We went for a ride today. It lasted about 1.5 hours (Who would have thought that the tunnel under the road had no access to Tim Horton's.....who would have thought that all but farthest door in the Hospital for Sick Children would be locked...etc.etc..). That's pretty amazing. The top two pictures show the Mt. Sinai Hospital in the background. The bottom picture is us at Tim Horton's in the Hospital for Sick Children. When we got to the Hospital (Ramona's mom was with her for the night) Ramona was saying that she is becoming bored......what an incredible problem...I've been waiting for that...anyway...she was exhausted after her ride...but i think she's awake again...for now...earl

In case ya'll want to inspect the work of the surgeon, this is what part of Ramona's wound looks like. The two hoses coming out of the wound drain the fluid out. The draining pump was removed from the auxilla wound, but it is still in the hip wound. Our doctor said that the hip wound was still draining about 100 cc (per day i assume??) The time it takes for the wound to stop draining is a determining factor in when we get to go home. Also, I did a recount of the staples from the hip surgery- there are actually 61 staples. Sorry about the misinformation.



This is Mony walking today! The picture doesn't show it, but she has a walker in front of her. The open door in front of her is her room. She walked the entire distance from her room to this point and back. Mony is incredibly exhausted this afternoon, her body is finally relaxing. This night she had such a deep sleep that she didn't remember where she was when she woke up. This is a first.
Her legs are starting to work, which is tough but encouraging. The left arm feels like a big deal right now, Ramona wanted to make sure I mentioned it in the blog. The frustration of the partial paralysis of her left arm would definitely be something good to pray about. There is no end in sight there. It's hard for Mony to think about gardening or anything like that, when her arm isn't working.

Regarding the timing of getting out of this hospital: We expect to be out of here in the middle of next week. On Monday, we will hopefully talk to the Thoracic Surgeon to determine when he can do the surgery. Also on monday, they will probably check whether or not Mony can use crutches. If she can (which they expect), then they will teach her how to take stairs. The hip wound needs to quit draining before Mony is released, that is something that we really have no control of.

At around lunch time Kitty dropped by. She is a young woman from Markham who has a similar story to Ramona. It was nice to talk face-to-face with another person who had a synovial sarcoma. In an eight hour surgery, Kitty had her tumor removed last December I believe (Kitty you can correct me if I get this wrong). It is encouraging to see her smiling and walking around. AND....my wife is walking!!!! Just an hour ago, with the help of her walker and the physio people she walked 9 feet to the washroom and back to her bed. Walking is painful, and one muscle in her left arm is still not responsive. But...she's walking! All this excitement on the blog can be a bit deceiving, we're all pretty tired I guess. I think we all wish the 'happily ever after' was in focus a little clearer..........I'll maybe expand on those kinds of thoughts some other time...anyway...speaking of tired, I was angry at the time, but it's kind of funny now...in the hallway before I heard the security asking the nurses at the front desk to identify the lady sleeping in the lounge...I was mad that they were going to wake her up...but I found out later that after they had about 6 people within a few feet of her trying to figure out who she was, they finally found a staff member who knew who this lady was. I guess Ramona's mom was pretty tired, she didn't wake up. Also this morning, we wondered why the angels spent so much time in the parking lot instead of up on floor 11. For the second time in two days, right after we park, someone comes up to us with a paid parking pass (that they don't need) that is good for as long as we need to park....also, Ramona has an amazing nurse this morning, I asked that a certain nurses not be Ramona's nurse anymore. It's hard for me to accept that I didn't do something about that sooner......Ramona is getting her dressings done right now....I did a preliminary count of the staples....there are about 60 staples on her hip and 17 in her armpit....for now...earl

Check out Mony's new view. A room change was just one of many things that happened today. There was a really sick older woman with a large family who needed a private room, so the nurses put Ramona in another room (this one she shares with one other patient. The picture below is the view from her bed. I guess she can keep an eye on the CN tower. Also, in the early afternoon while Mom, Becki, Randy and I were out in the mall (Eaton Centre) the physiotherapists came to see how much Mony could move. It's pretty amazing, she actually took two little sideways steps today (with her walker pictured below). I'm blown away, right after surgery I would lift her leg about an inch while she was laying down and it would hurt excruciatingly. And Ramona had her CT scan this morning. Dr. Ferguson gave us the results this afternoon (note to anyone who is told it takes a week or two). In the lungs there are 3 spots on the right side. Dr. Ferguson was relatively optimistic compared to what the lungs could look like. His gut instinct is that the surgeon could take care of these spots. Now we are waiting for him to talk to Dr. Waddell (Thoracic (lung) surgeon) to get his opinion and schedule. There is reason to believe they won't do chemo before lung surgery (we're not exactly jumping to high yet). The ride to the airport was like an episode of amazing race (talk to Kev, Randy or Becki to get the story)...anyway...the biggest problem of the day is that morphine has really shut down Ramona's digestive system an so she is often uncomfortable...the partially immobile left arm is also still a big frustration... i guess that's all i'll share for now...earl

This is Randy's birthday cake, purchased from the local grocery store. Luckily for us we had a calling card handy to cut it and some cup lids to put it on to eat it without forks. It was definitely memorable. But seriously, it's Randy's 18th Birthday today, give him a hug next time you see him.














This is the picture of Mony I was trying to post earlier. Right after the surgery she still has oxygen in.














This is Mony today. The icecream cone later appeared everywhere as vomit. It's felt like a long day, she has often felt a bit nauseaus, and still hasn't slept since 6 this morning. At one point the pain was so intense Mony was shaking uncontrollably for about 5 minutes. Becki and I are spending the night in the hospital. Becki, Kev, and Randy fly home tomorrow. It feels like Mony's nursing care out here is a big prayer request.

