Feeling Better

Thought you all might enjoy a few pictures of Bonny on an outing tonight...dinner for her mother's birthday.  She is eating better and has gained some weight back. She goes for another blood test tomorrow to see how the potassium level is after her infusion last week.

It is so nice to see her smiling face again. 

Cary

A Mother's Song

We wanted to share an article write-up, done our local Texas Coop Power, about our family. Click here to read the article.  I love the title they gave the article; A Mother's Song.  If you all could hear the sweet melody that goes up from Bonny's lips as she trusts God with all her heart.  She knows her life is in His hands and that He is not through with her yet.

We got Bonny's blood lab work report this morning and found that things were all askew.  Her red blood count has been low for a while.  More importantly, her potassium level is very low.  I contacted her original oncologist here with this report.  He is more than happy to help Bonny and will be giving her an infusion of potassium chloride in the morning.  This will make her feel much better and give her added strength.  He said that her red blood count is low but does not require a blood transfusion at this time.  That's good news.

This has been a rather hard week for me.  I am grateful to have a cabinet job to start, but seem to get stressed very easily.  A former employee is coming to help for a season.  This will be great help in relieving some of the load of the shop.

I am realizing that our choice to trust God and draw out His grace, blessing and goodness in all circumstances is a must.  The opposite is just NO fun and leads to one misery after another.  This is a deep truth that I know God is opening my eyes to, as you pray for our family.  As you pray, our seemingly weak knees will continue to stand...for life.

We love you,

Rambellwood

jcr

No Place Like Home

Bonny and I have returned from Tijuana and have been settling into a different daily routine...


Actually, we have not found a rhythm in that yet.  The treatments Bonny had in Mexico  have taken quite a toll on her body.  Primarily the radiation, which caused her stomach and intestine walls to lose their lining.  This was expected and will rebuild itself by some time early next week.  Meanwhile, Bonny has been losing weight because she has no appetite and food makes her very sleepy.

She is getting IV infusions here at home of one of the products she had in Mexico.  I am able to do that through a PICC line and can also give her pain medication this way.  She has been in a lot of pain and abdominal cramping for the last three weeks. 

We expect the tumors to shrink from this treatment.  She will have a CT scan in about four weeks to determine progress.  If the tumors become isolated enough we can return to Mexico to have them removed surgically.  This would be followed up by more low dose chemo and cobalt radiation.  Of course, this all depends on how she responds to the treatment.  

We are asking all our family and friends to pray for strength and wisdom.  This has been taking a toll on all of us.  The kids are weary, I am weary, and we ask you all to band together with us in prayer.  We are doing what we feel is right, but cannot walk this path alone.  We are so grateful for everyone's support, without which we could not have helped Bonny so far.  I am endeavoring to return to cabinet work, but hesitate to become entangled in anything that will keep me from helping my beloved bride from getting well.

Looking to Jesus for strength,

Cary, Bonny and all of Rambellwood

Much Hope!

Bonny has completed her first week of treatment here in Tijuana, Mexico. She is resting now, after a full day. We are very pleased with the knowledge Dr. Vargas has in treating cancer. He spent several hours with us explaining the treatment and answering the many questions we had.

A typical day at the clinic starts with low-dose Vitamin C, then Laetrile. Then a different type of low-dose chemo, each day, is infused Monday through Wednesday. Bonny’s nurse, Angelina, really knows what she’s doing. Cobalt radiation is done each day at another location. Kristina drives us around wherever we need to go. Below are pictures of Bonny with Angelina and Dr. Vargas.

Dr. Vargas believes in what he is doing and has confidence that these treatments will help Bonny. Because of the advancement of the cancer, there is much to be done. As of now, the cancer’s progress has been halted. We expect to see the tumors shrink and die. Bonny will be going through some challenging times as these changes occur in her body. Dr. Vargas has given us a game plan to meet those needs.

It is somewhat of a challenge adjusting to being out of the U.S. Communication around town, pesos, Spanish, and eating...all feel awkward at times. We are thankful for God’s provision through so many of you who have given.

Thank you, thank you for loving us. We feel your prayers and are also so very grateful for the monetary gifts so relevant in this journey. We miss our family and friends and look forward to being reunited.

Cary and Bonny

Another Adventure

Dear friends and family,

What more can we do?  This is the tough question we have been grappling with for two or three months now.  Knowing the adverse effects chemo has on the body...this did not seem the answer.  We have been diligent with all of the alternative treatments that seemed to work before.  But, this time the tumors continued their assault on Bonny's body. We could no longer just ignore the physical changes we were seeing.

This last weekend changed all that.  We met a lady who was given a grim diagnosis as well.  The Lord led her to a oncologist in Mexico who combines low doses of chemo with cobalt radiation.  This woman is cancer-free.  We believe that this connection was not an accident.

As a result Bonny and I are flying to Tijuana, Mexico this Sunday and will be there about three weeks.  There she will undergo a specialized treatment that, we believe, will get control of this awful disease.

