A message from the Oxford family: "I thought I would send a quick
update on Nate, since many have asked how he is doing. The answer is
great. He is continuing to get stronger everyday. He still uses his
walker, but is starting to take steps. He feels great most days. We
are all enjoying less trips to Children's. We are excited that Nate's
wish was granted and we will be going to Disney World next month
thanks to Make A Wish. We are thanking God that this December will be
much better than last year as Nate was diagnosed last year on Dec. 20
and well, you all know the rest of the story. We are praying for
continued healing and trying to learn about what life might look like
for Nate as he grows. We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Your
prayers and love have carried us over the past year. We are so very
thankful to you all.
PLEASE remember the kids who are still fighting cancer and pray for
their families anytime you can. We know of two little boys who are
fighting tough battles right now with brain tumors. Please pray for
Matt and Ryan. Love you all!!! The Oxford Family"

"Praise God, Nate's MRI is clear and he is in remission. This is truly an awesome thing that God has done. Nate has been through so much, but keeps bouncing back thanks to our LORD. He will get MRIs every three months for the next two years. His cancer is aggressive and could pop back up at any time in the next five years, so continued prayers are critical. We are so very thankful for all of your prayers, and want everyone to know that we serve a very big God. God can take even the smallest percent of survival and perform a miracle. It has been a long road and will continue to be, but today we are victorious. Please continue to pray for the cancer to stay away and for him to recover physically with his walking, talkingan and cognitive skills. May God bless you all."

"Please pray for Nate today. He is having his MRI this morning (Monday), and we should hear the results by Tuesday afternoon. We are praying that everything is normal and no cancer is in little Nate's body, a complete eradication of the cancer. This has been a very up and down road, but God has been here all along. We know HE hears our cries and that HE is good. Please LORD help Nate today, hear our cries for YOUR healing upon him. Amen."

From Jackie, ""Nate is having a great week.  He has just gradually made improvements since his last visit with the doctor.  We are thankful that he hasn't gotten the flu since Wes and Jake just got over a case of the flu.  I disinfected all weekend and Nate, Luke and I lived downstairs away from Daddy and Jake.  Anyway, we are thankful for his strength and joy right now and ask that you pray with us as we are about a week away from an MRI on October 19.  We love you all!!!!"

Nate has had a strange few days. He has been more playful and seems to have more energy. There just have been some things that still are not right. He goes back to Children's on Tuesday and I am sure they will run tests on him as a result of some symptoms. He has a bowel movement with suppositories, but not really any other time. He throws up occasionally and complains of headaches (both signs of tumor), but then ten minutes later wants to eat and is laughing and playing. His walking is horrible, but he crawls great and is climbing on everything. This could all be swelling from the radiation that will go away, complications from all of his procedures that may or may not go away, or it could be the cancer spreading again. It is frustrating, because some things tell you he is fine and everything is running its course, but then there is always that fear wondering why did that just happen or there has to be a reason for this not happening and you can't help but to think the worst. In many ways we don't want to know any more, we have been told that what has been done for him already is all that can be done and we just want to believe that it is all up to our precious LORD what happens from here. I know that God is good and HE has a plan for how HE wants to use us all. I believe that Nate will make it through this and will grow up to do even greater things for HIS kingdom. All of that said, I still have fears and I still struggle to understand why and how through all of this. At the end of the day, he is still my little three year old boy who I love beyond words, my heart aches, please continue to pray for him, he needs it now more than ever. May God bless you all -- Wes

"We are sorry we haven't sent an update sooner we have had several phone calls and realized we haven't sent an update since the latest prayer request. Nate did need a blood transfusion last week and we thought he was going to need another since his energy level did not increase. Wes took him to see the doctor on Friday and it was determined he did not need another transfusion, but is probably suffering from the side effects of brain radiation. His brain is swelling right now which is causing many issues. He is back on steroids in order to bring the swelling down. He is sleeping most of the time, and still having bowel issues. He is struggling to walk again and doesn't have enough energy to play. The doctors think this is what is to be expected for at least a few weeks. It is difficult to see Nate struggling so much again when he seemed to be feeling great for several weeks. Please continue to pray for him and all who love him and support us everyday. Wow, what we do without our family and friends? We love you all!"

From Wes - Something is going on with Nate. He did not have a bowel movement for a week. It took a lot of laxatives and prayers for it to finally happen. He sometimes screams about his stomach having sharp pains. He goes back in to see the doctor tomorrow. He also gets very down sometimes and just wants to sleep. These could all be effects of post-radiation or depression or just plain not feeling good, but it could be something much more serious such as the cancer spreading to other parts of his body. We are scared, because we are told it could be so many things. Please share with others to pray for his little body to be healed and for him to be happy. He does play and enjoys part of the day, and then he seems to crash and wants to just lay there. We know that God is good and can do anything, please pray that he will heal Nate. Please keep praying and do not give up, HE keeps healing Nate and Nate keeps fighting every time everyone gets together and prays, it has always worked so far. Thanks.

From Jackie:  "I thought I would send a brief update on Nate.  Overall he is doing very well. He feels good enough to play with Jake and Luke everyday, go to their games, play outside and go to church most weeks. He has been more tired than usual  this week.  We were told this is to be expected after radiation.  His balance and strength are not as good as they were a couple of weeks ago, but this can also be related to the radiation.  Since I am back to work and we get out more now, I meet several people a week who have been praying for us through Nate's battle.  It is so comforting to know how many people are praying.  We are very blessed.  Thank you for your continued prayers.  We love you all!"

