Mom and Ramona "swimming" at Rosarito Beach on Saturday. Ramona needs a lot of encouragement to go swimming. Please help me.

Church this morning. Dr. Ernesto Contreras had the sermon. It's absolutely amazing to have an M.D., the son of the founder of the hospital talking to us.

We can't find anyone named Pedro, but we found this.

Today the Oasis trip took us to downtown Tijuana.

Some visitors dropped by last night :)

CT Results

It's hard for me to stop from snickering to myself as I post this. If you are like Ramona and myself you will think you are some kind of genius doctor and be concerned about "what does this mean or what does that mean?". So anyway, while you are analyzing on your own the picture of a photocopy of a CT scan, you probably see the white dots on the lungs. Those dots apparently are NOT cancer. That is simply the way the lungs are. We told Dr. Carbajal that the previous CT scan showed one 8mm tumor on the right side. So.....he went downstairs to look again and invited me down so I could see the full CT Scan together with him. (The CT report in Spanish would have been a little difficult). Upon further investigation, there was still no indication of tumor in the lungs. Although it is definitely worth a few high fives around here, we try to keep it all in perspective. The Dec. '06 CT scan also showed the lungs to be clear, but it was only a few months later before tumors were again growing and visible on the scans. The news is absolutely as good as could be expected, but only time will tell whether the tumors will stay away. This continues to be the purpose of the Oasis of Hope. The treatment should destroy any microscopic tumor as well as strengthen Ramona's body enough to keep anything from growing again. Thanks for praying.
-Earl

Today Ramona had fewer treatments. This means we had more time to actually relax outside today. The treatment is designed well. These treatments do exhaust her body and she needs a day like this to recooperate.
This is me running in the water. Also, you can't see it clearly, but there is a huge ship in the background. I guess it must be from the U.S. Navy.

Notice two things in this picture. 1- The green truck. These coastguard guys came and yelled at Amos and I. Spanish yelling sounds kinda neat. Anyway, we came to understand that they were warning us of the big waves and riptides. 2- That rickety looking fence is the U.S.-Mexico border. Due to the battleships and circling helicopters, we tried to keep most of our parts in Mexico.

We are in the northwest corner of Mexico.
Things you could pray about:
-Ramona's knee still is causing much discomfort
- Sharon's (mentioned yesterday) health is noticably declining.
-earl

Last night I was so sick of having rice for every single meal. Although I like rice, I was simply sick of it. There's an organic restaurant within walking distance, so Earl & I went there last night for night snack. I am supposedly allowed to eat there occassionally. We enjoyed some frozen yogurt. As you can tell I've got a hot water bottle on my lap. Last night I can some intense leg cramps. The knee that got hurt the other day really started bothering me and I was also experiencing a lot of pain in my foot and ankle. After some pain meds and hot compresses I finally had some relief. I struggled with it to some extent all evening and the night. This morning it was really bad in my thigh. The same area where I had a lot of pain after my hip surgery was really cramping up. I talked to the doctor and he gave me an anti-inflamatory drug and some pain meds. After awhile they really kicked in and I feel way, way better now! I'm not sure why I'm suddenly having this pain. I'm hoping positive things are happening inside my body and this is just part of the healing process.

This evening Earl & I went to an amazing spa that is within walking distance from the hospital. We got passes from the hospital and are able to go to the spa whenever the passes are available. This place is huge. The picture is of the hot tub. There were two other pools in the same room as well as a huge work-out area upstairs. It felt super good for my leg to get some heat in the hot tub. Prior to our time at the spa, Earl & I, the missionary couple here, as well as one other patient listened to one of the patient's companions share their story. This couple is maybe in their 30s. They have traveled the world searching for help and quite literally landed at Oasis of Hope's doorstep. The husband is a Christian while the wife is not. She is having intense pain and has numerous tumors. Listening to the husband share their story broke my heart. His love for her is so intense and he is totally at a loss. Each day he watches her suffer intensely. They just arrived here and hopefully the treatments will give some relief soon. We spent some time praying together for Sharon & Steve. I love this place in that we can meet with other Christians and share our stories, pain and fears and have people surround us who understand, who have gone through the same thing or are going through the same things. The reason I share this story is that I know many people read this blog and I know that many of you are Christians. Tonight Sharon & Steve are on my heart and I ask that you join me in bringing them to Jesus. Pray that God will not just give Sharon relief from her pain, but that through such a horrible experience, she could find God.
Thank you and good night
(Each morning at devotions we share what we're thanful for-this morning I was thankful that my stomach pain has almost completely disappeared. Thank you for praying about that.)
Ramona

