing God’s love.
Your heart also fell in love with a 4 year old girl with HIV and you exemplified Christ’s compassion whether teaching her, taking her to the bathroom or playing with her.
Then, there was this precious baby, Midlove who you “adopted” as your little girl while out in Haiti. She craved love and attention and you gave her just that. You would make sure Midlove was clean and dressed everyday. You loved her like your own child. You were happy to be with her to celebrate her 1st birthday. You gave this child the security she needed. You met her adoptive Mom on your honeymoon and were confident she was going to a good home. Her adoptive mom named her Lilou and you continued to keep in touch!
One of your biggest passions at the orphanage was the education of the older children (ages 2-15). You were determined to teach these children so they would learn and get a fair chance at education. Even when you went through huge frustrations over the Haitian system or language barriers you persevered. All the kids absolutely loved you and would call your name when you entered the gate.
You had a desire to help the poorest of poor. On Saturdays you loved going on feedings with another orphanage in the neighbourhood. It was a day of traveling for hours on bumpy roads on the back of a crowded truck in the heat and dust to even poorer areas of Haiti to hand out bags of rice to people who practically had nothing. I know it broke your heart to see hundreds of people line up, some who could hardly walk due to illness or little children who were poorly dressed or dirty, all fighting for their small bag of rice.
You always had a sense of adventure whether it was loving kids, serving the poor or just experiencing the culture. You loved our trips to the nearest town by their poorly run taxi system, the crazy busy and smelly market and trying out your French Creole. Thanks for protecting me from all those stupid live chickens at the market; you knew they were my greatest fear. Other memories include: visiting a nanny’s house on Easter Sunday and being amazed at how little she had and yet so hospitable, hours of walking in the mountains, and experiencing all those Haitian foods, corn mush, rice, & labouyi. Your favourite was a cold Tampico fruit drink from a house store in the neighbourhood.
Haitian church was an experience of its own. You may think a bench would sit about 8 people but they would manage to fit 12. It seemed there was always room for one more!! In spite of crowded conditions they worshiped God with such sincerity and passion!
Ramona, in our time there we became closer than just cousins, we became the best of friends and we would often share our hearts with each other. I admired your deep passion for God. You would get up super early every morning and sit on the roof or balcony and read your Bible and spend time with God. Thanks for being an amazing spiritual friend and mentor there and in the years that followed. Thanks for the heart to heart chat just over a month ago encouraging me to be more passionate and to go deeper with my Saviour!!
Haiti, a very poor third world country was not the safest or most comfortable place to be. There was political unrest and we would hear gunshots in the evenings, needing to be inside the gate by 8 PM. We noticed spiritual darkness, hearing Voodoo worship just down in the valley as we would fall asleep at night. The shortage of water meant cold and fewer showers and shortage of electricity meant evenings spent by candlelight. Rats shared the same home and the children of the orphanage would laugh at us for being scared of them. You never complained in these circumstances but rather you wanted to experience just a little of what the people of the country had to go through. Ramona you served God with all your heart and you did it well. With humility, peace and compassion you let God use you. This was just a taste of what you wanted to do for a lifetime. This created in you a greater desire and passion to serve the lonely, poor, and orphans. I am convinced the love you gave is continuing to influence children even to this day and it will continue into the future. More will be touched because of you and your willingness to serve your God.
Ramona, I will treasure all our very lengthy chats & phone calls. (it seemed we never ran out of things to talk about!) So many times you demonstrated such unselfish friendship! Even as you were facing cancer you were still genuinely excited about the birth of our daughter, Alyviah, and after she was born, in spite of you not feeling well, you brought us a home cooked meal. You also thought of me and my upcoming birthday when you were in the hospital over Thanksgiving and bought me a gift at the hospital gift shop. I’m so happy for the prayer times and moments we could share in the past few weeks!
Thanks for your amazing friendship and all these wonderful memories and more! I love you and miss you so much, but I am so happy that you are now experiencing a perfectly healthy body in heaven, the beautiful place God prepared for you. I can imagine you dancing and singing in heaven with Jesus and all the precious little children!
Can’t wait to have another good Ramona chat!! See you soon!! Ang

Tribute from Becki:
To my dear sister,
I can’t believe you’re gone. Our time together was so short. But in that small amount of time you have taught me many things that will stay with me forever. I have always looked up to you and wanted to be just like you. The example that you set for me is incredible. Your strong relationship with God and passion to live for him has inspired me more than you’ll ever know. God shone through you. Everyone who saw you could see it. You would glow because you were full of, and overflowing with, the Holy Spirit. You changed lives because of this, I know mine will never be the same.
Thank you so much for all the amazing talks we’ve had, especially over the last year. You were my number one person to go to for advice. You always seemed to have the right things to say. You were an encourager. Spending time with you would build me up and challenge me to strive to become more like Jesus. When I had questions about faith and Christianity you would tell me stories of your personal experiences and explain things to me as best as you could. You always wanted the absolute best for me. Ramona, you have seriously opened my eyes to the meaning of life. I miss you like crazy already but I’m so happy for you that you are spending time with your best friend Jesus. You are in Heaven- totally and completely cancer free! I love you so much Ramona, my hero.
Forever and always,
Becki

Funeral service will be Wednesday December 2nd at 11:00am in Morweena at the Morweena EMC church which will include service & burial followed by lunch.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=winnipeg&daddr=50.978318,-97.296982+to:morweena&geocode=FRxY-QIdn8k1-ikRKxr5-3PqUjFkyrnG-hoqKw%3B%3BFWYbCgMdUpEx-il9_80qjI7rUjFCAQX4m8YBJg&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1&sll=50.944584,-97.253036&sspn=0.258716,0.727158&ie=UTF8&z=11


That same evening at 7:00pm in Winnipeg at Calvary Temple, 400 Hargrave there will be a service celebrating Ramona and her dreams and passions.