Jackie provided this update on Nate. Let's all continue to pray for Nate and God's sustaining help for him and others that are going through this treatment.



"Nate has finished his third week of radiation. He is feeling great. They are still weaning him off the steroids. His appetite seems to be getting back to normal. He isn't eating nonstop anymore. He is getting active again and wants to take his walker everywhere. Today he was outside with Wes helping him trim the bushes and told the bushes, "you're going down." His personality is just as silly as ever. We are enjoying everyday that he feels well and ask that you all continue praying for his healing. Also remember Allison, Ryan,Lisa Jane, Paige, Reese,Brittany and Gael(friends going through treatment with Nate) as they are fighting to beat cancer as well. We love you all!!!!"

Wes provided this update on Nate toady and wanted everyone to know.

"Nate completed another week of radiation. He has been gaining weight from the steroids and is being weaned off of them. He was in good spirits today and actually played quite a bit with his brothers. He went to the Rangers game this past week and got to meet Michael Young and stay in a suite. He also went to the Ringling Bros circus and loved seeing the elephants and a balloon popping porcupine. He even got to dunk some wonderful people in a dunking booth this week. Go Rockwall cares and Keller Williams! Go Rangers, Hello Win Column, and Michael Young. Thank you all for your prayers. Nate is a fighter and God is taking care of him. Please continue to pray that the cancer is taken away and that his good cells are protected, God is so good to us. Please believe Psalm 20, it has given us strength this week. Also please pray for Allison, Ryan, Lisa Jane, and Brittany. These are all children who need your prayers desperately at this time, all are battling cancer and their families mean a lot to us. God bless."

Nate completed another week of radiation. He has been gaining weight from the steroids and is being weaned off of them. He was in good spirits today and actually played quite a bit with his brothers. He went to the Rangers game this past week and got to meet Michael Young and stay in a suite. He also went to the Ringling Bros circus and loved seeing the elephants and a balloon popping porcupine. He even got to dunk some wonderful people in a dunking booth this week. Go Rockwall cares and Keller Williams! Go Rangers, Hello Win Column, and Michael Young. Thank you all for your prayers. Nate is a fighter and God is taking care of him. Please continue to pray that the cancer is taken away and that his good cells are protected, God is so good to us. Please believe Psalm 20, it has given us strength this week. Also please pray for Allison, Ryan, Lisa Jane, and Brittany. These are all children who need your prayers desperately at this time, all are battling cancer and their families mean a lot to us. God bless.

Blood Drive - We need YOU!!!

There is a Blood Drive for Nate Oxford THIS Friday, July 31st from 10:00 to 3:00 in the Rockwall Kroger parking lot. If anyone would be willing to donate please call Rhonda at 214-500-3093. Keller Williams Realty is sponsoring the event. Rhonda will be there the whole time. This is a great opportunity to help our sweet Oxfords!

T-Shirts are available... But going VERY fast!

Please order all tshirts by contacting Erica Brown at earlybirds3@gmail.com.

Cost is only ten dollars per shirt.
Erica wanted everyone to know that a new shipment of iPray for little Nate tshirts just arrived and they are going quick so order now!!! Show the world that God is good and is using Nate as proof of that by helping unite us in prayer. She just got them in and they are selling very fast.

Please note that the sizes in stock and available for immediate shipment are children's S through adult XL.

* Bigger sizes could be available, to order bigger sizes please email your name, email, size, phone number, and quantity to be put on a possible waiting list for the next shipment. If available, we will email you with your total cost. Thank you.
Sent on the Now Network™ from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Thank you God! Thank you prayer warriors! Nate has had a much better day.
After radiation today, he did have two long naps and still gets worn out
easy, but when he has been awake he has been very playful and has been
laughing and smiling and telling jokes. He seems to feel much better. I
know we still have a long road, but at least today we got to see the old
Nate again. Keep praying, do not lose heart, God is good and He is
listening. Cry out to HIM for miracles, cry out to HIM with all of your
hopes, fears, and anxieties. HE will deliver us from everything that harms
us. Take comfort in Psalm 18:1-36 READ IT ALL and share it with others who
need encouragement. It is so encouraging to know that my God listens to our
cries. May you feel close to your LORD at this moment, may you take peace in
HIS love for you. Thank you again for praying for my little Nate.
Sent on the Now Network™ from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Nate has been trying to participate and play with the other boys around the
house and has been fighting to smile and stay alert. He is very exhausted,
the cancer is straining his energy. He has moments during the day where he
will get a burst of energy and then the rest of the day he just wants to sit
there or go to sleep. Please pray that the cancer will go away quickly, it
is trying to overtake him in so any ways. He has sharp pains in the top of
his head and behind his right eye, most likely due to the tumors. We know so
many are praying, please stick with Nate, he needs it now more than ever.
Keep spreading the word about Nate for God to get the glory. God is good and
HE does hear our prayers. Please be encouraged by Psalm 103. Thank you.

Sent on the Now Network™ from my Sprint® BlackBerry

"iPray" Tshirts are available!

Many have asked about how to order the “iPray for Little Nate” T-Shirts. You can order these directly from Erica Brown at earlybirds3@gmail.com.

The price of the T-Shirts has been reduced to $10 so that these can be available to everyone to help spread the word to pray for Nate.

The T-Shirts are navy with white lettering.

Front: iPray

Back: for Little Nate (with the www.prayfornateoxford.com below)

Adult sizes: S M L XL XXL $10.00

Children sizes: S M L $10.00


Our continued prayer is that Nate will be completely healed and God will be completely glorified.

Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you need information about ordering.