Missing Pictures From Previous Post

This is what I chose for lunch. I was just thinking you might like another look at the food.

This specifically caught our attention. Good creativity (if you like the taste). This is a hardboiled egg with the yolk removed and filled with a rice mixture. The yolk is what is most unhealthy...I thought it was quite brilliant myself.

This represents a huge answer to prayer today. The Perftec caused a reaction for Ramona the previous time they attempted to administer it. As I'm writing, Ramona is half finished the bottle (imported from Russia, maybe that is why it looks like a bottle for juice) and has fallen asleep. Ramona's stomach is not quite right, but we talked to the doctor and he does not think it is anything too serious. A few other patients have been feeling queezy too. Maybe something with the food?? Anyway, another beautiful day here, but also a day filled with treatment, so Ramona may not be able to spend much time outside. A highlight of the day was a presentation and question and answer time with Dr. Francisco Contreras. He's the chief around here and an amazing communicator too.

Hey Lisa, Helmut and Gisela really like your work on Ramona's toes.

As you can see, the sun was definitely shining today.

This is the inside view of the church we went to tonight.

It was an evening of testimonies of healing and prayer for those with cancer

Earlier in the afternoon we walked past the church and the youth were putting up all these balloons outside. I was absolutely amazed with the youth. When cancer patients came forward to be prayed for, the youth group came up and were all praying. Because a few of us came from Oasis, they had someone on stage translating for us.

Here at Oasis they do a really good job of having activities for people to do if they are feeling well enough. This is a picture taken on Saturday. Whoever wanted to could jump on the Oasis vans and head out on a twenty minute ride to Rosarito Beach. Ramona's knee was still not right so we did the wheel chair thing (I'm impressed with how well Ramona is handling it, but it's sure not ideal to hurt her knee right now when she could be out walking and getting excercise and soaking up the sun). As you can see, the shops aren't exactly crowded with people during rainy season.

Bruce and Vicky Northy are the leaders of Amigos de Esperanza. Essentially, Bruce is the pastor of the hospital. Ten years ago, Bruce had cancer himself and came out here along with Vicky and a missionary couple whom they were working for/with at the time. They came out here expecting there to be music or devotions or something every night, but there wasn't. So, the four of them started something on their own. The missionary couple visited all the patients in their rooms and every evening they pulled out a guitar and sang songs together. Apparently they had six people out the first night and after two weeks when Bruce's treatment was over they had 42 people out to sing. Anyway, Bruce has since been healed and over time they developed a ministry here called Amigos de Esperenza. This means that a couple will come out here and live here for a month at a time as spiritual leaders and to organize some activities here. Every weekday morning we have devotions at 8 a.m. Whoever wants to and feels good enough meets to sing and pray. This morning there were six of us.
I also read on the board that there is a time of prayer for cancer patients at the San Pablo Church tonight at 7. This is a pink church about 400 feet from the hospital.

This was the weather yester. We stayed inside all day. Bruce was also the one who made the popcorn and made sure there was a Super Bowl Party here yesterday. Having mentioned all the above things it's actually felt quite....slow here yesterday and today...the rain kept us inside on Ramona's day off Sunday. And today is also a day off of treatment for Ramona but something is not quite right in her stomach and she has slept quite a bit and.....just doesn't feel very good. That is something that can definitely be prayed about.