Here is a picture of Mony taken yesterday after the surgery. By now, she has a different bed without the air mattress, the oxygen is no longer in, and she is wearing a beautiful green hospital dress. Ramona is attempting to rest this afternoon...as i write beside her. For some reason sleep does not come easy. She slept well from midnight until 2 a.m. but after that she spent more time awake than sleeping...Ramona had quite a bit of pain during the night...and the morphine wasn't quite cutting it...this pain was sort of in spurts though...Ramona's parents were really nice to me and told me to sleep (which means i slept through everything)...one thing I was right about though...Ramona said she would eat grapes the next day but I told her dad she would probably eat them at 3 or 4 in the morning...sure enough when i woke up she told me she ate 2 grapes during the night...i was quite proud....anyway...i don't think Ramona has slept since 6 this morning...as expected, the morning after a huge surgery is extremely rough. The pain from the nurses turning her over and stuff like that is unreal. Those of you who have had huge surgeries will understand. Part of the morning procedures, were taking a hip X-ray (to confirm everything is okay for physio)..............(some time passes as i leave my computer)....anyway...i deleted the picture i think....but the important thing is that Mony would like everyone to pray for the tinglyness in her leg, but especially her arm...we talked to Dr. Ferguson a few minutes ago and he thinks he stretched a nerve, he says he can guarantee he didn't sever a nerve...right now ramona has absolutely no power in her left arm to reach up...her hand movements are fine...just a certain nerve is stretched and her arm is floppy. Dr. Ferguson estimates it may be from a few days ..up to a few months for that nerve to heal...it will be very frustrating until it's healed...thanx for praying specifically about that.

I just kissed my wife, and it was lots of fun. She is back up on floor 11 in her room. We still haven't heard from Dr. Ferguson, so we have no real idea what happened with the auxilla surgery. She was out of surgery at 3 p.m. and in the recovery room until 5:30...it took a little longer Ramona said because she was in so much pain. They only let us see her once her pain is under control. Which means she is under the influence of alot of morphine right now. I was incredibly impressed with how alert she was for a little while (she is sleeping now). She is also as funny as I've ever heard her. She was nothing but jokes for the 45minutes she was awake. She...........(an hour passes/we talk to Dr. Ferguson).......okay, I'm back to my computer...Dr. Ferguson said he got all the tumor he could find. The auxilla surgery was a tougher one for him because there was scar tissue there. As per normal, we need to wait for the pathology reports (1-2 weeks) to confirm that he got all of the tumors. Dr. Ferguson expects us to be here for a week (all lung tumors aside). Speaking of the lung tumors, he will have a CT scan scheduled shortly. The possibilities are still fairly endless there. Maybe go home and have surgery in a few weeks...maybe have chemo first....maybe stay here and do lung surgery before we go home...
Ramona will begin her rehab tomorrow...
I'm kinda getting tired of writing...thank you so much for praying...Ramona's parents and I are spending the night here in Mt. Sinai with Mony

waiting...

hey everyone, we're just waiting around for some news about how the second part of the surgery went. Ramona is in recovery now, so we haven't been able to see her yet. She should be coming up to her room shortly.
Becki

I thought I'd post a picture of the waiting room while we're hanging out here. To shake our legs loose kev, randy, becki and i ran to the CN tower. I'm still so excited from the news before i can't wait for Dr. Ferguson to call back. Should be about half an hour.

Woo Hoo! I talked to Dr. Ferguson about 10 minutes ago. They were sewing her up from the hip surgery. He said they got everything. The hard part is done. Dr. Ferguson estimated that the auxilla surgery would be done by 2:30. I asked him if there was anything else I should ask him. He said everything was good. They also took a preliminary chest X-ray, in case the lung tumors would affect the surgery. The one-sentence-over-the-phone-analysis by Dr. Ferguson is that the lungs look 'good'. Oh, Dr. Ferguson also said that Ramona lost very little blood. This is about all we know while we're waiting here in the waiting room. I can't believe how gittery I am. Randy and I were playing some monster truck jumping game online, to try to stay calm. It's awesome to have family here and be able to hang around and be together and pray together.

I left Ramona about 20 minutes ago in the O.R. . I don't know, she may be praying with the doctor right now.......i was going to write all kinds of stuff but.......it's not coming....i love mony alot...i wish the surgery was over so i could go be with her...thanx for praying...Dr. Ferguson said he would call me after the hip part of the surgery....around lunch...






This is the view out of Ramona's room at 6:45 this morning.

So.....what exactly do I write 10 hours before my wife's biggest surgery ever...we're lying 'together' in her room....as you can see in the picture, she gets a nice adjustable bed with an air mattress, while I get a beautiful sponge in the corner...she is reading her Karen Kingsbury book...and I was going to listen to a Ravi Zacharias Podcast, but then I found out we had wireless internet, so I thought I'd blog here instead. Ramona is amazingly peaceful. She used to fear the surgery as almost a deathlike thing, but now, waiting here she is just relaxing.















This is the stain on the ceiling about Ramona's bed













This is the clock in front of her bed





Here is a picture of us....anyway, the nurse told us the Mony needs to be up to take a shower at 6 a.m....then i guess she waits until 7:30 when they take her to the O.R. after that....we wait...the little, helping, assistant surgeon doctor talked to us before and said the surgery may take up to 10 hours...so I guess everything is approximate until the surgeons get in. Thank you to everyone who is commited to praying tomorrow.

Hey I finally figured this computer out. We got into the Mt. Sinai Hospital just before 1 this afternoon. Ramona has her own private room. This is a pretty good deal. Somebody (without us asking) decided to give her a $320 private room (per night) at no cost. The surgery itself will be at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Dr. Ferguson just got out of the O.R. and should be up here any time to come chat with us. We will know alot more after we talk to him. For now, they need to do a chest X-ray today, other than that, they have done the blood work and the IV will only be put in just before surgery tomorrow morning. Since it is a private room, I can spend the nights here with Ramona, and the family can spend as much time in the hospital as they want. The lounge on our floor here is very nice, it has about 4 leather couches and this computer that I'm sitting at. We feel pretty blessed. Ramona's first nurse here is also incredibly nice. It feels like the calm before the storm. The nurse just came to ask Ramona's weight so she could order a nicer bed for her. This is because they don't expect Ramona to be able to move well right after surgery. Once again, once we talk to the doctor we'll have a better idea. I don't think we really have an idea what the next few days will be like. Ramona's family is all in the hospital, we'll probably hang out here for a bit and then head out for supper later. I hope Ramona can write sometime shortly but for now I just wanted to update all you prayer warriors out there. For now, Earl

This is just a quick note to all of you who are wondering what is going on in our lives....
I'm doing quite well-I still need my sleep but otherwise I'm feeling good. Earl & I are spending quite a lot of our time hanging out with our friends and families.
My entire family is flying with Earl & I on Saturday, the 21st. We leave Winnipeg at 9:00 am. On Sunday I am admitted to the hospital at 1:00 pm and on Monday is my surgery. They've scheduled me in for 7 1/2 hours.
Yes I'm looking forward to getting my tumors removed, no I'm not looking forward to surgery. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about surgery. I find people ask me about it more than I think about it. I guess it's easier for me to not dwell on the future too much, especially if it holds things that are scary.
Enjoy your evenings
Ramona