Wes called and wanted to let everyone know how much they appreciate the prayers that have been lifted up for Nate. He said that everything has gone as planned today and that Nate received about an hour's treatment of radiation. He said that Nate was exhausted from the day and that this will continue for 6 weeks. Please continue your prayers asking for God's sustaining help and that Nate would be protected through this and the treatment would be successful. God has truly been the one who has sustained them through this and continues to be by their side. He is faithful.

Wes let us know that Nate is at home now. He is on steriods and as long as he doesn't lose consciousness, all radiation will be done outpatient at UT Southwestern Mon-Fri beginning this Friday. Everyone has been so faithful to pray the Lord on behalf of Nate. Let's all continue in prayer asking God for His sustaining help for Nate and the Oxford's". "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." Psalm 54:4

Message from Wes.

Check out this slideshow: "t h e o x f o r d s" at http://www.mattnicolosi.com/slideshows/Oxfords/iframe.html and www.mattnicolosiblog.com be sure to make a comment for Matt.
Hello, please check out this amazing video and pictures taken by a truly remarkable photographer, Matt Nicolosi. Matt spent so much time with us and has an amazing talent. If you want pictures of your family, Matt is definitely your guy. All of his info is on the site with the link.
Also, please spread this to everyone you know. I think it gives people a face to associate with their prayers. Nate is a fighter, God is awesome, and we are faithful. God will do great things on this earth through Nate. He has been dedicated to our LORD and HE will raise Nate up. Do not doubt or let your faith waiver, GOD hears your prayers. Nate needs your and everyone you know of prayers more than ever. Send praises and thanksgivings up to our LORD and ask for a miracle.
Do this also for all of your hurts and worries. All of your anxieties and burdens. Do not give up on God. Tell HIM what is bothering you on the inside, tell HIM what you do not understand and ask for wisdom. GOD hears you, cry out to HIM and look forward to the day that he will give you peace beyond understanding. GOD will never be outmatched or defeated, and we will not be either as HIS people, Please let us all unite as one and share each other’s burdens. I want my little boy to be healed, and you have wants and needs in your life also. Share them with each other, share them with your neighbors and pray with and for each other. GOD’s amazing love will be spread. Thank you all, always keep your hope in GOD, for HE has the power to do all things and listens to those HE loves.
Go to www.prayfornateoxford.com to follow Nate’s blog. May God bless you all.

We are back at Children's after being transported to UT Southwestern's Medical Center at 7 am to meet with the radiation oncologist. He prepared us for what would happen over the next 7 weeks. Nate will get 30 treatments (30 mins a day for 6 weeks Mon-Fri) of high dosage/high intensity radiation to his total brain and spine. He begins on Friday. According to all doctors involved, this will most certainly result in severe cognitive loss. We were told to expect many learning problems throughout his life. This is hard to hear. On one hand, without a doubt, we want our child. On the other, we know if he has any medical hope of survival it is through something that is going to cause him to be much less intelligent that what he is now. On top of all of this, the radiation's success rate is not high at all due to the aggressiveness of his cancer.

We know that God is bigger than all of this. God determines how intelligent He wants us to be. God determines how long He wants us to live. God is in control here during uncomprehensible times. We have just resolved to trust Him because we know that He is doing what He must do to protect Nate. We tried chemo and it did not work. We were told that he is so bad off that at his current rate he would be dead in 4 to 6 weeks without a very aggressive treatment. It is what it is and only God can change it. Please pray that He does change it. Pray that Nate is healed and that Nate maintains his intelligence level. Pray that God will turn him into a man of God to be used by Him for many years to come into his olden years. Pray for God to get all of the glory through our little Nate

The MRI results came back last night and revealed that Nate's cancer had returned again and larger than before. The Dr's outlook was that it would be best to move forward with radiation at this point. Please continue your prayers for Nate. Wes and Jackie are both moving forward with the new treatment plan for Nate and are still believing and hopeful in God's power to heal. Please remember them all today.

Please keep praying. Tell everyone you know to keep praying. Nate just woke up amazingly out of his sleep. He has been answering questions in complete sentences with Jackie. They have not done the MRI yet, just a CAt scan, please pray that the MRI showed the CAt scan to be wrong. We have faith. Prayer to our good and loving Lord has gotten Nate this far. Prayer to our LORD will get Nate through this also. Jackie and I dedicated him to the LORD to do great things here on earth for HIM and we know that he has big plans for him. Please do not give up, the LORD is listening. Thanks. He is leaving to go into his MRI as I am typing. PRAY.
Please no visitors at this time.

URGENT prayer request

"Please be in prayer for Nate. He was found unresponsive this morning and is currently back at Children's Medical center. Dr's have confirmed that the cancer has returned in a larger form that is causing Nate's response. They are discussing what to do and how to treat from here. Please pray for Nate and the Oxfords."

Jackie just provided this quick update on Nate. Great news. Let's all continue to remember Nate and the Oxford's in prayer.

"He has started maintenance, we gave him his first dose of chemo at home last night. The doctors are not overly concerned about the MRI, so we are proceeding as planned. He got his walker this week and has adjusted well to using it. We are not letting him use it much in the house since he is walking pretty good at home, but it is very handy when we are out. Nate is feeling and looking great. We are so thankful for all the prayers for Nate and our family."

Jackie sent this update for us all. Please continue your prayers.