This is Amos. He is one of the people we've met out here. He is here to be with his mother who will be a patient here for another week-ish. Oasis very intentionally does what they can to make it feel like we're one big family. There are people from Norway, U.S.A., Australia,U.K., Mexico, and Canada right now.

Have a good evening everyone,
Earl

Okay...one last question. Somebody please explain the Mexican culture to me. I think it's some sort of status symbol to have a car with an alarm. We probably hear car alarms 25 times a day. I mentioned this to someone out here and he said that he saw a group of people sitting in their car and simply....... they just set of off the alarm.....because??????...I don't know...maybe it's a new form of alarm therapy...anyway...maybe the alarms are just a bit to sensitive...Amos and I bought some firecrackers....who knew that setting one off in front of the hospital would set off a car alarm too...

Food

Food. For those of you who think it's impossible to live three days without any kind of beef. I've done it! Before we came, we heard that Oasis was going to have a quasi-vegetarian diet. I still haven't checked what quasi means but I'm pretty sure it means something like "Ha. No steak for you buddy" Anyway...to be totally honest with you I really love the food here. (I'll simply let Ramona tell you any of her opinions of the food herself.) You might not believe it, but one of the first things I'm noticing is that I don't have to eat as much. I'm used to eating my big plate of food, and then getting seconds and then finishing Ramona's food. It simply doesn't work that way here. It hurts my stomach to eat that much. This first picture is my food card. You can see that we've been here for 4 breakfasts and 3 lunches and dinners

This, I believe, may be a dish of some sort of green things. It is beside the potatoe salad. The edge of that plate may be the guacamole. They make absolutely delicious guacamole here with plenty of cilantro. Everyone else complains about the cilantro. Anyway, for breakfast there is is always toast and cereal that you somewhat have to mix and match on your own....plenty of every color of fresh fruit and if you want a certain type of fruit that isn't set out you simply ask the cooks to get it for you (or anything else for that matter)....they had a bean dish with tomato type sauce that that could go on the eggs or the beans I guess....I think I should just take more pictures...never mind this explaining (This green salad is probably beans, the other day we had cactus...it looks kind of like peas or beans too)

This is the eating area. This picture is taken from where the pulpit was set up this morning. I can't quite see if the juice is still on the table, but half way across the room on the left is the table of juices. Fresh squeezed juice: carrot, green juice(contains long list of ingredients), apple, papaya, pineapple, barley (personal favorite),strawberry, are some of the kinds they minght have. In the far right corner, someone is standing by the cappuchino machine. This you need to pay extra for. In fact, even to get a coffee you would need to extra go ask the cooks for one. Which they gladly give to you. It's not part of the diet out here.

These are the cooks cleaning up after the meal

Today was definitely more eventful-not just positive! The morning started off pretty decent. I woke up at 7:30-for those of you who know how late I get up at home that's pretty amazing! We went to the devotions and then had breakfast. We even had some kind of healthy pancakes with fruit syrup/jam. They were amazing! At 9:30 our time, I was called to my first treatment. I was walking down the hall when I slipped and fell. The leg that I hurt is my left leg-the one that doesn't have proper muscle control due to my surgery. I was in a lot of pain. The nurses were super nice and helped me up and everything. Right after I fell, I looked around me and saw that I had slipped on a green mushy grape. Can't believe how much pain a grape can cause. Well I am now using a wheelchair to get around(they don't have any crutches). My pain is a lot better thanks to some pain medication. The swelling is still pretty intense but I am able to hobble around a lot better than I was earlier this afternoon. I was really hoping to spend a lot of time walking and getting back in shape during my free time here. Hopefully this is just a little setback. Anyway....My first treatment including taking a little over a cup of blood out of me(calculated according to my weight), filling it with oxygen and then infusing it back into me while going through an ultraviolet light. The whole process took about 30-45 minutes. Earl is not allowed in the room with me and I am not allowed to take any pictures. The only pain involved is when the nurse(Tomas) puts the catheter(needle to draw out blood)in. It kind of reminds me of a blood transfusion, but just at a much faster rate.
The 1st picture shows my list of nutracueticals and my daily schedule. I take the first 6 pills on the list and 3 others. The schedule gives you an idea of what the medical part of my day looks like. Today was day 2. No, I haven't changed my name-here I'm just known by my maiden name since that's the name on my birth certificate.