Peacefully, at 10:00 Friday evening Ramona passed away safely into the arms of Jesus. She is free.... and at peace, experiencing the fullness of our Lord in her perfectly restored body.

On behalf of the family, thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.

More details to follow...

Jill

Well... here we are! This is for those of you who wonder who this mysterious "Jill" is! This is Ramona and I taken a few months back... actually back in May! So now, for those whom I have still not met, this is me! :) We were kinda joking around the idea of putting this up... so here ya go!

Anyway, continue to keep in prayer the issue of shortness of breath... seems to be an ongoing struggle, which then brings anxiety, and some not so fun stuff like that! I had an awesome time praying over Ramona this evening, just speaking rest and peace over her! So pray for the nights which are often so long! Thank you Lord that you bring JOY in the morning! Other things to keep in mind for prayer are issues like dry mouth which seems to come in the way of sleep, tumor on the left leg, and all other related pain. Thank you Lord that you know every detail that we don't even know! Ramona's heart is continually asking for more of Jesus... let's agree for that with her!

She (and Earl/family) continue to be incredibly grateful for all the prayers! It's awesome how people are praying all over the world, which equals to 24/7! WOW! It's also incredibly awesome to just feel the presence in Ramona's room! I was praying tonight and just feeling the shield of protection that surrounds that place... God is good! Let your presence fall even more in that place... continuing on the journey.... Lord, let your kingdom come!

Thanks so much for the encouraging comments and even reminding us of stuff we've said before. We have an incredible team of prayer warriors around us. There are hundreds of you reading this and praying for Ramona/us/the family. It's amazing to know that when we're to tired to even think...you are praying.

Somebody had an excellent idea of posting specific prayer requests...
- we can see that the tumor on the left leg has grown significantly in the last few weeks
- it's easy for Ramona to be sort of anxious after essentially laying still for 11 days straight
- shortness of breath
- Ramona is very exhausted much of the time


Our list of things/people to be thankful for is also huge...including that Jill updates our blog when I don't feel like writing anymore... :)

Blessings,
Earl

(We actually have internet access in Ramona's room now!)

Hi everyone! Jill here again! :)

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for continuing to pray and contend on Ramona's behalf! Praise God that the night after the last post everyone had a great night and was well rested the next day, including Ramona!

The last few days Ramona has been amazing!! Still very tired at times but it has been awesome to be able to chat with her and hear what's on her heart and mind!

I spoke with her the other day about posting about these running shoes and she told me that would be awesome! In Toronto I believe, someone felt that the Lord had spoken to them to tell Earl to buy Ramona running shoes... so the other day these are what were given to Ramona!!! It was a day where she was feeling pretty tired but remembered exactly why she was getting them!

So here's something you can also pray into... we look forward to the day when she puts on these running shoes and not only walks, but runs out of that hospital! :) Today, they were moved to a place where she could see them, and she even said how awesome it is to actually look at them!

Continue to pray for continued strength for Ramona! Praise God, she is feeling better!!!! As she continues to say, she just needs more of Jesus! I love that His strength is made perfect in our weakness! I shared a card with Ramona today, where I was reminded as I was writing in it, how his strength is being made perfect in her!!! I can't wait until God finds the perfect pair of lungs for Ramona!! What an exciting day that will be! I know that my God is faithful!! Continue to pray for everyone, for rest and just continued peace! I love to hear that Ramona feels peaceful. It's something for us to feel it, but knowing she does is awesome! God is good! Thank you on behalf of Earl & Ramona for the 1000's of prayers that are going out! And thanks to everyone who has brought and is bringing meals for the family... it has been such a blessing to them I know! I know both Earl and Ramona and their families are so grateful to everyone! Continue to contend and believe! He is able!!! I just speak complete restoration over Ramona... better than original!! :)

Hello everyone, this is Jill again, the official updater of the blog for now! :)

Yes, Ramona was at beyond on Sunday! She loved being there and was still talking about it yesterday (Monday)! We had a place for her to lay down and just soak up the Lord and she sure did!

I love to listen as she speaks out her thoughts to the Lord, even when she is so tired! How beautiful to hear her pray for an acceleration of her healing and then ask for more of Jesus! The presence of God is so real in her room. Nurses have come and even said that it is very peaceful... we know God is at work! The Holy Spirit is there... Ramona even said so as she knew and acknowledged when He walked in the room!! :) Beautiful....

The joy of the Lord is so evident as Earl's sister said, I don't think the nurses are used to so much laughter on a palliative care unit! But we have joy!! We do not fear because we know that God is present and real and loves Ramona so very much! He is her healer...

God is showing us that He is indeed faithful to us and to Ramona! Continue to pray that God would release heaven to her, that His kingdom would come and His will would be done NOW as it is in heaven! In His presence there is fullness and healing... we believe and continue to contend for the miraculous to be released!

Pray for rest, for everyone! What little rest is actually had, pray it is refreshing! Thank you to everyone who is rallying around and praying! It means so much to Earl, Ramona and their families! Words cannot express their gratitude!

As Ramona said today, "this cancer has to go" - let it be done Lord in Jesus Name!

Hi everyone, this is Jill writing on behalf of Earl and Ramona!

They wanted me to post an update so here we go!

Ramona, continues to be a warrior! She is a fighter no doubt about that!

It is evident that we are in a very real battle, a battle that is not just against flesh and blood... but thankfully we serve a GREAT BIG GOD who is bigger than our circumstance, way bigger than cancer!! AMEN!