Surgery Date

Just a quick note that I just listened to the messages on our answering machine and found out that surgery is being planned for April 23rd. I will need to be admitted on the 22nd to the Mount Sinai Hospital. I'm glad to finally have a date and yet wish it was even sooner. As Earl & I were discussing it we both realized again that God is in control and if He wanted me to have surgery sooner, He would have orchestrated it that way. Knowing that, we've just got to wait.
-Ramona

Home

We're home!! It's amazing to be able to be home and sleep in our comfy bed and hang out with our family and friends.
Our flight home the other day went moderately well. There was a bit of turbulence towards the end, but because Earl & I had flown numerous times, we weren't really worried. When we got off the plane there was a huge crowd of people there to welcome us. It was absolutely amazing. It was really special to know that everyone had come out simply to show us that they cared. The dynamics were neat-our immediate families, my extended family from Steinbach, university friends, friends from Earl's former church, friends from home, uncles & aunts & grandma from home and all the other people that don't fit in any of these categories. I hugged a lot of people and a lot of people I didn't. Whatever the case, each and every one of you that came out-THANK YOU.
Yesterday & today were spent unpacking and trying to get back into life back home. I still don't have the energy back that I had before radiation. It's a little frustrating as I want to do a bunch of things but don't quite have the energy for it. Oh well, I've just got to be patient.

For now,
Ramona

Ramona and I just got back from the hospital...it feels like it's been quite a day already...anyway, Ramona wanted me to blog...she's pretty (meaning extremely) tired and just resting on the couch here for a bit...she wanted me to make the blog sound optimistic...which in reality we got some really optimistic news...Dr. Ferguson (the surgeon who will remove the armpit and hip tumors) chatted with us this morning after he had reviewed these latest MRI's....the armpit tumor has shrunk significantly...he said that on the MRI he could see 'residue' of the tumor...and when he physically tried to feel it...he could barely find it...the big concern was that the tumor was affecting the nerves and blood vessels in the area too much....making surgery incredibly difficult...with the good response the auxilla tumor had to radiation, Dr. Ferguson is now more optimistic about that surgery...it looks good enough at this point that they can do the armpit and the hip in one surgery...speaking of which, the hip tumor didn't significantly respond to radiation...which is okay...the armpit was the bigger concern...Dr. Ferguson confirmed that they would have to remove part of the hip bone during that surgery...they are not sure if there is cancer in that bone...but there is no point in taking chances...as far as the lungs are concerned...we will need to wait and see a little bit...Dr. Ferguson hinted that it might be possible to just do surgery without chemo...and do the lung surgery a week or two after the other ones...we're not really setting our hopes there at this point...I can't remember the lung surgeon's name...but Dr. Ferguson will talk to him about the timing and the steps that need to be taken there...I guess you could say that Ramona and I are both in pretty contemplative moods...while in the hospital after hearing all this stuff we waited long enough for the doctors to leave the room before we were hugging......but for some reason I appreciate Ramona as a visionary person...and I've noticed this from other times when we received good news...she almost immediately sets her mind on the next step...and doesn't neccesarily get caught up in the giggly excitement of the moment...i love her alot......i think i'm going to maybe quit writing now and help her pack...the limo (which apparently costs the same as a taxi) will be here in one hour and eighteen minutes...cheers...earl

Joanna and I are sitting around waiting for Ramona to finish talking to her mom...so we can start watching a movie...anyway...we thought it would be important to post the pictures of the California Rolls (sushi) we made......anyway...Ramona is off the phone now...and she wants to tell you about her MRI experience....i'll pass the computer to her...my MRI wasn't fun. I haven't been feeling that great the last few days and I knew that my last armpit MRI was pretty rough so I was hoping to get sedated. (On the form I have to fill out every time they have that as an option.) When I told the receptionist that I wanted to be sedated she said that they didnt' do it and that if I wanted that, I'd need to bring my own drugs. I didn't have much choice but to tough it out. It was frustrating cause it took longer than any other MRI I've had. They injected me with contrast which was something I haven't had for an MRI before. The needle hurt and their empathy annoyed me. They were trying to be nice and comforting but I felt like they really had no idea how it felt. It was one of those moments where I wished I could work in a hospital again just cause I've experienced so much medical stuff. I feel like I have an idea what patients are going to. Well, the MRI is over and the rest of me is also feeling a lot better than I have the last few days.
Even though the MRI wasn't that fun and tears were streaming down my face, thank you for your prayers. Maybe it doesn't seem like they did much but while I was lying there I reminded myself that my mom, Earl and another friend were praying for me during that time. Thanks for praying and yeah tomorrow's the big day when we talk to the surgeon.
-Ramona

It's finished! Appointments went well-all were on time or early. Ready to relax.

This is the machine, room and people (really they treated me very well, but you know what I mean) that I never want to see again!!!