The 2nd picture shows my 2nd treatment. First of all I am given the oxygen prongs and then connected to a liquid that is an oxygen carrier. The doctor and nurse came into my room to explain the procedure and the possible side effects. I was told that the side effects were rare and that some people are just more sensitive. Well, I'm one of the sensitive ones. They started the drip slowly to see if I'd react. I most definitely did. My chest felt tight, I felt like I'd faint, my face got warm, my stomach hurt and my heart was going crazy. The doctor checked me out instantly, cranked up the oxygen, stopped the infusion and the nurse quickly got some IV hydrocortizone. After a few minutes, I was fine but I definitely got scared. My doctor said I was just allergic to the drug and that instead she'd give me a pill. The pill is not as effective but should also 'do the job'. A little dissappointing but ...
Half an hour after I took my pill I was given a mega dose of Vitamin C through IV. After that I was given what they call Kemdalin. After the Kemdalin I was again given Vitamin C.
I had to wear the oxygen prongs the entire time which isn't my favorite thing. Atleast it made me drink a lot.
That was the end of my treatment. (Oh yeah, Earl wants me to mention the 'ice pack' they gave me for my knee. It's the round fabric thing lying on the bed beside me. It works but sure looks home-made!)


3rd picture is the back view of the hospital.
4th picture is the rooster we saw outside the hospital. (Earl was excited to see the rooster fighting with himself in the reflective windows)






Tonight we had Movie night and popcorn. We watched Princess Bride. Poor Earl-he didn't fall asleep though!

It's not even 9:30 but we're pretty tired so I guess we'll head off to bed. Once again I'm the youngest here in the Oasis program. There is a guy that is 16 who is doing a different program but he is around occassionally at mealtimes, etc.

Adios
Ramona

Today was kind of a relaxing day in some ways in that my treatment only starts tomorrow. We've felt pretty lost, trying to figure everything out, but we're getting there. In some ways it's felt like information overload. The hardest part for me today was learning about my diet. It's pretty much what I feared and I must say- a little worse. The food is mostly good-just different. We get fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juices every meal. However, very little meat-just occassionally chicken. Weird combos of veggies that are supposed to be salads, etc. Earl had barley juice for supper, apparently there's even oatmeal juice sometimes. I had hibiscus flower juice. Really it wasn't bad, just a little hard to fathom. From what I've read(they have not told me, therefore it's not confirmed)I am not allowed any sugar, white flour, regular salt or pepper, regular dairy products, pork, lean beef only once a week, etc. etc. Although it makes sense that I am trying to build up my body and give it fuel to heal, it's a little hard to realize that some of the normal foods I love, will not be normal in my life anymore. I'm sure with time, we'll figure out healthy options and variations that will be delicious.

The top picture is a view of the ocean. Earl & I walked down to the ocean in the afternoon. It's only 4 blocks away. How amazing to spend time on the beach watching the waves crashing. I hope to spend a lot of time there.


The 2nd picture is the view of the front of the hospital. This afternoon the gardener was planting flowers right outside the front door. It's a little mind boggling to see petunias, marigolds and pansies being planted in January!






The 3rd picture is the view from the beach facing the hospital. The three arches are the entrance to the steps down to the beach. From the arches you can see the hospital.