Ramona is battling alot and in her tired state at times has trouble communicating, yet she appreciates so much the prayers that are going forth on her behalf... it is beautiful to see her light up when she is surrounded by Worship, family and friends! God is good and He is faithful!

Continue to pray and believe along with Earl, Ramona and their families. We are continuing to call on God to release heaven on earth, to allow His kingdom to come and His will to be done as it is done in heaven. Continue to contend with us, praying and believing steadily for Ramona's miracle. He is so near and His presence is felt... He is the same today as He was yesterday... He loves to heal. We believe He is Ramona's healer.

As someone said a while back God asks us not only to believe in Him but to believe Him!

WE BELIEVE!

Thanks for rallying around us. It's definitely crunch time now.
Ramona was admitted into palliative care today. Ramona was having trouble breathing, and when I brought her for radiation it was apparent she was having a lot of trouble. They immediately put her on 10 litres of oxygen...and she still feels like she is not getting enough air. She is too tired to effectively communicate.

I don't know how many hundreds of times I've thanked everyone for praying......

Thanks everyone for all your prayers. I need them now more than ever. I'm having severe difficulty breathing. I am constantly on 2 litres of oxygen. Even on the oxygen I feel like I'm short of breath. Every day things seem to get worse. I'm also coughing a lot. I can't really eat, and when I do I seem to throw up. I'm terrified. I feel like I'm about to die. I need my miracle right now. Please join me in praying.....

Thanks for your praying you guys. Ramona woke up half an hour ago and managed to keep from throwing up. The above message is what I wrote for her.
-Earl

So...I guess our blog is missing a few important life details.

We're back from Toronto. It was one of the most incredible trips we've taken.

Unfortunately, Ramona was starting to feel pretty sick out there already and by Tuesday night we were in emergency at St. B. Ramona is still admitted in the hospital.

A CT scan done Wednesday showed that the tumors have again grown significantly. Emergency radiation is underway to manage some of the symptoms such as pain and hopefully shortness of breath. Ramona has also been coughing quite a bit. These last few days have involved a lot of antibiotics as well. Doctors have hypothesized almost every possible cause of the fevers/shortness of breath/tachycardia/coughing. When we first arrived in emergency we were given the impression that things were very serious.

It looks like maybe the tumors themselves are causing most of the issues.

Thanks for praying! The miracle is needed ASAP!

Heidi Baker

My dream come true!! Being prayed for and loved on by Heidi Baker, my hero! Heidi's orphanages in Africa, mainly Mozambique, have approximately 10,000 children. The way God uses her in the miraculous is amazing!!

So....we're heading to Toronto today

Ramona had a list of things she wanted for her birthday. On the top of that list was healing....

A true hero of Ramona's, Heidi Baker is in Toronto this week. So...for her birthday, we're going to a conference she's at. This should be fun.

Ramona is still experiencing pain in her chest. We feel like we have a huge crowd of persistent people praying with us. It truly is encouraging.

Our friend Billie-jo passed away Thursday. Please pray for her husband and her two children.

-Earl

Ramona and I are definitely in fun zone right now. We're attending an equipping school called Advancing the Kingdom. Tomorrow, the equipping school ends and turns directly into a conference called Kingdom Come. www.kingdomcomeconference.com

It's awesome. Experiencing God is definitely a personal thing. I've had a hip problem that's been nagging at me for a long time. Last night, they prayed for me and Jesus loosened up that hip.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about...check out Calvary Temple any of the next few evenings. John Arnott of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship is in town.

We found out today that our friend Billy-Joe is in palliative care in the St. Boniface Hospital. The doctors are giving her very little time. We visited her, and I said I would post something here for her.

She is fighting a similar disease to what Ramona is battling.

It was an incredibly divine set of circumstances leading us to her today....I'll save that story for some other day. For now...let's go after this for her and Ramona.

Good night,
Earl

Wednesday afternoon when we drove away from HSC it kind of felt like waking up from a really bad dream. With her pain roughly under control, Ramona was discharged with the plan of seeing Dr. Wong Thursday to discuss the CT results. Radiation never happened, the tumor appeared too large on the X-ray

We got the CT results yesterday. A few of the tumors have shrunk but there is a tumor on the right side of her chest that has grown to 12cm in length. This 12 cm tumor also looked like it was bleeding into itself. This may be part of the explanation of coughing up blood and a hemoglobin of 63 (Ramona has since been transfused 4 units of red blood cells).

Dr. Wong is currently looking at bringing in an experimental chemo, in case Ramona wants to try it. It may take a few weeks to make that happen. Chemo is canceled for next week.

Today is the first day in the last week that hasn't involved some time in a hospital.

Anyway....We love to be in an atmosphere of hope. It's an exhausting mistake to have any belief that the grim reality presented in a hospital is somehow more true than the reality of the Kingdom of God.

-Earl

Update

Hi everyone, this is Jill blogging on behalf of Earl & Ramona - I sure hope I know what I am doing here!

Anyway, Earl & Ramona just wanted to update everyone and are unable to get to a computer right now so Earl asked that I would come and update and encourage all you prayer warriors to stay rallied in believing for what is an obvious need for a miracle!

On Sunday, Ramona was brought to Winnipeg (they were home in Morweena) and is currently in hospital here. She was having super intense pain that desperately needed to be controlled. Pain which I can now say is under control with meds.

The preliminary x-ray results don't look very good and the tumors are definitely growing and showed that her ribs could be fractured from the tumors pressing on them.

None of this is definite, however she will be having a CT scan tomorrow which hopefully will show more conclusive results as to what exactly is taking place.

Continue to pray and believe for the miracle that we are all waiting for! It is indefinite as to how long she will be in hospital, but please continue to contend on her behalf! We serve a God who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! The same God that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us and that same God has the power to heal!! Let's continue to believe together for Ramona's complete healing!! Lord, let Your will be done on earth as it already is done in heaven.....