One day left

Radiation ends tomorrow!!!!
I'm definitely very excited. Originally I was supposed to finish next week but the radiation technicians realized that I was eager to go home and so they arranged my schedule that I'm getting treatments twice a day. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I have to stay here til next week anyway as I have appointments until Tuesday. There are a few technicians who are really compassionate- I really appreciate that. It makes such a difference when you can tell that they actually care. So yeah here's the schedule for the next few days. I had radiation twice today and twice tomorrow and then I'm done! Tomorrow will be kind of crazy as I need to be at the hospital at 7:45 a.m. I'll have my treatment and hopefully come home to sleep for a few hours. (Sometimes I think I could sleep all day and still be tired) I have an MRI of my hip at 12:45 and then my last radiation appointment at 3:00. Monday I have an MRI of my arm at 8:45. These MRI's are going to show the doctors what radiation has done. Obviously I pray that it's had dramatic results. Tuesday morning at 10:00 I meet with my surgeon and he gives the results of the MRI's. Hopefully we keep talking surgery and he tells me when those dates are. Our flight leaves at 7:45 and we arrive at 9:20. (That's if I don't convince Earl to try and fly stand-by)
Today is one of those days where I catch myself staring off into space thinking and being pretty emotional. I met with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Catton, after my first radiation appointment today. He's amazed that my skin is doing so well. He expected that it would be peeling and super sore but I seldom think of anything except that it's more red. However, he also talked about my lung tumor. He confirmed what the surgeon, Dr. Ferguson, said a few weeks ago. He added a few more details. He said there was only one tumor and that this tumor WAS there when I was told that they were all gone. The tumor that is there now is just larger than it was in December and is obviously growing. Somehow for me it's a little comforting cause I think I'd rather have it be just a larger version of what I had before as opposed to something new. It's frustrating though, when you are led to believe so many different things. I feel like I can never completely believe or trust the doctors cause things always change. He also confirmed the need to remove the hip and armpit tumor before tackling the lungs. He mentioned the word chemo. It's not the first time that that word's been mentioned in the last few weeks. No, there's no guarantees that I will have chemo but that is definitely a possibility. I know that my heart muscle was weakened from the chemo I had previously but I'm still barely in the 'safe zone' . Somehow thinking about having to do chemo again makes me think a lot. I think about loosing my hair again now when it's finally starting to grow, I think about having to be back in the hospital, feeling like I'm in prison, I think about feeling weak and sick and not being able to enjoy the summer like I've been looking forward too. I want to go camping with my families this summer since we couldn't last year cause I was in the hospital. I want to enjoy my garden- everything dried up last year with no one to water it. I long to have weiner roasts and barbeques and mow the lawn and go for walks, etc. etc. I feel like last summer was stolen from me and I really don't want to have to give up another one. Oh I know all the good sayings that say that two summers is nothing in comparision to enjoying all the summers after that. I know all that, but there are no guarantees that I will enjoy another summer to the extent that I long too. Again, no one has that guarantee.
Just so that it's clear and no one starts thinking that I'm having chemo-At this point there is no chemo in my horizon but I'm musing the obvious possibility.
The bright spot in my day was when I was walking down the steps, out the door to my second radiation appointment. A huge care package was sitting on the steps as well as a card from my grandparents in Phoenix. I excitedly opened the package on the way to the hospital. Wow-I feel so blessed. The carepackage was from many different members from our church. All the notes, the popcorn, the hot chocolate, the gum and all the chocolate and all the other things in there are really special. It's amazing to feel cared for. To all of you who contributed- a huge thank you. Whoever came up with this fabulous idea-thanks so much.

Last Sunday I felt like pouring out my thoughts but was too shy to publish them. Somehow they're still in my mind so here they are today.

Sunday's blog:
Right now I'm sitting on the couch watching Dayna, Joanna & Earl play "Crazy Eights". I'm tired from a day of radiation and sightseeing so instead I'll try to blog. Like we already mentioned, Earl & I and Joanna, went to a different church than we had ever been before. It was definitely an inspiring service. I've really struggled with being able to praise God inspite of having cancer. On Sunday I was once again really not feeling like singing Praise & Worship songs when my heart and soul were definitely not wanting to praise God. It's hard for me to say that "God is good". The preacher was talking about God being good and in my heart I was totally disagreeing. Getting cancer doesn't exactly seem like a good thing. I know a bunch of you who are reading this might think, "Oh, but such good things are happening because of it." That may well be true, and I'm really thankful for that,but no matter if everyone in the world was brought closer to God because of this, I still don't think that I would be thankful that I had cancer. I'd still probably wonder why it had to be me. Cancer sucks, it's horrible. The emotional and mental turmoil is so overwhelming sometimes.It is my heart's desire that God uses this horrible thing for something beautiful-I know He is and I know that He will. However, knowing that doesn't take away my desire to be healthy and not have this cloud over my head.After church Earl & I had a good chat about God's goodness and that I need to remember God's sacrifice. Not only can I have Jesus be a part of my life, I can know that my life has purpose, that Someone is in control. There is a reason that I'm going through this. God uses every experience in our life for our good, if only we allow Him too. Earl made a comment something to the effect that someone in hell would probably give anything to be able to have a sarcoma on earth instead of being in hell. It's true-God is good in that in spite of allowing cancer He saved me from eternally dying in hell. Really God is super, super good. Way too often I forget the incredible sacrifice He made for me.

Well these are the thoughts of Ramona today.
By the way, I'm really dreading the MRI on Monday. Last time I had an arm one was pretty traumatic. I'd really appreciate your prayers. And those of you who are praying for restful nights, I really appreciate that. I haven't been able to fall asleep as well as I used to. Thanks.

-Ramona

We have a few minutes before we need to head out to Ramona's appointment, so I thought I'd post a few pictures. All the deep thoughts/questions/confustion/excitement I'll save for later.

We had a lot of fun with Dayna while she was out here. I'm not sure what kinds of martial arts they're involved in.


This is my wallet. Maybe not significant to you, but it is to me. It was lost for a week. A few days ago (after the snow melted) I saw it right outside our front doors. It was nice to have all my cancelled credit cards back.










This is Kensington Market. Just west of Spadina Avenue. Close to China town. Anyway, it feels and smells much like Haiti. We really enjoyed hanging around there with Dayna.






The end...we're heading to Princess Margaret.

We spent the day at the Niagara Falls. Here's just a few pictures before we head to bed. We're going to the Willowdale Pentecostal Church tomorrow. We heard their pastor during the week and we were incredibly encouraged by his wisdom and passion.
-Earl and Ramona
Mony in the stocks at Ripley's Believe-it-or-not













The Falls are very frightening (and also disappointing when all you see is fog)

I realize we haven't posted anything for the last few days. My parents were out here and we were hanging out with them and going to Missionfest out here and stuff like that instead of writing, but we still often check it. Caring people are always encouraging. I was looking for recent pictures of us and this is what I found on our computer. This is Ramona and I having twin day. We figured this is the most we would ever look alike with our identical haircuts and everything so we were fooling around with our new web cam for a while trying to capture the moment. We were both wearing black pants to match our old BCBC shirts but unfortunately we didn't think to back away from the camera. Oh and as I'm seeing this we were trying to get a picture of how our tongues are different. Mony's is pointy, mine is fat...I kept paging through the pictures and I was taken back to different times in the last year...the range of emotions is huge...I saw pictures from the first few weeks after diagnosis...those were incredibly scary times and yet filled with all sorts of prayer times and talk of purpose and healing and how God would be doing all sorts of amazing things...the picture of the hockey tournament is an incredible show of support...and I also realize how easy it is to forget some of the good things and horrible ones (like chemo)...as I went further into the archives I found the last picture. That is a picture of us on our honeymoon. That feels like a lifetime ago. We spent so much time walking around the slums of Hait, visiting the orphanage Mony had previously
volunteered at, playing soccer with kids. And we were dreaming...alot, talking about where we would go and what we would do. I'm not gonna lie to you, we never mentioned Toronto other than maybe it would be a layover to somewhere else.....................I'm sitting here not sure where to go with this thought and I'm tempted to erase this whole thing...but I've been challenged by Mony in the last little while. There are many times in the last many months where things have frustrated us incredibly, and things have been especially tough on Mony for varieties of obvious reasons and she'll be at the point of tears, and it's at that point where I decide that we should pray together to make everything better...it doesn't work that way...i have treated prayer as a band-aid...I'm not going to preach a sermon...only, I've been confronted on the fact that I often pray out of tradition or feeling that if we pray then Mony will be happy or pretend she's happy and then we can forget.......as I'm thinking about this you can't see all the minutes between each sentence...I'm only beginning to understand those verses in the book of James about trials perfecting our faith...in enduring trials anything that isn't....real....is useless and becomes much more harmful to relationships.