Here's where it gets hard.  We need financial help from anyone who has the ability and would like to help.  The cost of the three week treatment alone is over 18,000 plus airfare.  I would not want to be anywhere else, with my wife in Mexico, but by her side.  Being self-employed, this stops the source of our income.  If you would like to contribute, you can mail a check to:


Cary Ramsey

2216 CR 4760

Winnsboro, TX  75494

If anyone would like to write or has further questions concerning the treatment Bonny is undergoing we can be reached via this email address: cbramsey@peoplescom.net

Most of all, thank you for bringing our family before God.  
We will continue to trust Him with all that is within us.

Cary

A Year Later

It was a year ago, nearly, that Mom and Dad drove to Sulphur Springs, to have tests done, to see what was wrong. It was a year ago, that Johanna and I sat with Dad, outside, and heard the words that struck fear against our souls. Mom had Stage 4 Cancer. The doctors could give us no hope.

I don't think I really believed it. Not then. It wasn't the sort of thing that happens, not really. We were shaken inside, trying not to think of what it would be like, how life would change, if our fears were realized. But we turned our thoughts from those fears, and pressed forward. We fought every inch of the way, getting Mom into M.D. Anderson, starting the chemo that stopped the cancer's progress, praying and worshipping every evening we could, seeking the Lord's face for wisdom.

I got caught up in the every day, in surviving each separate moment, in weeping with the blessings, with the precious gift of all the dear people who supported us. We all did, I think. We did what was before us, because it was given us to do.

Now, standing nearly on the other side, it feels like waking from a dream,
looking back, and realizing, suddenly, the immense miracle of 2010,
the year that changed our lives forever.

The Lord has blessed us, beyond belief. And we have something to share with you, a new measure of proof. The Lord made a way for us to pay for a sonogram, and Thursday, Mom and Dad went to Tyler. The results? The tumors are not gone, but they have shrunk to half the size.

"5 lesions are identified in the liver.  All of the lesions are significantly reduced in size, with only two small lesions showing color flow.  The spleen is normal in size and texture.  The low density lesion in the posterior aspect of the spleen described in earlier reports is no longer visible.  The kidneys are normal, and the mass in the pelvic area is reduced from 6.1 x 6.3 to 4.4 x 3.2.  Some color flow is noted."

-paraphrased from sonogram report 

Isn't is wonderful?  And Mom, free of medication for nearly 4 months, has no pain.  Her hair is coming in thickly, and she is blessing us daily with her beautiful self. Mom is nearly back.

We are still struggling financially. Business in the shop is slow, and Mom's supplements and weekly IV treatments run up quite a sum. Staying in the black is a daily challenge.  But the Lord is with us, every step.

How can we doubt him? How can we fear? How can we do anything but trust after such a miracle? There is no logic in fearing when we have such proof of His love.

No matter what happens, we are His.

Wishing you a peace without measure,

Emma

and the family at Rambellwood

I Feel A Need

I feel a need to share, not because so much time has passed, not because so many people want to know how Mom is doing, but a need, merely because my heart is full.  A need, because life can grow so heavy when one does not share the burden.

Life is different for us, different, because we have, at last, accepted that Mom is not herself, that even though we feel she is on the mend, she cannot do everything she has always done.  She cannot, though she wants to so badly, carry the responsibilities she has always held.

The doctors have not definitely said it, there is no medical proof of it,
but we feel that Mom is over the worst.  We are seeing this time as a time of recovery, and we are moving carefully toward that goal, day by day, moment by moment.

We are eating and living as organically as possible.  Mom is doing coffee enemas, juicing greens and wheat grass, having weekly IV doses of Vitamin C, and spending time in an infared sauna. 

At this point, Mom is completely off all her pain medication, which, in itself, is amazing.  Despite that, there are still lingering effects of the drugs.

Our goal now is for Mom to be free of withdrawal symptoms, and, if at all possible, herself again.  But, that requires patience, and courage.  It is a daily battle for Mom, fighting weariness and depression, fighting a strange weariness, where she feels too tired to rise and do something, but not tired enough to rest.  She is caught between the two, and it is a burden that makes her struggle to hold her head up.

And it is hard for all of us, hard for Dad, because some of the order of his life seems gone, hard for we children left at home, because we are not accustomed to bear our Mother's burdens, and hard for Mom, because she does not want us to.

We do not notice how heavy this new life is, how firm the weight of new responsibilities hangs on our shoulders.  We do not notice till we bottom out, and beg the Lord to please, end this thing.

We have been so, so blessed, honored by gifts beyond our belief... and we have grown, so, so much, felt our hearts touched by truths we never knew existed.  And our minds tell us we must be strong, we must keep on, we must hold our own against the storm.

But our hearts, our hearts tell us we can hold on no longer.  We must find rest.  We must release this "burden of care", and rest.  And this is where the difficulty lies.

We must lean on Him, every moment, every hour of the day.  We cannot survive if we do not.  We must learn to trust Him even more, to hear His voice when so many other voices crowd our souls.

It isn't easy.  In fact, it's terribly hard.  But is this not the struggle of all our lives?

Here in this place, in this journey, God has given us a window, a window to discover Him, to pull him close and never let go.  I do not know how long the window will stand open, or how long the storm will come rushing in, but we cannot see it as a torment, nor as a battle we are too weary to fight.  No, we must see it as a challenge, as a challenge to meet the Lord in our weariness, and find a strength that no army can conquer.

Emma

and the family at Rambellwood