"We went to the doctor today and really don't have any answers for Friday's MRI. Children's along with St. Jude reviewed the MRI. Nate will continue with the same course of treatment and he will have another MRI in a month or two and the doctors will watch for any change in the spots. Dr. Bowers nurse, Melissa, worked very hard today to get some of Nate's new chemo prescriptions approved and we are very thankful for her efforts and success. We know you all are praying for our little guy and ask that you continue to do so.
On another note, last night two Make A Wish volunteers came to our house to visit with Nate. He was asked, "where would you go if you could choose any place in the world." He pondered for about 20 seconds and replied, "ummm McDonalds." Wes and I got a kick out of this and the volunteer decided we might need to help him decide.
We love you all and appreicate your support and prayers."

"Nate's MRI came back today with 3 spots on the brain that had not been there before. Dr. Bowers is not saying that it is cancer, just that it was looked at for a long time by many well qualified people, and no one honestly knows what it is. The spinal tap shows no sign of cancer, which is great, but leaves a mystery. He overnighted the images to St Judes in Memphis and a team of neuroradiologists will try and figure out what the three small spots are hopefully by this Monday or Tuesday. Of course this is not what we wanted to hear, but we know that God is good and is with Nate. Please pray that whatever it is will not harm him and that Nate's brain is protected from all abnormalities. We thank you all for the prayers and please keep spreading the word, Nate needs your prayers as much now as ever. God bless you all. --Wes"

Nate has an important MRI tomorrow morning to check and see if the chemo has kept the cancer away. This is big not only for us but also for research. Please pray, we know that this could help many other children in the future.

From Jackie - "Nate is having a great week, he is getting very strong. He had a transfusion on Tuesday and his counts are very low, so we are just trying to continue to stay fever free and avoid a hospital stay this month. He has another MRI on the 26th and after this he will begin the maintenance phase of his treatment. We are very excited about moving forward.

We wanted to thank everyone who took part in the event on Saturday. Nate had a great time and once again we were blown away by all his supporters. Thank you to all who came out and enjoyed the day with us, and for all the prayers and preparation that went into the planning.

Let's all continue to pray and lift up the doctors, nurses, families and children with cancer."

Giving Back - A Benefit for Nate

Just a quick reminder... the event will be THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!! :)

"Giving Back" is a charity event honoring the supportive community that has helped the Oxford Family, through prayers and support, deal with their battle of childhood cancer. This special event will take place on June 13th from 11-4 at Pullen Elementary in Rockwall, Texas (Horizon Rd & FM 549). This is a family event for all ages. Everyone is welcome!

We will be having pony rides, bounce houses, fishing demo, vintage car show, a liberty bell replica that people can ring, live music, bungee bouncers, photo booth, door prizes, chalk artist, chili cookoff, circus clowns, golf training for kids, games, and a blood drive, just to name a few. Most of the activities/games are FREE. (There will be a nominal fee for some food items.) We will also be having a silent auction, a live "celebrity auction," and a really unique raffle called "Golf Balls from Heaven."

The raffle tickets for "Golf Balls from Heaven" will be numbered and will match up with numbered golf balls. Those golf balls will be dropped from a helicopter at the event (into an unoccupied field, of course) where there will be golf holes. Numbered balls in the hole or closest to the hole will win the prize. Prizes will include: $1000 television, His/Hers watches, $500 gas card, $300 Wal-Mart gift card, and a round of golf for 4 at Buffalo Creek Golf Course. Raffle tickets are just $10 each and available at the event. The Golf Ball Drop will start at 3:00 PM.

All of the money and donations raised that day from the raffle, auctions, donations, etc. will be used to cover the Oxford family's expenses during this trying time and also a donation will be made to Nates' doctor for research of childhood cancer.

Please mark your calendar and plan on attending this wonderful event for the whole family! A free shuttle will be available from the Baylor building across the street, if needed.

There will also be a blood drive at the event. There were 57 donations of blood on May 2nd, we would love to top that on June 13th. Please contact Rhonda Mishler at rhondambi@sbcglobal.net - 214-500-3093. We will have a limited number of slots open that day for walk ups too.

If you would like to get involved, please contact the following people:

Blood Drive registration: Rhonda Mishler -- rhondambi@sbcglobal.net - 214-500-3093
Volunteers: Justin Hall -- jkhall@hallcriminaldefense.com
Silent Auction donations: Wendy Rathje -- omahawendy@yahoo.com
(We are collecting baskets of merchandise, crafts, gift cards, etc. If you own a business or would like to put together something, we would love to have it. ABF's, groups, etc can get together and put together baskets from the whole group too. It's not to late if you'd still like to donate an item. Just contact Wendy asap.)
Sponsorship & Monetary Donations, Event Coordinator: Lana Carlisle -- carlislelana@yahoo.com

Jackie provided this update and prayer requests for Nate and others they have come to know. Please remember them all as we continue our prayers.

"Nate seems to be doing very well. He is still eating and keeping his weight up this round. We went in yesterday and he has another infection, but I think we caught it before it caused fever. He also got a transfusion today and his blood counts are very low. All that being said Nate is feeling good and still playing with his brothers. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Prayer Requests:
-Nate's friend Ryan (2 years old) just relapsed and had a tumor removed today and will begin chemo again soon.
-Dakota's family
-Zach (12 year old boy) going through chemo for the third time"

Jackie provided this update today about Nate. Let's all continue to be in prayer, thanking God for His sustaining help and comfort for Nate and the Oxford's.