p.s. one little story I forgot about. How God Provides. Many of the attenders of the Morweena EMC church will remember a little story from my second year of university. While I was brushing my teeth one morning my tooth brush fell into the toilet...not a big deal...it happens to every one I'm sure...but...I still needed a new toothbrush...sure enough the next day I got a care package from the Friendship Circle group in our church...and wouldn't you know...and new toothbrush...I was happy....the significance of this story had been lost until today...yesterday...while putting on my deodorant it must have caught on my bushy armpit hair and the whole big inside white part of my deodorant fell into the toilet...not a big deal, I'm sure that happens to everyone....but when I got home from breakfast with my dad there was a care package on the table with a new can of Axe...thanks Lyn and Vi...bet you didn't know just how timely of a provision that would be.




-Earl

Thank you

I just wanted to thank all of you for the phone calls, emails and comments on the blog. It is once again amazing how many prayers are going upward on our behalf. It's been really encouraging for me to sense that Earl & I are not at all in this alone-we have a huge Christian community backing us up.
Earl & I have both for the most part experienced a lot of peace today. Thanks for your prayers.
-Ramona

Today was one of those days that I long never to repeat. We found out that the tumors are back in my lungs. I had an appointment with Dr. Ferguson, my surgeon, this morning and asked him a bunch of questions. He looked over the CT that I had taken on the 15th of February. He confirmed what we already suspected-there is a tumor on my right lung and a few smaller ones. In reality this doesn't really change anything medically. I will still continue with my radiation. I have 3 weeks left. After that they will do MRIs to see how my hip and armpit tumor have responded to the radiation. I'll go home for approx. 6 weeks and then come back for my armpit and hip surgery. Dr. Ferguson also confirmed that these surgeries are both quite intense and will probably require some bone being removed. Only after these surgeries are done can we even consider doing anything with my lungs. It's pointless to deal with the 'little tumors' when the 'big tumors' are causing the lung tumors. I really have no idea what will keep going on in my lungs-there is still hope that surgery could be done there as well.
It's frustrating when I realize that time is so important. If I had come to Toronto sooner and had my surgery sooner, maybe I wouldn't have any tumors in my lungs. It's hard to be positive when I have chest pain and have shortness of breath and know that there is something inside of me killing me and there is absolutely nothing I can do about that except pray and try to cling to hope.
Last night I spent a lot of time on a sarcoma site on the internet. There were a lot of stories from others who also have sarcoma. It was interesting how many of them were Christians. It was also terrifying as I read story after story of people with different kinds of sarcomas or even the same kind I have, synovial sarcoma ,who were fighting desperately. Many of them had part of them amputated and others had their sarcoma returning. There were very few who had success stories. I realized once again the seriousness of my disease.
The last few days I've spent a lot of time dwelling on what it really means to live. I think about what my life is all about and if I've accomplished the purpose for why I was created. I think about how to really live when I am constantly faced with death. I realize that having death staring me in the face forces me to think thoughts that many don't until they're older. Have I done with my life what God intended? What am I doing now that is bringing glory to God? How many people have I influenced for Christ?
I don't want to have to think these thoughts. There are thousands of dreams that I still have. Thousands of things I want to pursue and tell people. And yet how can I do that realizing that I might not have years left? And yet no one has that guarantee. Really my life is no different than anyone else's. No one knows if they'll live tomorrow or get to do all the things that they desire. I guess my challenge through this all is to live life to the fullest. Pursue the things that are important now, before you can't.

My heart is so full tonight. I'm clinging to the hope that God is the Healer, God is a God of Miracles. My life is in His hands. I long to be healed and have my life make a difference. Maybe this is my plea to everyone out there who can dream, who are healthy, to all the people that I am a little jealous of-make your life count.

I apologize if this blog comes out preachy. With tears streaming down my face I've written down my heart.

Oh and to all of you who are praying for the pain in my arm to not be as bad while I'm having radiation-I'd just like to let you know that it is a lot better than it was in the beginning. My arm is almost used to it.
Thank you
Ramona

Hey everyone. It's been one of those not-so-fun kinds of days. The CT shows that there is "something" in Ramona's lungs. The doctor said, "Don't worry, Don't worry, Don't worry" and such type things but it's hard when we let ourselves believe Ramona's lungs were actually clear. He also said it might only be scar tissue in the lungs. The day was spent adjusting our minds to that concept and trying to round up information to send to Mayo. Just wanted to keep prayer warriors in the loop. Thanks.

PS Information like this is pretty vague. We are trying to figure out what is actually going on. As far as medical information is concerned we'll try writing a long detailed blog later. Good night

Feb. 19

Hey ya'll. I've been trying to post more pictures but it hasn't worked so I'll keep this blog short until I can figure this out. Ramona's parents are living with us here right now. They came Saturday morning and will be flying out tomorrow. It's really nice to have them here. In fact as I'm sitting here everyone is in the kitchen making brunch. Ramona is feeling okay I guess. She feels tired, like they predicted. At this point there is no visible sun burn from the radiation. The radiation schedule is as follows
Mon.: 3:45 p.m. Radiation

Tues.: Ramona's parents fly home in morning. 3:45 p.m. Radiation

Wed.: Radiation 9:15 a.m. Meet with Dr. Catton, hopefully he will know if the recent CT Scan shows Ramona's lungs are clear

Thurs. Radiation 8:15 a.m. Kevin and Karlene arrive in the evening
Fri. Radiation 3:00 p.m.