Right near the top of the list of things we're thankful for are all the people going after Ramona's healing with us.

Yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 Ramona started coughing up some blood. This is obviously not a good thing. We spent a little time in emergency yesterday and have talked with a doctor this morning about some increased pain Ramona is having too.

It would seem that a tumor is causing pain along the chest wall. The bleeding...just happens. We're not sure exactly what brought that on.

Unless something gets drastically worse, we'll just try to manage the pain until Tuesday.

Those of you who are praying for us. Let me throw a little thought your way.

It is always a good time to focus on the goodness of God. On Sunday, I had the privilege of praying for a friend of mine who had hearing impairment ever since he was in an accident. We prayed for him and God instantly restored his hearing. That was fun.
We prayed over his ear for maybe twenty seconds and his hearing was restored.

We prayed over Ramona for a lot more than twenty seconds in this last twenty four hours. We didn't see any dramatic improvements.

It's important for me as well as the rest of you prayer warriors to bring to mind testimonies of stuff God is doing. sarcomas are illegal in the Kingdom. As Christians we have authority over sarcomas.

Happy Thankgiving,
Earl

Anyway...we were just kind of having fun with this. Ramona often gets compliments as to how absolutely gorgeous she is, but on Monday, a few nurses and Dr. Wong himself were all talking about how Ramona looked better/healthier than she had in a few weeks.
Monday afternoon we got a phone call from a nurse saying how she looked good for having a hemoglobin of 83.
So...Ramona had a transfusion yesterday.

......Day 2 of chemo is over today. It's definitely tiring for her. She spent most of this evening sleeping.

I don't feel like going into details right now...but going after the supernatural and destroying the works of satan puts us in the middle of spiritual wars...gladly pray for us in the whole realm of discernment of spirits....and everything related to the battle that is not against flesh and blood...

-Earl

Just so you know...one of you is one number away from the right answer...gotta keep guessing! (And those of you who know information that would give the answer away-you better keep it to yourselves! :) Tomorrow the truth will be revealed!



-Ramona

Okay, so Ramona is chatting with her mom on the phone and I'm going to play a little game with you guys. The game is called: Are you smarter than a doctor? Using only this picture, you need to figure out what Ramona's hemoglobin is. A hint, this latest chemo is predicted to knock out the hemoglobin and have less of an effect on the white blood count than the previous chemo. For reference: 120=hemoglobin in the normal range, 100=hemoglobin is good enough to leave hospital or do chemo without a transfusion, <90= transfusion time. Two weeks ago her hemoglobin was 99.
With all this extra information....let's see how well you do. Um...I don't think I have any prizes. Sorry

Aside from my awe inspiring game, Ramona's 25th-ish round of chemo is starting tomorrow...we actually lost track...
We're pretty settled in here at Frank and Anne Marie's. We spend a bunch of time hanging out with them. Ramona has a Bible study going on. With Ramona feeling the way she does, I still spend more time at home focusing on food and our spirits, than I do at work . I'm actually not doing anything out of the U of M this semester either, just one course hosted at the Springs Church.

Thanks to all the people praying...

-Earl

This is about a week ago.

One morning Ramona took a shower. Although this in itself isn't big news, during this certain shower her leg started softening up. After some poking and prying, this is what her leg looked like.

After some serious digging, Ramona picked the most incredible booger of her life. This chunk actually did have some boogerish properties to it.......

This is how it currently looks! It's actually pretty exciting to see progress. This leg has caused a lot of pain in the past.
Thank you Jesus!

Chemo

Yeah so the way things look now, I will be starting out-patient chemo on Tuesday. What this means is that I go to CancerCare at St. B Tuesday afternoon and stay for 3 1/2 hours and then go home. Wednesday and Thursday are the same, I understand. I will be receiving cisplatin and etoposide. One of the major side effects is nausea. We're definitely praying against that.

For the first week and a half that Earl & I moved to Frank & Anne Marie's I felt superb! The last few days have been a little rougher. I've had more chest pain, more exhausted and more random pain, but still in general, I'm amazed how good I feel. God is so good!!

Earl & I have learned so many things in the last 2 weeks. We are spending a lot of time seeking after Jesus and His presence. We are receiving revelation in so many areas-it's super exciting and yet sometimes overwhelming! We are also learning about and experiencing inner healing. The more we learn, the more we hunger for!!

We feel so blessed to be living here. God truly is providing for us!

-Ramona

So....what do you think? Did any of these pictures turn out?
This, by the way is our new house.
In the last few days/weeks we've been looking at 'Healing Homes' or what exactly to do next....and a lot of things divinely lined up for us to go live beside/with Frank and Anne Marie in the suite attached to their house. (The time frame of this move isn't determined yet, most of our stuff is still in our old house...this all happened pretty quickly) We love being around hope filled people. I've seen a fun change in Ramona in the last 48 hours or so. Her digestive system is starting to work again. Her spirits are much much higher than when she dictated that last blog to me. Thanks for going after complete healing with us!

Round 23 ended early. Although that may sound good....it's not. We got the results of my CT scan. Dr. Wong said it wasn't good. I interrupted him because I didn't want to know how bad it really was. I asked if the tumors in my lungs had grown significantly and he said "yes". This means that the chemo I've had for 23 rounds isn't working anymore, and so there was no point in me finishing my last day there. What's the plan? I don't know. Dr. Wong said I could just go home and give up or I could try a new outpatient chemo in three weeks. He has no guarantees that this will do anything.

I'm freaking out because I have a hard time breathing. These results weren't really a big surprise. I have chest pain and difficulty breathing constantly. There are times when I feel like I need an oxygen tank.