This evening Earl & I went to a sing along put on by missionaries at the hospital. There were maybe 12 people there, singing songs about cancer disappearing and being healthy, etc. to the tune of familiar songs. What a neat atmosphere to be with a group of Christians, who are fighting the same disease, trusting God to be glorified and praying that our cancer disappears. The man leading the sing along was a patient 10 years ago and now is healthy. How encouraging! I believe the same man and his wife lead devotions every morning, so I'm looking forward to checking that out (if I get out of bed on time)

So that's a run down on our day. Tomorrow all the treatments start. We're pretty tired and will head to bed early.
Thanks for all your prayers and support
Ramona

Well....I'm finally somewhat relaxed enough to sit down and write. Ramona is catching up on some sleep and we have atleast a slight idea of what is going on here. Maybe I should highlight the word slight. As I look at the picture of Michelle giving Ramona her last bag of chemo it's hard to believe that that is only two weeks ago. Since then we have been gathering our minds, belongings and paperwork (a special thanks to the special nurse who broke all the rules to get us what we needed for the trip out here).




















The night before we left, a fundraiser supper was held in the Morweena Church. We feel incredibly supported. Enough money was raised to make this trip happen (also a huge thank you to those who gave us money outside of this event or group of people). This is what Christian community is all about, people gathering together to pray and support and of course...eat.














Morweena is a place of love.......















Yesterday was flying day. The only real excitement of flying was that the toilet didn't work on our plane. Everyone had boarded the plane... we were sitting there....the airplane waitresses...whatever their called...had told us how to us our oxygen masks....and then we sat....for over an hour while they tried to fix the toilet....anyway...we switched airplanes...the new airplane had an excellent toilet and we landed in San Diego only about two hours late. I didn't realize it was this easy to get into Mexico. The light was green, so the only reason we slowed down for the border is that it is bumpy right there. Anyway...um...Ray, I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to your Spanish lessons at work...if you could quickly post all the spanish words you know...I'm excessively linguistically handicapped out here. Anyway, I think Ramona and I are the only ones out here not wearing jackets...the locals here have no idea how good their weather is

We're here! This is just a quick note to say that we arrived safely. Our orientation process is happening and we get to eat breakfast shortly. We have internet access in Ramona's room so we will have plenty of time to post pictures and all those good sorts of things.
I want to make sure I thank our community for supporting us. What an amazing, powerful sendoff on Tuesday.

The flights are booked and we leave one week from tomorrow! Earl & I are heading to the Oasis of Hope in Tijuana, Mexico for 18 days. The Oasis of Hope is a Christian hospital that has more of a nutritional approach towards health. The emphasis is more on the person as a whole instead of just treating the disease. For those of you who want to know more of the scientific information on what the treatments are about, feel free to go on to their website. I don't fully understand all the scientific information but Earl & I feel peace and have felt led to the hospital. I am being reminded again and again from different doctors that my condition is incurable and that are just treating me with chemo to lengthen my life. Of course God can prove this wrong. I'm excited to see how God will use my time at Oasis of Hope but also understand that it might not remove my cancer. It feels like a big deal to put lots of money and energy into something that my doctor does not approve of or support. However, I want to keep fighting for my life and so that's what we're doing.
I finished my last round of chemo a week ago Sunday. I had a fever on the weekend, but again was able to fight it and stay at home. Today is the first day that I am feeling quite good since chemo. From now on, it should just keep getting better.
I think that sums up the big things right now.
Thanks so much again for your prayers and support. Many times my doctor and nurses are amazed at how well I'm doing and I know that it's due to the thousands of prayers. I was told last week that when I was first diagnosed, Dr. Wong would have given me 3-6 months to live had the chemo not worked. It's quite sobering to realize that I have already lived an entire year longer than I 'should' have. Thanks to God for all the little miracles that are resulting in large miracles!
Ramona