That's the schedule for this week. Ramona is given her radiation schedule 10 days in advance.
In other news, it's been amazing for us how transportation for us is being provided. We have often taken the Transit system, but everyone one here at AIM was going to make a schedule so that they could take us instead of having to be jerked around on the Subway. Then we also heard that someone wanted to let us use her car. So she'll be here tomorrow to drop off her car. We feel people rallying around us here in Toronto too. A big thankyou.

Yesterday we went to the People's Church. It was ironic for us that in this giant city that Joanna and Sam and Bonnie here at AIM happened to go to the same church......oh end of story...brunch is ready...

For now,
Earl and Ramona

Pictures

Luckily for me I'm not intimidated by all you people out there who actually spend time on with your computers learning how to make things look good. Anyway, as Ramona is sleeping and I'm...well...whatever...I thought I'd post a few pictures. This is Jason taking a few shots at the Hockey Hall of Fame. From his shooting it became apparent I should have learned him a few more things when he was still young and teachable. Anyway...all this to say we had a lot of fun hanging out with Jay and Lisa the first few days here.




This is Lisa recreating a pose from when she was 1 year old (in CN Tower). For family historical reference see my mom's Creative Memories books.







Completely changing the topic, this is the lamp in our bedroom in the Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge. There were other factors that kept us from staying there but this was a large one. And by the way, We really like staying in the AIM guest house. We appreciate them figuring out rides for us, and it is very nice to be around people we sort of know and are getting to know better all the time.



On the subway Mony once tried to sleep. Who would have thought that a camera flash would wake her up.

The CT scan is done today and for the first time we're actually sitting down and wondering what to do and what we would like to be doing when medical things aren't happening.

Radiation begins

For those of you who fear that we may have fallen off the face of the earth....the answer is no, we are quite safely in Toronto. We did not have internet connection for a few days and so that is why it has taken awhile to blog.
We flew in to Toronto Sunday morning and were picked up at the airport by Sam & Bonnie Thomas who are working for Africa Inland Mission, the same building that our apartment is on top of.
Monday morning Earl's brother and sister flew in so the last few days have been filled with lots of touristy things. We 'climbed' the CN tower, went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Earl & Jay went to a Leafs game, etc.
I don't know how to describe radiation. On Monday I had a trial setup just to make sure that everything was measured correctly etc. I thought that this would take maybe 15-30 minutes. I was in there for about an hour and a half. There was a bit of confusion and minor problems that I don't really understand cause I don't understand their lingo. Anyway everything worked out okay in the end. Yesterday the real radiation began. It took about 50 minutes. I am getting radiation in two spots so that's why it takes so long. Radiation in and of itself is not painful. I can't feel anything different. The only way I know that it's happening is cause everyone goes out of the room and this big arm circles my body stopping at certain angles makinga buzzing sound. However, I have to put my arm above my head in a very awkward position while doing radiation. This might not sound too bad but I have to hold it there for 25ish minutes. It ends up falling asleep and still I'm not allowed to move it. I have to admit this hurts incredibly much. When I finally am allowed to move it, it is pretty floppy. That is the hardest part of radiation.
Right now I am waiting for Earl to get back from the airport as he brought Jay & Lisa there. Radiation begins again at 3:45. Tomorrow I'm going for a CT scan as well. We're hoping that it will clarify that the lungs are clear.
Thanks for your prayers
Ramona

I just read our last post and was excited to find out that we were in Toronto a week ago. Wow, it feels like a bit of a blur. Anyway, since that last post radiation has been scheduled to begin on Monday, February 12. Or, I guess, Ramona has a pre-radiation appointment on the 12th and radiation technically begins on the 13th. Our flight leaves Winnipeg at 7:50 a.m. February 11th. We will be staying in an apartment located in Scarborough in the Africa Inland Mission Head Office. We are incredibly thankful that that is working out. Ramona spends some time looking for places to volunteer when we're out there. True to my nature, I'll begin looking for something any day now. We're pretty excited that my brother Jay and sister Lisa are coming to hang out with us shortly after we get there. Ramona hasn't been feeling incredibly healthy in the last couple of days, and we always wonder if that means something. It's hard not to worry. Mildly changing the subject, Missionfest in Winnipeg was incredibly encouraging. Singing with 1700 ish people and listening to Steve Saint and chatting with friends was awesome.
I guess these are merely facts for now. When we're sitting around picking our noses and wondering what to do (apparently, i'm told, thats disturbing) we'll write stories.
-Earl and Ramona

Toronto Again

We're back in Toronto. It was a fairly uneventful day of travelling. The flight slightly behind schedule. We used our subway tokens from last trip. We walked a little way to get to the Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge. It is cold. I think it's a bad sign that I want to go back to Winnipeg for the nice weather. Anyway, we've been curious for a while what the PMH Lodge would be like. The picture I posted the other day was correct. That is the Lodge. So you know what the outside looks like. We had to buzz the front door to let us in. We walked to the security desk since there was no one at the reception desk. The security guard made us wait for the nurses. The nurse came and asked Mony many medical questions and showed us around the place. It feels very much like a personal care home here. We had to sign out of here to go have Gyros on the harbourfront with Joanna. So we have our two single beds in our little room here. Which is probably better anyway, since the nurse will be checking up on us. I realize how grateful I am that Mony is feeling well enough that after traveling and everything we can be out in the city until 11:30. We're a little tempted to mock the hospital feel of our 'hotel', but incredibly thankful that Mony doesn't need daily nurse care now. Speaking of which, a concern we have is that Mony is feeling more out of breath in the last few days. It needn't be anything, but alarm bells start ringing in our heads and it's something we definitely want the doctors to check out tomorrow. Ramona and I spent alot of time dreaming in the last little while of how we can serve God. These surgeries/radiation and being out of breath are constant reminders to live each day to the fullest.
Quite sincerely,
Earl and Ramona

On the left you will notice the picture that we tried to publish earlier...I have since tried not to talk about our hair race...Ramona's hair has grown significantly since this picture and mine....well...at this pace I'll probably be going bald before i need another hair cut...and the picture above...I'm pretty sure that is the Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge where we will be staying the night of January 31...but we'll see, that may have just been a random picture on the hospital site...maybe if someone is familiar with Toronto they could let us know...anyway...i'm almost attempting to laugh at myself as i think of letting everyone know what Ramona's treatment schedule will be...this entire week we have been waiting to hear from Dr. Ferguson's office to see when surgery will be...assuming that next week we will be heading to Toronto for surgery...anyway...day after day the secretary was telling us to call back because she was sure Dr. Ferguson had the appointment scheduled he just hadn't told her about it...as it turns out...in our phone calls today we realize that radiation will be happening before surgery and the scheduling is in the hands of Dr. Catton...who somehow miscommunicated somewhere and today after I called Elaina, his very nice secretary, did we get told about this. It's an emotional change since we left Toronto with the assumption of surgery happening first...I guess this was an optomistic approach...the MRI results confirmed that these tumors, especially the auxilla tumor, will be difficult to remove.