"Nate has been home for a week now and he is feeling great. Since he was in the hospital last week they gave him a week off to recover before starting chemo again next week. We think this is the best he has felt in a long time. He is trying so hard to walk and is eating anything he can get his hands on (mainly chips, milk and brownies), but we will take anything as long as he is putting on some weight. Monday will be the beginning of another long week and he will recieve chemo everyday and be in the infusion room for 40-50 hours during the week. We have had a few days of not being in the hospital or at the clinic and we have had time to reflect on our situation. We are surrouded by the most amazing group of people and supporters. We know some of you well and others only through email or we are linked by prayers to God. We just want all of you to know how much we love and appreicate the love and support we have been shown. We have been blessed with wonderful friends, neighbors, co-workers, doctors, nurses, and church friends(the list goes on and on). Thank you all and lets continue to pray for all who are touched by childhood cancer."

An update from Jackie:

Nate is doing better and should be able to come home tomorrow. He will have a week off before starting his next round of chemo.

I also wanted to request prayers for the little boy Dakota who many have been praying for. He passed away last week and I request prayers for his family and all the doctors and nurses who have cared for him for 3 years. My heart is broken for his family, but I know God is in control and He will comfort them. Love in Christ, Jackie

Nate was admitted back into Children's on Thursday with a urinary tract infection caused by a natural form of E-Coli which all of our bodies carry. For a healthy person, the body battles the bacteria every day and we never notice it. For Nate and others who have little or no immune system, bacterias in the body can more easily cause problematic infections. Essentially your own body can be your enemy. It caused his temperature to spike to 103.7 and he had to have more blood transfusions to boost his hemoglobin count. His temp is back down as of this morning. He will most likely be getting more transfusions because his NAC is still at 0, meaning he can catch anything right now. He is on two antibiotics to fight the infection and has had a lot of diahrrea and nausea. He will get the antibiotics pumped through him for at least another 7 days and will most likely have to stay here as an inpatient until the end of next week. Chemo then starts back up hard and heavy the next week. Thank you all for the continous prayers and the outpouring of love. Please pray that he gets over this soon and that the infection does not spread to the blood, which is a possibility, and would cause problems that I do not even want to get into, it would just be bad. He did have a sonogram of the kidneys and the infection had not gotten to them. We know God is with Nate and have seen HIS amazing love time and time again. God bless you all.

We just got great news!!! Dr. Bowers called and said that he looked at the MRI and it looks great. He has a hard time saying completely gone or 100 percent, but he said the only thing that they can see is so small that it is not distinguishable, meaning it could be a few cells or just scar tissue. The same is true for both the brain and the spine. Maybe even more positive news is that the initial test on the lumbar puncture had six cells floating in it and all were noncancerous. Let us have no doubt that God has done this. Thank you all for the prayers. Just a few months ago, things looked pretty bad. God is good, please pass the news on to everyone you know, hopefully it will help others to know that God is good. Nate starts a new phase of chemo on Monday and will continue it for the next eight months. He also requires quite a bit of physical rehab. Please continue to pray for him to walk again on his own and become stronger in his speech and overall movement, he shakes quite a bit and needs to get a lot stronger. Also pray that he does not have any complications with any of the new chemo drugs he will be getting for the next eight months. God bless you all. Our God is certainly capable and willing to hear our prayers. Nate has done and will do many things in the name of the LORD.

Today, Monday April 27, Nate will have his four month MRI at 8 am. As you all may remember, his two month MRI showed the cancer to be 95 percent gone.

Today's MRI is the benchmark for what happens for the remainder of the year. If the cancer is all gone, then he moves on to more chemo to prevent it from relapsing in the future. If it has not shrunk further or grown back any, then radiation is the method of treatment that would be chosen by the doctors, essentially meaning chemo alone did not work.

Radiation causes many problems and possible retardation in young children, at a minimum there could be severe learning disabilities. Under the age of three, it is not even considered due to the issues it causes. As you know, Nate just turned three on February 15th.

Please specifically pray that the cancer is completely gone without any trace at all. This allows the chemo to move on without having to do any radiation. This would truly be a miracle in light of where Nate was just a couple of months ago. We know our God has shown Nate and our family His mercy and love so many times during this process and believe He will show it again with tommorow's results. Usually the results come out by early evening the day of the MRI, so no matter when you first read this, please pray for no cancer in Nate's body. Thank you all and may God bless you.

Jackie just provided this update on Nate, praise God for the sustaining help He provides. "The doctor released Nate to go home today. His blood counts are starting to go up, although his immune system is still very low. (He can't have visitors.) Thank you for the prayers. He is so happy to be back home!"

Nate is getting another blood transfusion today. He is still feeling weak, please pray that the transfusion will help bring all his numbers back to where they need to be and this his fever will go away. Thanks.

Please pray for Dakota

Hello this Wes Oxford, the father of Nate. As you all can imagine, in our time at Children's we have seen lives ended early. We have come to know many families and their stories.

Right now, I need all of you prayer warriors out there to rise up once more for a little boy named Dakota (8). Dakota was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of five. He went through three years of chemo and other treatments and became cancer free at the end of last year. After three months of being clear, it came back stronger than ever.

Dakota's only chance now is to get a bone marrow transplant. He was matched with a donor last month and the culture has been cultivating so that it could be placed in Dakota.

As with all chemo drugs, the body can decide to reject them at any time even after taking them for years. We saw how Nate had problems with Methatrexate the first time and seemed to be okay with it after that. We also saw how Cisplatin seemed to affect him worse this time. The point being, all chemo looks to kill something and sometimes it turns on good cells.
Dakota's body needs at least one of two known chemo drugs to keep fighting his blood cancer so that he can be at the cancer free point necessary to get the bone marrow transplant. He had taken one of these chemo drugs for years before and it was effective in killing the cancer. For reasons unknown to the doctors, his body will not accept it anymore. He recently spent 9 days in ICU recovering from septic shock due to the drug, which left him in a psychotic state for days screaming, hitting, and not even recognizing his mother.

