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

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

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

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

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

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

Good night,
Earl

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

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

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

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

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

-Earl

Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Thankgiving,
Earl

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

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

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

-Earl

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



-Ramona

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

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

Thanks to all the people praying...

-Earl

This is about a week ago.

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

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

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

Chemo

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

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

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

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

-Ramona

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

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

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

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

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

Hockey & Camping

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

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





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

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



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

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

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

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

Bird's Hill

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

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

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

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

Sleep well,
Earl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Earl