This will be interesting to look back later once we see what actually happens, but this is the schedule as we see it now.

Jan. 31- Fly to Toronto.

Feb. 1- 1:30-3:00 Do CT Scan with Dr. Catton

Feb. 1- 7:45 Fly to Winnipeg

3-7 Working days- Plan radiation and build radiation device for Ramona

Then...-do radiation for 5 ish weeks, depending on Ramona's response to radiation

Then...-do MRI to plan surgery

Next...- surgery probably 4-6 weeks after radiation

Don't hold your breath about any of these predictions....I talked to Dr. Catton today and told him that Ramona and I felt like we didn't know what was all going on...to which he responded with a chuckle saying he didn't know what was going on either...this is a lesson in flexibility...

If you're looking for specific ways to pray for us...we realize once again that there is no guarantee that everything will "go smoothly"...it provides such an emotional lift to have a hopeful doctor...but it's also crushing when doctors say that the tumors will be hard to remove...we need little reminders that our hope comes from God, not doctors

Home

We're finally home and I'm more than ready to climb into my own bed under my warm, thick, wool blanket.
Oh by the way, thanks to all our amazing friends who met us at the airport. You guys are awesome and we appreciate you like crazy. Thanks also to all of you who are covering us in prayers. That's the most important and best thing you guys can be doing.
Good night
Ramona

Coming Home

Okay, here's the deal. Ramona has the second MRI this afternoon at 3:45...it's probably better not to ask too many questions...for some reason someone miscommunicated about Ramona needing two and so they are scanning the armpit tumor today....anyway...right now...we're at Joanna's house and I'm watching her and Ramona make lunch...smells pretty good from where I'm sitting...they're asking me to do stuff...I'll have to write for a long time...anyway...back to the title 'Coming Home'...I talked to Dr. Ferguson yesterday...and he said that surgery would likely not be next week, but the week after...either way he will only look at the MRI's after the weekend...so we booked a flight home for this evening...we'll arriving in Winnipeg at 12:30 tonight...so...whoever is reading in Manitoba...we'll see you soon...earl

p.s. The MRI will determine whether the surgeries will take 3 or 10 hours...that is the estimated range Dr. Ferguson gave us...which makes sense why he needs to see the MRI's before he books surgery...the shorter the surgery the sooner he can find room in his schedule...we really appreciate how serious he is about getting things done fast.

The Hospital

This is a picture of the Princess Margaret Hospital as well as Mt. Sinai. Princess Margaret is the tall building to the left of the glass building. Mt. Sinai is much smaller to the left of Princess Margaret. My MRI will be in Mt. Sinai, while my doctor's appointments have been in Princess Margaret.

Toronto: Day 2 (sort of)

This morning we saw Dr. Tom Waddell, the lung surgeon. He was a really friendly man, with very little new information. He actually didn't even have the latest CT Scans (Dec. 7) in front of him so we needed to tell him that there was no visible tumors in the lungs. Although technology has advanced significantly in the last several years, if there is microscopic cancer residue in the lungs chemo is the only conventional way to hit that. To surgically remove something you would need to see it. Radiation can be used on visible nodules, but to hit the lungs with widespread radiation to make sure all the cancer is gone would kill you. So, the plan is to keep an eye on Ramona's lungs and pray that the cancer never returns.
Ramona has a MRI scheduled this afternoon at 2:45. Dr. Ferguson will review the results later today or tomorrow morning....soooo...by tomorrow morning they should have a surgical plan in place.
After the MRI we are hoping to meet with Sam Thomas....as I'm writing this I forget his exact title but I think it is something like "Canadian Director of Africa Inland Mission".
It's exciting for us to dream.
Later,
Earl

Miracles

From the title you can probably tell that we are pretty excited...so let me drag out this story...
This morning at 8 oclock my cell phone alarm went...i climbed over mony and shut it off...a few seconds later the alarm clock went off so i climbed over her again to shut that one off...a little later the wake up call went and i quickly clinked down the phone....at 8:09 we were only mildly startled with the snooze from the second alarm....We are in the Days Inn right beside the old Maple Leaf Gardens...several blocks from the Mount Sinai hospital...not knowing in which room our 9:15 appointment was we took the street car to the hospital a little early...We heard where Dr. Swallow's office was so Ramona had to get a Mount Sinai ID card and we scurried up to the office by 8:55....we waited and looked around wondering why there was so little life...we talked to some nurses and they were somewhat helpful and offering to page Dr. Swallow if we were waiting too long...finally by 9:22 ish we had figured out the Dr. Swallow was in the Princess Margaret Hospital...we got there and waited until about 10:30 to be let into Dr. Swallow's examination room...during this Ramona was actually somewhat anxious...this may be the only time in medical history that i was more relaxed than her...11:00...every joke we know is getting old...11:20 playing eye spy is getting kinda boring 11:40 i get told for the hundredth time that it is not good to play with doctor's tools...12:00 News!!!...We talked to a general surgeon she felt the tumors and asked Mony about her smoking and drinking habits and said that surgery was likely...what we heard from this surgeon is that the removal of the auxilla tumor may include removing one or two ribs...this seemed like a huge deal...it wouldn't really affect bodily function...but surgery would be very painful...(tommorow we are talking to the thoracic (lung) surgeon who will have a better idea about whether or not the ribs can stay.....anyway...then we got to see Dr. Swallow herself...she seems to be the important one...she may not actually do any surgeries...she was the connecting point between Dr. Wong and Toronto...she assured us that all was going to be taken care of and that we would need to deal with a whole team of people and stuff...we didn't deal with medical specifics alot...then the radiation oncologist came and ramona told him that she didn't smoke or drink, told him her family history, and ansered all those medical questions...the radiologist was good at explaining all the potential options....radiation can be done before surgery or after surgery...and there are quite a few factors that they use to decide which tumors need radiation and when it needs to be done...if it is complicated it will need to be done in Toronto...it takes 5 to 6.5 weeks...it's probably just easiest to explain once they just tell us what is happening...then we talked to the orthopedic surgeon...Ramona told him that she didn't smoke or drink...he felt the tumors and then we talked with him for a while...very optomistic surgeon...fun guy...imagine Larry Payne as a surgeon and you have a good picture...he will be the surgeon who removes the auxilla and hip tumors...he predicted surgery for next week or the week after at the latest...this will also depend on when they do radiation...also said Ramona should be able to walk after the hip surgery which is much more than we expected......(right now Ramona and I are discussing what he actually meant on the timeline of when she could walk after surgery)...he also needs to have MRI's done before he knows specifics of how complicated the surgery will be...they should be scheduled here anytime...on to the lungs...this is the most amazing part...before we left home Ramona said that she would be more suprised if she had to have lung surgery than if she didn't...well...at this point they can't find anything on the lungs...which means that they can't find anything bigger than one or two mm big....this is absolutely amazing since there was a lump atleast 2 cm big and dr. wong as good as guaranteed there would be lung surgery...but...for now...as long as there is nothing to cut out...the surgeons won't open up they lungs...WOW! talk about an amazing God doing what he does best....we feel incredibly supported in the last few days...some very timely phone calls and encouragements...thanks so incredibly much for praying for us..
Serving the God of Hope and Miracles,
Earl and Ramona