I know God wants to heal me just as much as before...it just feels like time is running out. I truly don't know if I'll be alive in three weeks. Please pray for us. Pray for peace and direction and God's healing. Also, pray for our friend Jason, he's still fighting for his life in the Minnedosa hospital.

After getting rid of my hair, we're on the way to the hospital for chemo round #23! (And don't worry, the mohawk is gone already) :)

Hockey & Camping

Last Thursday Earl & I went to a fundraiser hockey game at the MTS centre that was raising money for cancer. The fundraiser was started by a young man who was battling synovial sarcoma. He passed away in 2006 and since then the fundraiser has been growing annually. A bunch of big names were playing so during the 2nd intermission, Earl Cook (who is in the picture with me) and I got to go into the dressing room. Here we saw Jordin Tootoo, Nigel Dawes, Jonathan Toews, Darren Helm, Travis Zajac, Ian White, Derek Meech, etc. The reason we had this special privilege is cause we're also battling sarcomas just like Todd, the founder. Earl, (as in husband) also got to come in. (Let's be honest, he cared about it a lot more than I did. :) ) I also was in an interview that should be put on the internet in about a week or two. I've never heard of anyone else in Manitoba with synovial sarcoma, so I guess that's why I was interviewed.

On Saturday, Earl & I went camping with my family. Rain and thunderstorms were in the forecast but we did some intense praying and God answered with beautiful sunshine!!





My bros are working hard, making toast. (Yes, I know my brothers are hot and yes, they both have girlfriends!!)

We played some hardcore lawn croquet in some seriously long grass. With just a little cheating, Earl & I came in 2nd!



Yesterday Earl & I went to visit our friend Jason & his wife, Aaron. Jason is in the hospital battling sarcoma. He has not been given much more time to live. Jason & Aaron have two beautiful children, Madison and Cole. We spent some time chatting and praying with Jason & Aaron. We asked them if they would be okay if we would mention them on our blog. Although Jason doesn't speak much anymore, he lit up and was open to all the prayer he could receive. They are asking for as much prayer as possible and so we are asking you, as our blogger family, to join us in praying for a miracle for Jason. I know that naturally many of us don't believe that he will be healed-it seems too impossible. However, the exciting thing is that nothing is impossible for God, he delights in doing the impossible-that is His specialty. He only asks that we have a mustard seed amount of faith. I know that my faith seems so small, however I am praying that Jesus heal His body in a miraculous way and that He would touch not only His body but also every inside part of him. May Jesus and His incredible love be made evident to Jason & Aaron. May they experience supernatural peace.

Thanks so much for all your prayers-we know that something happens in the spiritual realm that wouldn't have happened had we not prayed. Therefore we know that every prayer makes a difference-thank you!!

As for myself, this week I am finally feeling a lot better. Last week was pretty rough with stomach pain and no energy. I am still randomly throwing up and having a lot more pain in my right leg due to an infection, but overall I am feeling good this week. Earl & I hung out at the Forks tonight and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We love relaxing outside whenever possible and are loving this hot weather.

Thanks again for your prayers, support and encouragement. Have a great evening
Ramona

Bird's Hill

We went to Bird's Hill Park. It only rained on the ride there! Chemo begins this Tuesday night.

Ramona's pain is under control. In fact, there is almost nothing. She sleeps in bed instead of sideways on the couch. I like that.

Three years ago today...I was sitting in a small room with Ramona listening to a doctor tell us that Ramona has cancer...um...I'm not sure what to say about that...as I'm doing a quick mental scan...it feels like a lot of things have happened in that time. For some of you reading this, it means you've been battling for Ramona's health in prayer for three years...and again...thank you.

Our last few days here have felt pretty crazy. The round of chemo ended yesterday at around 4 o'clock. We went home, and when we got here, Ramona went almost straight to her bed. I'm not sure why the pain only started when we got home...maybe it's our stairs...anyway, almost immediately, her left leg was causing excruciating pain. We have a lot of powerful pain medication at our house, but we couldn't get her pain under control. I've seen her in extreme pain many times, but I'm not sure it's been that bad before. Finally at 7 p.m. we headed to the emergency room to try and get her pain under control. I believe this is the first time where the reason we headed to emergency for tumor pain. Finally by 10:00 ish the pain was roughly under control. Ramona stayed the night in emergency with her parents and by 9 this morning was back home. The pain is largely under control now. Ramona slept a large portion of the day today although we did make it out to part of Ryan and Melissa's reception. It's likely that the combination of radiation and chemo in such a short time frame is causing this pain.
So, that's where it's at. I need to go give her a needle and eventually head to bed too.

Sleep well,
Earl

Wow! We feel incredibly prayed for!
Please keep praying as treatment plans have changed since our last post. Radiation is being stopped and Ramona is going in for chemo tomorrow night. Chemo has a greater chance of working on both her lungs and her leg.
Sleeping is still a battle due to sharp pain, but in general has improved from a few days ago.
Healing, peace, decreased pain, and a good hospital room are excellent things to pray for.

Ramona managed to fall asleep. You're welcome to put your hand on your computer screen and pray

From a medical perspective, I guess you could refer to this as a bad day. Let me first update you on a few of the things going on.
Last Thursday, we had an appointment to have Dr. Daennick look at the wound on Ramona's right shin.....
We were pretty honest with our nurse about how everything was going and almost without realizing what were doing...we're back in the hospitals
Last friday, we spent the day in HSC getting radiation started. Today was treatment number 3.

Ramona also had a CT scan of her chest today. We have the preliminary results. There is a tumor that is wrapped around her aorta. This obviously deserves immediate medical attention.