After recovering from the septic shock. Yesterday they tried the alternate chemo drug. Again, his body rejected it and he is now back in ICU. His mother and Jackie were talking this morning and Dakota's mother said that Children's has asked her if she just wants to take him home and let him die peacefully, there is nothing more that they can do.
Children's has been a wonderful place for Nate and for Dakota also, but man's wisdom has a place that it can not go any further. Brothers and sisters, Dakota and his family needs your prayers. This is the end in the world's eyes. I am not saying that every child at Children's will be saved from death, but I do know that this child and his family have come to know us and I know that God wants me to send Dakota's story out to you all. Pray for his family's hearts, souls, and the peace that God can give them. Pray that God will use Dakota and his family to bring glory to our LORD in the Gainsville, Texas area that they are from.

So many people have been behind Nate, Jackie, Jake, Luke, and me. We get emails constantly from people who you all are making a difference in their lives just by telling others about your faith in God to heal Nate and how good God is. Dakota can make this same impact. Pray that Dakota and his mother become vessels for Christ and that they turn into instruments that our LORD uses to impact their hometown. Remember that with God all things are possible and we pray that it is HIS will to heal Dakota and for his and his mother's faith to become a testimony for others.

May God be with you all and bless you all today. Do not forget Dakota, please pray for him this very moment, spread the word to pray to everyone you know - it could change their spiritual life, and do not forget to sign up for the National Bone Marrow Donor's List at www.bethematch.com promo word childrens, completely free and can save a kid's life. Nate, Jackie, Dakota, his family, and I thank you all.

Nate will most likely be up at Children's the rest of the month. His immune system is down to nothing and he caught some sort of infection with a fever. What we can get over in a day or two takes him weeks while on chemo. They will monitor him closely and procede forward with the necessary measures to get his weight back up and help him fight off infections which will take awhile. He will continue on the same path as far as the chemo is concerned because they want to keep fighting the cancer. It is a double edged sword chemo makes it to where you have no immune system and sick but cancer kills you so you need the chemo. Please continue to pray for his MRI on April 27th that the results show no trace of any cancer. He will still continue chemo through the rest of the year, but the four month MRI being cancer free prevents any medical need for radiation which is terrible for his age and causes lots of learning problems. May God bless you all.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Please be in prayer for Nate. He is not doing well. The Dr's did not release him to go back home because of his condition. Wes just called and said that Nate's fever is high and he has not eaten at all and they will likely need to put him back on the feeding tube. Wes, Jackie,Jake and Luke have gone down to Children's to be with him. Because of Nate's condition, he is susceptible to sickness now. Psalm 34:4 "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

Giving Back - Blood Drive

I wanted to let everyone know that there will be a Carter Blood Drive at Pullen on May 2nd at the Giving Back event for Nate. We desperately need donors! Anyone who would be willing to give should contact Rhonda Mishler at emenbee@aol.com or 214-500-3093 to schedule a time. The drive will be from 11 till 4. This is a special drive just for Nate. The donations will go towards credit for the blood Nate has received/will receive in the futue.

Wes asked for us to continue our prayers for Nate. These past days, following his most recent treatment, he has been really sick and had many complaints of pain and discomfort. He is throwing up more and complianing of pain about the back of his head where the surgery took place. Lately, Nate is showing signs of the same things he had before he was originally diagnosed. He is back at Children's today for another round and should be home later this evening. He will have a hearing exam today to determine if any hearing has been lost from some of the tratements. On the 27th he will return for another MRI. The last MRI revealed that the cancer was 95% gone. Pleaes Pray about the next MRI and that between now and then, Nate continues to progress and does not regress. Please pray for God to be close to Wes, Jackie and Nate and strengthen them emotionally during these days. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" 2 Cor 1:3-4.

Hello everyone, this is Wes Oxford the father of Nate. Words cannot describe the gratitude I have toward you all for taking the time to pray and give so selflessly for Nate. Nate still has a long road ahead of him, but your prayers are working and God is definitely listening. As you can imagine, we have met many other families who have children suffering from various forms of cancers along the way. Trust me, none of us want to experience any form of cancer in our lives, much less, watch it happen to our children.



We (Nate's family and friends) have an opportunity to make even more of an impact in the lives of children with cancer. Many children have blood cancers (Nate’s is tumor based and not blood) and among these children the only treatment out there is a Bone Marrow Transplant. This procedure is very easy on the donor (a matter of taking DNA out of your hip with a syringe while you are put to sleep for a short time) , but life saving for the recipient. The first step to making this happen is for a donor to get registered on the National Bone Marrow Donor’s List. Thus is done by having the inside of your mouth swabbed and filling out some paperwork. If you should ever become a match, then they call you in, run a few more tests and you have the procedure done. You get to track the child that you helped and can know that you have done something that may help save the life of a child.



This Friday, April 17th is the day I need you to make this happen. Children’s is going to have three locations in the metroplex waiting for you or you can go to www.bethematch.org and order your registration kit by mail using the promotion code childrens with no apostrophe. Normally the National Donor List has a $52 registration fee, but if you go on Friday or go to the website, then Children’s will pay the administration fee. You do not have to be from the Dallas area. This is something you can do from anywhere in the nation and you can help children nationwide. Please do this. If you are in the metroplex and can stop by that day, it would be better simply because they can go ahead and get you on the list for the children who are waiting on a match right now and we can start saving lives.



I know lots of people have said I wish I could do more, well, here is your chance. It is free, and you could be the match that could save some child’s life.



Below is a story about how this has made a difference in one little boy’s life and details about the event.