And...the race is on...although Ramona has an unfair start (her hair officially measured 1/2 inch while mine measured a mere 1/4 inch) the hair race began Sunday afternoon. To make up for this unfair advantage I have decided to massage my head with raw eggs every night (just kidding)...anyway...we have no stakes yet and I really hope the race ends before I have shoulder length hair...and those concerned about my mohawk...i did trim it down (although i did think it looked quite splendid)...there isn't really anything new to report about Toronto...we are simply looking forward to seeing how God works out all the big things coming up in the next little while...for now...earl

I finally talked to Dr. Swallow's secretary today. She basically told me that the appointment was just a consultation. No surgery is confirmed or booked and so we really still have no idea how long we'll be in Toronto. However, she suggested that we stay for the rest of the week because my surgeon wants me to also see another doctor in the area. I guess that's about all we'll know until we actually get to Toronto.
Ramona

The flights are booked! We're heading to the center of the universe on January 16th. Ramona's appointment is for the 17th at 9:15 a.m. ....the part that is frustrating for curious people, is we don't know any more than that. I talked to Dr. Wong's nurse this afternoon and she told me to call Toronto to confirm everything. Unfortunately, our Toronto secretary was having supper already and so...ya...stay curious I guess. Tomorrow we should know more timeline details etc...etc...
Keep up the good fight,
Earl

Waiting

Just to let you all know....
We are still waiting for Toronto to call with the date for surgery or even if they'll definitely do it. We know that they have my information but because the secretary is on holidays we won't hear anything until Jan. 2nd atleast.
Just so you know
Ramona

Well, I'm just sitting around on a Saturday evening and watching Mony clean the house. Give me some credit, atleast I admit it. Anyway, just another note that we appreciate the encouragement and prayers that come from the people that read this blog. We still haven't heard anything from Toronto, which, I guess, is not that big of a suprise. I talked to Joanna on the phone today, it sounds like she has done all the research about the hospital and accomodations out there and those kind of things (for those of you who don't know me, I'm pretty bad at researching)....oh ya...i had mentioned earlier that we were concerned that Ramona's arm was tingling again (the same as when the tumor was big)...we still sometimes wonder what is going on in there...in case people forgot Ramona still has a wound in her armpit from her biopsy in July (looks like a .5 inch long slit)...anyway....I was changing the dressing the other day...and it looked like there was a lot of puss there so i irrigated the wound (stuck a plastic needle into her body and squirted saline into the wound...as i squirted...out gooshed a clump of something...it was like like a tubular 1.25 inch long/.5 inch diameter blob of scrambled eggs covered with vanilla pudding and a hint of dijon mustard (and a neat looking blood vessel or something in there)...it was kind of rubbery...might be dead tumor i guess...anyway...have a good night...earl

Now that we're finally home from our day in Winnipeg, here is the the news. Within the next few days Dr. Wong will send Ramona's CT results to Toronto to be looked at by the surgeons there. This does not guarantee surgery, but as Dr. Wong said, "it's the best possible Christmas gift I could give you". This is all likely to take place in early January. Thank you all incredibly for praying...it's time to head to bed...(the CT report is right in front of me...for those of you who like details there are many more...)
Goodnight (woo hoo),
Earl

Friday morning...about 10 a.m....I phoned Kathy, Dr. Wong's nurse...i got the answering machine...my message went something like this..."we are concerned about Ramona's tumor and are feeling impatient...Ramona has a tingling feeling in her arm like when her tumors were bigger..." ....ten minutes later...Kathy calls me during coffee break..."the CT results are right in front of me...the tumors shrunk...come meet with dr. wong on monday at 11:45 a.m...." needless to say i was absolutely blown away and shrieked (i guess you can ask my co-workers, i'm sure it was more of a manly grunt of joy) in delight and booked it in my little Neon as fast as i could to go tell Mony (she was volunteering at school)........a day later now...it is still encouraging to have good results (although we don't know the details of how good they are)...Ramona's arm still feels like it used to which makes us wonder what's going on with that tumor...we pray we can be in Toronto ASAP...
Learning to trust the God of miracles,
Earl

Tomorrow is the big day! Part of me tries to block it out and yet really I have quite a lot of peace. Somehow I really think that my CT will show that my tumors have shrunk significantly again. I remember the last time that I had a CT, I was lying on the stretcher praying like crazy that it would show good things. And sure enough that test showed that my tumors were responding to the chemo. That was 3 rounds of chemo ago and I'm really hoping for the same result. I have to be in Selkirk by 9:00 but my scan is only at 10:30.
So many are praying and I firmly believe that God is so capable of doing whatever He chooses with that test. Thank you for joining Earl & I in praying.
Just a little side note: Last week I got super excited because my eyebrows are growing back. This week I noticed that my eyelashes were also coming. No they were never all completely gone, but pretty close. My head hair....well I'm getting pretty impatient. I've got more 'fuzz' than I used to but I'm not sure you can call it hair. It's white and the current discussion is if I'm going to have blonde hair or if it'll be brown like before. :) Yesterday in the mall I took off my toque for awhile and Becki, (my sister) did a lookout to see how many people would stare. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to so it really was quite funny.