I wanted you prayer warriors to know what is going on. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Ramona spends a lot of time awake at night because of pain now...fear is also probably a bigger battle for her than ever before.

It was kinda neat where we could see God today.
We spent quite a bit of time today waiting for our doctor to get the results from the CT scan. Our nurse had given me the heads up that the news wasn't good. She brought me to a different room just before I would talk to Dr. Daennick to hear this from him. As I was sitting there, my attention was drawn to a Canadian Living magazine. On the cover was a small heading with the words 'miracle children'.
I was curious. I opened up the magazine and the main quote of that story is as follows: Where there is great love there are always miracles - Willa Cather.
That's pretty crazy. That's the quote that was on our wedding invitation. Pretty awesome thing to read just before the doctor comes in with his news. Rarely am I so encouraged from a Canadian Living magazine :)

-Earl

Deeper

This weekend Earl & I went to a Young Adult's Retreat called "Deeper" with a bunch of awesome people from Calvary Temple. We were at the Calvary Temple Camp at Red Rock Lake in the Whiteshell. This is us enjoying the sun and doing some canoeing. I hadn't been on a canoe in 3 years and loved it-even though Earl did a lot of the work. :)
The last 2 weeks have been intense. The tumor in my left leg has grown tremendously. When we left Redding, it was really small and we were super excited about how it had gotten so much smaller while we were there. Within about a week of coming home it felt about 4 times bigger. That is completely insane-it hardly seems possible. The tumor is so large now, that it is causing a lot of pain-especially nerve pain at night.

Earl & I are desperate and so hungry. We are pursuing healing at all costs. Therefore we've started to focus on inner healing. We're starting to understand the importance of that. Everyone has wounds and lies that for whatever reason, they have grown up believing. It's so amazing when you go through the lies that satan has tried to deceive you in, and find the truth, how freeing it is. All of us have opened up doors where we have allowed satan to come in and deceive. When we shut those doors and command satan and his lies to leave, not only does inner healing happen, but now physical healing also has a chance to happen. That is something that we are going through and learning. As much as it's hard-it's totally worth it.

This last weekend was totally amazing. The friends that we've made through Beyond and who were at the retreat, are so encouraging. Saturday night, one of my friends went up to a bunch of people and invited them to come and pray for me. I truly don't know how many people came up and surrounded me, probably about 15-20. They were crying out to God and asking the Holy Spirit to heal. I felt so loved-I know the only way I'm healed is through God doing a healing miracle. Here my friends were agreeing and believing with me for that miracle. The thing is, about half of the people I had never met before and some of them, I still don't know their names! After praying and praising God for a long time, the Holy Spirit revealed to one of my friends the strategy that He wanted to use for me to be healed. She was reminded of the passage in the Bible where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and he asks his disciples to pray for Him. When He comes back to His disciples, who are asleep, He asks them if they could not even stay awake for just one hour? Matthew 26:40 My friend felt that the Holy Spirit was saying a similar thing-Could we not pray for just one hour? Even more specifically, she felt people needed to pray in tongues for one hour every day, until total healing happened!


So immediately my friends look at their watches and start praying. I lay on the floor cause it was about midnight. A bunch of them lay on the floor, put their hands out and started praying. How beautiful-what love! An hour later we went to bed and the next morning from 8-9 the same thing happened. These friends have committed to this until healing happens. For those that are able, we are going to try and meet once a week to stay accountable. Our friend asked that we post this strategy on our blog so that everyone who wants to can join us. Gladly email us with questions.

God is so good. Yes, the pain is bad, the tumors seem to be growing and I am constantly fighting fear and yet I know God wants to heal me and I've got a group of friends who are pressing in for me. The battle is being won-satan is being defeated!!

So this is where we are at. Thank you for understanding that this blog is like our journal. We are learning and growing and are using the blog to pour out our thoughts, feelings and experiences. We are not asking that everyone agree with what we are saying-we are just pouring out our thoughts. We do not in any way, want this to be a place where theological debates are held, but rather, a place where, if people want to, they can read about the lives of two people who are fighting through and defeating cancer. We want the blog to be a place of encouragement for everyone-where only encouraging, life-giving words are spoken by us and others. We love you all!

And just an encouraging side note, the back pain that I've been battling has been about non-existent since Saturday night since people were praying-God is so good and prayer works!!

Just a quick note to let you know that we're home and have been since Monday night!

We had an incredible time in Redding and are continuing to absorb all that we learned. How awesome to know that God is ALWAYS in a good mood, that He loves us more than we can fathom and that He wants to heal me even more than I want to be healed.

Over and over in the last months I've been told to rest and not strive-that I don't have to work for my healing. That's been hard for me because I've always been performance driven. Somehow I felt that if I read my Bible more, prayed more, just in general was more Christlike, then I would be healed. That somehow God was waiting to heal me until I reached a certain level of perfectionism. I had such a wonderful reminder of that again while we were in Bethel. I remember a couple of times people telling me while they were praying for me, "You don't have to pray, you just get to absorb." And so, while others prayed, I absorbed a lot of prayer, and Jesus did a wonderful work not just in my body but also deep inside. Instead of begging God to heal me, I have the privilege of asking for more of His presence and with His presence healing will come. For me that is so freeing!

I'm so thankful for what I'm learning and experiencing. Having a relationship with Jesus and learning to listen more to the Holy Spirit is so exciting!