Register your bone marrow type April 17

Two-year-old Adam Danhoff's hope for a normal life might not have happened had it not been for someone who donated their healthy bone marrow. As you read Adam's story below, consider participating in the "Be The Match" bone marrow donor drive hosted by Children's Medical Center. This year, it is from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 17, at three locations, including Children's Legacy. Read more about the drive.

Adam, 2, contracted a severe type of pneumonia when he was little more than 5 months old. His pneumonia, not usually seen in infants, was cured but it eventually led to a diagnosis of Hyper IgM, a rare congenital immunodeficiency disease that causes infections, liver disease and, in some instances, the development of cancers. Because the defect lies in the cells of the immune system, the only curative therapy is bone marrow transplantation.

Adam's illness was diagnosed at Children's Medical Center by Dr. Maite de la Morena, an immunology specialist. It was also at Children's that he was lucky enough to receive a bone marrow transplant from someone who had registered their bone marrow tissue type with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), a voluntary computerized registry of people willing to donate their bone marrow to an unrelated patient.

Because tissue type is inherited, patients are most likely to match someone with their own race and ethnicity, and there is a 25 percent chance that a sibling will match. Still, like Adam, most patients do not have a suitable family member to donate, so Children's turns to the NMDP to find a match from an unrelated donor.

The bone marrow transplant procedure rid Adam of his own unhealthy blood stem cells and replaced them with healthy blood-forming cells from the volunteer donor, essentially swapping Adam's dysfunctional immune system for one that functions properly.

Adam, who will turn 3 in July, will not have Hyper IgM once his new immune system fully develops, and he will have a second chance at a normal life — thanks to a stranger who took a few moments to register with the NMDP.
Bone marrow donor registry drive

Join Children’s Medical Center Friday, April 17, for the 18th annual “Be The Match” bone marrow registry drive from 9 a.m. to 7 pm.

Locations

The drive will take place on the first floor of the Dallas Ambulatory Care Pavilion (2350 Stemmons Freeway), on the first floor of the main hospital (1935 Medical District Drive) near the C1 elevators and at the Children’s Legacy campus in Plano (7601 Preston Road). Free and convenient flat-lot parking is available in front of the Dallas Pavilion and at the Legacy campus.

Or, during April, go to www.bethematch.org and order your registration kit by mail using the promotion code ‘childrens.’

The drive types donors for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), which is open to healthy people between the ages of 18 and 60. The event recruits potential blood stem cell donors for thousands of children, including patients at Children’s, as well as for adults currently seeking a life-saving match.

Bone marrow donors from the African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic and American Indian communities are under-represented in the NMDP registry and are therefore critically important.

Volunteer donors can join the registry for free. Children’s is paying for each participant’s $52 registration costs.

The process is simple

The process to register is simple and painless. All it takes is a cotton swab of cells from inside the cheek to determine the donor’s tissue type. There are no blood draws. The sample will be entered into a computerized registry linked to the NMDP.

Nearly 3,000 people have been typed at the matchmaker drive, but on any given day, more than 6,000 people are seeking their bone marrow match through the registry, so new registrants are crucial.

For information about the Children’s “Be The Match” marrow drive, contact Cristy Ecton, outreach manager for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center Dallas 214-456-2805 or 214-535-1602.

Nate was released from the Hospital yesterday and home now but he continues to be very sick from this round of treatment. He hasn't eaten much if anything over the last few days. Please pray for Nate now as he recovers from the impact of this round of treatment

Wes just called and asked us to be in prayer for Nate. He has had difficulties this round with nausea and not keeping food down. The Dr's are concerned that he will get dehydrated and they do not want to release him to go home at this time. If this continues then they may need to put him back on the feeding tube. Please continue your prayers for Nate asking that God help him with the nausea he is having and that he does not become dehydrated.

Wes and Jackie provided this update for Nate and requested these specific prayer requests. He went back to Children's today to start another round of Chemo. This is a treatment of Cisplatin which has caused him to throw up more and become dehydrated. Nate no longer has the feeding tube and is chewing food more now. Please pray that Nate continues to eat so that he does not have to go back to the tube. The Dr's will let him go home on Thursday this week but it will depend on if he continues to be sick and if he is dehydrated. This treatment is also known for hearing loss and the Dr's will test for any hearing loss as well. He has already lost the ability to hear very high pitched sounds, so please pray that he does not lose any more hearing. Following this, he will return to the every other day of outpatient chemo. He is also trying very hard every day with his physical therapy that he goes to at Our Children's House. Please continue to pray for Nate, Wes & Jackie during these days ahead. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Pet 5:7.

Song for Nate - "Crying Out"

Morgan & Shea Mathis wrote an encouraging song for Nate. The song is about crying out to the Lord when His promises seem so far away. This song has been a tremendous encouragement to Wes, Jackie and Nate and they wanted to share this blessing with you all.

Here is a link to a video with the song and recent pictures of Nate!
http://www.facebook.com/v/1075575421581

The lyrics are below.

Crying Out
You say to those who cry to you
I hear your plea, encircle you
but today my hopes and dreams have faded away

You've written on the scrolls of life
come run to me, I'll give you light
but today the sun has yet to shine, over me

chorus
I'm crying out to you
I'm crying out for your Truth
I'm crying out to you to come today
come and save, while we wait.

He watched his son thrash about
from fire to water, prayed he would not drown
In desperation, he turned to you

You heard the cry, a fathers plea
you came in power and brought him peace
so I beg to you, please do the same for me...