Goodmorning everyone
I'll keep this brief since Ramona has a pass this morning and is able to head out to church.
Anyway, the meeting with Dr. Wong felt like it was covered in prayer. Thank you so much for praying. Dr. Wong was very blunt with us and told us the cold hard 'facts' of what he believes. He still doesn't believe chemo will be a cure and therefore it makes it much easier to ask that he stop chemo. This will be the last round of chemo (ending tomorrow morning!) and we are very seriously considering going to the Oasis of Hope as soon as we can.
Also, the meeting with Dr. Waddell also had some surprises for us. Dr. Waddell is very willing to experiment and has something for Ramona other than the RFA. I forget the name of it, but it is a focused beam of radiation that they have bean experimenting on tumors for two years. We have a telehealth appointment with the Toronto radiologist at lunch time on monday.
This all deserves many details and humanly speaking can be quite overwhelming.
More to come,
Earl

Since last time I wrote, most of you have probably gained atleast five pounds and are now trying to work those Christmas pounds off. I'm writing from the kiosks in the St. Boniface hospital on day two of chemo. Christmas included alot of fun for us and Ramona stayed out of the hospital (barely). Anyway, my mind is hardly on this blog right now. Tomorrow is a big day. We have a meeting with Dr. Wong to discuss the plans he has for Ramona's future and the possibility of alternative options. Also, we will be speaking to Dr. Waddell tomorrow regarding the RFA.
For now,
Earl

Ramona is sleeping upstairs in her room up in the 5th floor of St. B right now. I'm at this lovely kiosk so I'll keep it brief but when I've got more time, we have some nice pictures from this week. Anyway, in summary. Round 6 is almost done. A CT scan was done this week. It shows that there is only one tumore remaining in her lungs, and it has shrunk. It is now 8mm in diameter. The meaning of this is that Dr. Wong would like to do more chemo.....still going on indefinitely at this point.
Everything here at the hospital looks good to get out of here as scheduled and enjoy Christmas.
This blog looks incredibly boring compared to how the week has been.....I'll do better later...
We're incredibly thankful for the care we get in here. The nurses are amazing and came to wake us up this morning with a huge gift.
Thanks to those of you who continually pray for us,
Earl

Ramona is watching the Packers vs Raiders right now (aka. sleeping) (apparently she doesn't care much for the NFL) so I thought I'd keep everyone up to date with what is going on here. On Friday night Ramona was feeling pretty lousy and by the evening her temperature reached 38 degrees, meaning we headed in the direction of the St. Boniface emergency room. I promised Ramona that if her temperature was below 38 when we got to the hospital we wouldn't go in. A huge answer to prayer! Her temp showed at or near 38 until we got to the hospital. There her temperature showed 37.4 degrees.....so we went to McDonald's to kill a bit of time and check her temperature again to make sure this wasn't just a thermometer error. Sure enough, at McDonald's her temp. was 36 point ...something...degrees. So...we went to Kev and Jay's for the night. Although we're not in emerge, Ramona is still not feeling super good. Chemotherapy really destroys her digestive tract causing huge discomfort. It's hard for me not to get angry at the doctors or the pharmaceutical companies or find someone to blame for all the pain.
We spend alot of time thinking of how best to strengthen Ramona's body after the chemo is done. Please pray for the decision making process as well as Ramona's discomfort now.
(I reread this blog and it looks pretty vague...I'll try not to be as vague when you talk to me in person).
-Earl

Yes, it definitely was our anniversary. Two years and counting. It's like our wedding day, but with a PICC, a wig and many pounds (for the groom).
-Earl and Ramona

I'm finally home! Yes I did have a transfusion yesterday because of my low hemoglobin, so we only got out of the hospital around 3:30. It was great to sleep in my own bed again with my own blanket and pillow-way more comfy. Considering everything, I'm feeling quite good today. It's Earl & my 2nd anniversary today, so I'm hoping I'll have enough energy to make supper together when he comes home from work. Most couples would probably find it special to go out for supper, we on the other hand, much prefer being home and not eating restaurant food. I think we've had a bit too much of that in the last while.
Thanks for your prayers,
Ramona