Earl turned a quarter century last Sunday and so we celebrated with our families yesterday. Getting old is really rough on him as he's not feeling very good today. :)

Thanks once again for all your prayers while we were on our trip. We're so super grateful for the time we could spend out there and for what we could all learn.
Have a wonderful evening
Ramona

Fun story of the day.
While we were in the Healing rooms they called out a few conditions and gave those of us who were at the conference a chance to pray.
Ramona and Dawn (a friend of ours who is herself battling cystic fibrosis) have a chance to pray for a lady with a shoulder problem. As they are praying I can see them smiling and I can see this lady testing out her arm. When I go back to chat with Ramona a little while later, the lady they were praying for is actually up front giving her testimony of healing. She had pain in her right arm that disappeared.
Blessings,
Earl

God is good.
I think it's time to just write. No words will quite sum up what we're experiencing right now anyway.

Chris Gore (one of the pastors) has an incredible testimony. To sum it up, he has lead meetings where they have seen 35,000 miracles in 9 nights. He also has a daughter at home with cerebral palsy that he's obviously contending for. Last year at this same Healing conference, he was up with her the whole night while she was screaming in pain....then the next morning, he was speaking on the goodness of God. Wow!
We saw two pretty ridiculous things happen in Ramona's body. At two different times we were praying over the tumor in Ramona's left leg and felt some shrinkage. It's pretty fun to feel it soften up. Peter, a doctor from the UK was also there praying with us. It's awesome to have his affirmation of what is going on.
Also, we watched Ramona's legs change length. You may wonder what that has to do with healing cancer.....and so do we. Keith (third year student) came to us yesterday and asked if Ramona's legs were different lengths. Sure enough, they were. So, we prayed over them and then one grew. That was pretty fun. They changed, but they still weren't equal. Her body felt like it was lop sided the other way. Later on in the evening, we prayed again and her legs changed again!!!!!!
These are the testimonies we remind ourselves of as we fall asleep while battling for the pain in her back.
A ridiculous number of stories still untold.
Heading to the healing rooms now,
Earl

Yesterday we took a ride to the coast. My wet hand is as close as Ramona got to the ocean :) It was kinda cold and a bit of an awkward descent to the water

Okay, I know this picture didn't turn out to well. We drove hundreds of miles to see big trees...and we finally found them. It was a fun little date on our one day out here that doesn't have any thing planned.

The Bethel church is in the background. You can see the edge of the 24hr prayer house on the left

Ramona is cooling her feet in the Pool of Bethesda. (seen in picture above)

You know, it's alot easier for me to describe these pictures than to explain what's actually going on out here. I just mentioned to Ramona that if we won Lotto 649...it would only be another good part of the day.
On Sunday we were incredibly blessed. Bill Johnson spoke sunday morning and Kris Vallatton spoke Sunday night (both messages available at www.ibethel.tv) It was almost surreal. While Bill was speaking I kept catching myself looking at the screens instead of him...I was hardly used to him being real.
Ramona was prayed over after both services on Sunday. Both times were incredibly powerful and encouraging. The words spoken over her spoke so much.......life.
Today we both had sozo sessions. This isn't couselling, it's kinda like having a wise/spirit filled person guide you through the process of the Holy Spirit speaking to you and revealing things.....etc....
Again, powerful and freeing and....you're kinda left with this fun feeling afterward
We had coffee with Matthew this evening. He is the guy who prayer over Ramona Sunday morning after church. It again was just an incredible blessing. It really feels like tonight was simply a giant leap in our relationships with Jesus. There were so many words spoken over us tonight again. So many things spoken over us in the last few days....just line up....and speak to who God is and the incredible plans He has for us.
I've journalled about as much in the last five days as in the previous month and a half.
Tomorrow the Healing Conference begins. The feeling I get is that we haven't seen anything yet.
We've definitely seen some breakthrough in Ramona's body. Although the completion of her healing hasn't happened yet (last I checked...maybe I should quickly stick my hand under the blanket and find out), we can't help but have our faith sky rocket in this sort of an atmosphere. (The quote from Bill Johnson "A day without a miracle is just a boring day" is true)...
We're really blessed with peace
We realized again today how incredibly supported we've been these last three years...I again want to thank everyone for investing in our lives....
It's due to your financial gifts and prayers that we could ever come here.
to be continued......for a long time
-Earl

It's truly a pleasure being at Jacob and Lilly's house. (this is the picture that doesn't include Hannah Montana)
We were at the Healing Rooms this morning. It's unbelievable. I'm not sure how to describe it. Either you have experienced the presence of God or you haven't. Descriptive words by themselves don't feel like they will accomplish much. There is a much bigger expectation and peace for us being here a second time now. It's a lot of fun to be in such an atmosphere of.....joy. Although we didn't watch Ramona's hip grow out and cancer disappear right there. The understanding that God is good and loves to heal is....confirmed and solidified over and over. It's fun to hear testimonies of healing and watch people waving canes in the air instead of leaning on them

We went to Lake Shasta this afternoon as a family of 10 and took the ride to the Lake Shasta Caverns

Thanks so much for praying for us......

For now,
Earl

We kinda forgot to take pictures last time we were out in Redding...so we're being more intentional this time. This first picture is Ramona eating ice cream in Denver.

And... we're safely at Jacob and Lilly's house. It's time to sleep. We're going to Bethel's healing rooms in the morning.

Off To California!

A little update...
Earl & I had an awesome time at Beyond last Sunday-God's presence was super powerful!! Thanks to all of our awesome friends there who pray and pray and pray. We love you and appreciate you so much!! It's such an awesome thing to be surrounded by others who believe!
And so now our bags are about packed and tomorrow we're off to Redding, California. Earl & I are really excited to see what God's going to do there. We both expect big things. We're longing for huge spiritual growth as well as the cancer being eradicated!! Pray that the tumor pain that I'm experiencing now will not distract me too much. It's so hard not to fear when you have pain due to lung tumors and you know that if they get too large-you'll die. HOWEVER, I believe I will live and that God's got huge plans for our lives. Satan knows it and is just trying to give me fear.

