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.

So now we finally know when my CT will be. Next week Thursday, the 7th, in Selkirk. A week after that we meet Dr. Wong for the results of the CT as well as the Mugga. Earl & I are glad to finally have these dates but we are very disappointed that they're not sooner. We really feel an urgency to move onto the next step. We know that my cancer is an extremely fast growing cancer and what's not to say that my tumors are rapidly growing again??? Earl is spending a lot of time today calling doctors and nurses in Mayo and St. B. to see if this really is the best they can do or if it's wise.....
So that's what we know as of right now. Our prayer is that these tests and the results could happen much quicker so that we can get rid of these tumors the sooner the better.
For now
Ramona

Just a note to say that we don't really have that much to say....we talk to our nurses and they say they are doing what they can to make things happen...we still don't know about the CT scan.........i asked questions about Toronto and surgery and things...she reminded me not to have my cart in front of my horse...i'm not much of a farmer...but i think that means....stay calm...or don't reverse your horse....or something...those nurses really baffle me sometimes...anyway...medically speaking there is still not guarantee of surgery...so we pray and wait...for now....earl

Just a quick little note to let you all know that the Muga Scan went alright. The technician who did my scan gave us a preliminary on the results. (even though she wasn't supposed to) My heart has gotten weaker since the Muga that I had in July. However, it is still within the normal range. I guess now Dr. Wong has to see the results and ......
No info. on the CT. Seems that the waiting list is super long. They've faxed my info to Selkirk, maybe I can get one there sooner.
Thanks again for your prayers
Ramona

Just a confirmation that we are heading to Winnipeg today. Ramona's Mugga Scan (heart test) is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.. And we still don't know when the CT Scan is going to happen. Got to go...Thanx again for praying...earl

Wow. It is encouraging to be on the blog again. In the last couple of weeks I've been moving houses and actually working again...and as we speak I hope my boss isn't online...he thinks i'm sick...(i hope you can tell i'm attempting humor again (this site does not promote lying (even if it helps you get time off work)))...anyway...we are nearing the time to go back to St. Boniface for the tests. We are talking to the nurses and Ramona's heart test has been scheduled (except we don't know when) and the CT and Bone scans are not scheduled (as of yesterday)....soon i'll quite these (stupid) bracket things...thank you so much for praying for us...Ramona and I have struggled with many things in the last few weeks and are thankful for the friends we have that care about us and pray with us and help us refocus on God...Many people have thanked us for being honest on the blog...and ya...honesty is important...important within a relationship...there were times when i would write the blog...and only later people who had been with me at the time realized i was angry....a blog is an easy place to spill many things...and then just go on feeling better (or worse i guess)...blogs don't keep people accountable and they don't really care...i am interacting with a computer right now......all this could be my sermon illustration some day (helpful for me atleast)....if praying feels like blogging...that is a problem...God is very relational.....anyway...i'm going to go hang out with Ramona...we'll try to keep everyone posted on how life is going and specifics to be prayed about and stuff...Ramona and I are going to steinbach this weekend for the Evangelical Mennonite Cup (hockey)....for now...earl (another not funny story in brackets...Ramona and i haven't check our emails for so long we lost all our emails from 2.5 years of dating)...later...earl

Yes, I am now another year older. Twenty-three it is. Thanks to all of you who wished me a Happy Birthday. I can truly say I had a good birthday and I'm super thankful about that.
I know Earl & I have not been faithfully updating the blog. In a way I guess you could say that's a good sign. Nothing too tramatic has happened. I came home from my 5th round of chemo a week ago, Monday. Saturday night I got a fever and consequently spent all of Sunday in emerg. I was devastated as my family had planned to have a family birthday lunch with me that day. However, my family came out the city and celebrated with me in emerg instead. Because my white blood counts were so low I was in isolation, so I had my own room. Earl worked his magic and the nurses let my whole family in the room (but they all had to wear awesome yellow gowns). We had balloons hanging from the IV pole and streamers held up with medical tape. Because we didn't want to alert the fire department we didn't light my candles but instead I just did a fake blow. Even though I hated that I couldn't be at home, it was really special to be able to make the best out of the situation.
Monday morning at 7:30, Dr. Wong entered my room with some hopeful news. He had been at a meeting in Prague over the weekend and had talked to a sarcoma expert. He talked to a surgeon from Toronto who has agreed to do my surgeries for me IF the CT scan shows that my tumors have shrunk some more. I asked if we would continue with more chemo if the tumors showed that they'd shrunk and Dr. Wong said, "No". I'm excited and yet I know that Dr. Wong seems to change his mind all the time and so I'm holding on to a glimmer of hope. The next 2 1/2 weeks need to be filled with lots of prayer that the tumors have shrunk significantly again. And I remind myself that why not pray radically that the scans show that the tumors have disappeared and that surgery isn't even necessary. I can see my tumors every day and so sometimes I think that it's not possible that the CT could show that they're gone, but I know that God could make them disappear any second. Whatever His plan is, I pray that it will be done.
So that's an update again. I hope to head off to the school where Earl's dad is principal and see if I can help him out with some stuff. I'm hoping to do some of that in the next few weeks.
Thanks again for your prayers
Ramona