And so that's that. We'll see how well we are with keeping you posted. :)

Ramona

I'm in one of these moods where if I don't watch myself....I'll just write endlessly...we just got back from an awesome time at Beyond......

...in my attempt to keep this business-like, I'll get to one of my points.
I was just going to mention that Ramona is not doing chemo this week. We're flying out to Redding on the 22nd and don't want Ramona's counts to be low while we're out there....

...Ramona is also mentioning that a good thing to pray for is her breathing/chest.....something just isn't quite right....

Be blessed and have a good night....

-Earl

We went to Kendra's funeral on Friday. It's always tough for me when someone passes away, but it's especially hard when it's someone who's battling the same thing I am.

Kendra was diagnosed with E-wing's Sarcoma about a year ago. We spent numerous hours together in the hospital receiving some of the same kinds of chemo. Kendra had a bubbly, happy spirit. She loved to talk!
Kendra and I were both going to beat this and one day we'd have a big reunion with all our other sarcoma buddies and introduce our families and very importantly, our babies.

The last time I saw Kendra was the day she was told that she was palliative. I told her not to believe it, just because the doctors think you're palliative, doesn't mean you're going to die. We both serve a God who's way bigger and does incredible miracles. Even though Kendra had just heard such horrible news minutes earlier, when she visited me she was her usual happy self. She kept saying, "God's got a plan. Either He's going to heal me on earth or He's going to heal me in heaven."

Well, she's in heaven now and a part of me is so jealous. Not one drop of chemo is ever going to touch her again. Right now she has no pain and is running around, having an amazing time.
Kendra, I guess our big reunion is going to happen in heaven someday where we can show off our new bodies and praise Jesus together.
It's going to be lonely in the hospital without you-I miss you
Much love,
Ramona

Well, it's quite a day to be posting. I don't even know where to start.
This morning we went to Cancer Care to talk to Dr. Wong about the CT scan that was done during the last round of chemo. There are two parts to the results. The first part is awesome. Ramona's right leg, the one that's been causing all the pain lately, shows a big liquid mess. Although, 'liquid mess' is not usually great news, the exciting part is that the CT shows that this liquid is not malignant. So...right now she's left with a big wound that definitely isn't fun....but at least there's nothing growing (I believe we refer to that as answered prayer!).
The lungs showed a dis coordinate (I think that's the word he used??? it started with dis...) response. The biggest tumors in the lungs shrunk, some tumors stayed the same and two small tumors in the lungs grew a bit (since February). There are no new tumors! So...I guess that is a high percentage of good news. The two small tumors that aren't responding to chemo may result in an adjustment to treatment plans (We talked about all kinds of options and will wait for Dr. Wong to talk to his people). Feel free to aim specific prayers at those two tumors.

This afternoon we heard that our friend Kendra is now hanging out with Jesus in heaven. (I haven't looked back to see if we've mentioned Kendra. She was fighting a sarcoma too.) I'm sure Kendra must love being in the pain free presence of Jesus. Lorlie, we're praying you have peace tonight. It's been a long battle for you guys.

I will admit, this makes me a little scared and little bit angry, and I'm really in the middle of processing everything. I don't know why Kendra was not healed, yet I refuse to believe that Jesus didn't want to heal her. Jesus taught us to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" Remember, Kendra is now in heaven, which is awesome for her, but what about "on earth as it is in heaven".
Those of you who have ever played sports with me know that I get mad a little too easy. When I'm playing hockey, if I see some cocky guy get all excited when he scores a goal, I'd like nothing more than to stretch him out on the ice. If I'm watching TV, I get mad when the the team I'm cheering for doesn't win. I, for some reason, always think my team deserves to win.
I feel like I'm stuck watching Satan win. Jesus has come to "give us life to the full" and Satan has come to "steal, kill, and destroy". Excuse me, but Satan is not more powerful.....
I think I'll just leave my online processing there for now....

We received a gift a few months back, that I have not mentioned until now. We've received many gifts in the last few years and are thankful for them all, but this is neat. I love when people who are hungry to know God and know what He's doing help us out.
Thank you to Rick and Elaine and everyone else who contributed money to pay for our next trip to Redding, California. The weekend we spent in Redding in February was probably the three days of most accelerated spiritual growth of our lives. The teaching coming from there as well as the testimonies continue to be incredible (www.ibethel.org). We have our flights booked for May 22nd. Our stay will include a healing conference May 27,28, and 29th. We're really excited.

....I think it's time to give Ramona her needle. (Not fun for her) (What's with all these (ridiculous)brackets today?)

Ramona's also having alot of stomach discomfort that can be prayed for.

-Earl

Ramona's out of the hospital. I'll tell you all the things we're thankful for shortly. Right now, I'm thankful for a bed.
-Earl

A quick note from the St. B kiosk.
According to the time on Ramona's chemo pump there was 52 minutes left of chemo today. There will be a few little things to do after that and then we're heading home. Round number 20 is almost done.
Ramona has essentially slept through this round of chemo. She actually threw up today too. For some reason she's not feeling good. This, as well as her infected right leg, give a few specifics to pray for.
...time almost up...
-Earl

What a beautiful day. Ramona is here giving herself her IV antibiotics out on the deck. Taking this picture helped me to procrastinate studying for a few seconds (I learned in church that right brained people think best laying down...I think it's working). Tomorrow morning we're heading to St. B to have Ramona's platelets checked. We're a little suspicious that they're really low.

Here's Ramona with her new blanket. The credit for it goes to her Petkau family. Thanks

The easter egg in question is actually visible on this picture. Can you find it?

I think we're playing Buzzword here.
Ramona's leg is still her biggest source of pain.