Chorus

While we wait today for you to come
and rescue this beloved one
with all our cries and all our tears
we pray Yahweh that you might \
the cries from you chosen ones
the pleas we bring to Zion's Throne
we will not fault in these days
to hold to truth and call Your name
Oh, Jesus Christ the chosen
hear our cries that you might come
to heal this boy and bring him peace
we left him up, while on our knees

Chorus...come save our Nate.

Nate cleared at 1:00am and we got home this morning in time for him to be named mascot/bat boy of Jake's baseball team. Nate was given the award for best defense. Jake's coach said he had been fighting a big battle. We were so touched. Nate rolled up in the huddled and yelled "Astros". I tell you...that is the good stuff!
Luke had his first t-ball game and Jake got three hits. Jake and Luke both had good first games.

Anyway..Nate is home for the weekend and we will return on Tuesday to continue chemo. Please pray that he can keep taking in enough calories so he doesn't have to get his feeding tube put back in. Thank you for your continued prayers for our Nate and our family.

Please pray that Nate clears his Methatrexate today. He has been in
Children's since Tuesday and if he is below the .10 mark today then he can
be released. He will go back on Tuesday as inpatient for 2 more chemo drugs
for three days. After that back to the every other day of outpatient chemo.
Thanks. Also the one next week causes hearing loss and he has already lost
the ability to hear very high pitched sounds, so please pray that he does
not lose any more hearing. God bless you all. He is also trying very hard
every day with his physical recovery, prayers for a complete recovery are
very appreciated.

I wanted to pass out this reminder to continue our prayers for little Nate, Wes & Jackie. Nate continues to make progress day by day. He is still on a feeding tube but on Friday he chewed food for the first time. He is pulling himself up now and walking around the couch on his own. Little steps of progress are taking place each day. While Doctors and therapist have done wonderful and great things, there is no doubt that this is a direct result of the many prayers that have been lifted up for Nate. Please know that the prayers that have been offered up are heard by our Father. Nate will go back for another round of chemo this next Tuesday.

James 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective".

Jackie just provided this update on Nate's status and wanted to pass this on to everyone. Let's all continue our prayers for Nate's progress. Our God is faithful.

"I am sorry we haven't updated in the past week or so. I know everyone praying is wanting to keep up with Nate's progress. Wes has been back to work on a normal schedule finally trying to catch up , and I have been taking Nate to his doctor appointments. Nate is doing great at home. Playing with Jake and Luke has been great therapy for him. He gets chemo every other day and goes to therapy appointments between chemo appointments. We are on the road to the doctor a lot, but what a blessing to be at home as a family at the end of the day!!! He will go back into the hospital next Tuesday for inpatient chemo, he will stay until it clears (about 4 days)and then return the following Tuesday for another 3 day chemo stay. He is pulling himself up to stand and crawling up our stairs. His speech is gradually getting better. He has another MRI at the end of April. Please pray that he continues to respond to the chemo well and regains his motor functions, and that we will clear the chemo next week and continue to make progess. Thank you all for your continued and consistent prayers and support."

Wes just called and provided this update. Nate was able to come home from the hospital last Sunday and returned again to the Hospital on Tuesday for another round of chemo treatment. This is a treatment of Cisplatin which has caused him to throw up more and become dehydrated. The Dr's are considering letting him go home again tomorrow but it will depend on if he continues to be sick and if he is dehydrated. This treatment is also known for hearing loss and the Dr's will test for any hearing loss as well. Please be in prayer that Nate is able to come home again following this treatment with no complications.

Great News for Nate!

Wes and Jackie just heard from the Hospital that Nate will be released to go home today for 3 days. Praise God for this news!!! All of us remember just months ago the life threatening situation Nate was in and now he has made such great progress that they feel very comfortable for him to go home. Truly our God is faithful to hear the prayers of His children. We can always cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us and He cares for Nate. God has also used very capable Dr's and Nurses to stand by Nate’s side daily and care for Him through this. He will be home for 3 days and then return for more treatment. Wes and Jackie are both overjoyed at this news as we can all imagine. Let's all thank and praise God for this news today and ask for God's continued help for Nate, Wes and Jackie.

UPDATE: Thank you for the prayers. God is good. He cleared this morning at .05!! Down from 3.3 is a big jump. Thanks again.

------
Please pray for Nate. He is currently trying to clear his third round of
Methatrexate. This is the drug that sent him to the ICU the first time he
got it and wound up paralyzing him due to low sodium levels. At this time he
was hours away from clearing it and then all of a sudden the Methatrexate
level spiked back up dramatically. He needs to be below 1.0 to officially
clear, he was at 1.3 and then within four hours went back up to 3.3 and we
are nearing the 72 hour clearing period after the drug. As you can imagine,
everyone up here is watching this very closely. Instead of increasing the
fluids like the first time, which lowered the sodium, they are giving him
more of a folic acid that is supposed to stick to the Methatrexate and pull
it out. It takes a little while for this to happen, so the next check will
be at 4am. His sodium and other levels right now are fine, but they are
watching them. The prayer would be that by 4am he is well below the 1.0
Methatrexate level and that all of his other levels are perfect i.e. sodium,
potassium, magnesium, etc. We have been cruising along lately and do not
want any setbacks or trips to the ICU. God is good and will hear our
prayers. Thank you all.

Another Round of Chemo for Our Big Boy!

Wes asked for us to be in prayer for Nate today. He is going back to Children's Hospital and will begin the 3rd round of Chemo treatment. This first part is a mixture of chemo that is given for 24 hrs and then has to be flushed out the system. The first time Nate took this there were many life threatening complications that came up. Please be in prayer now as he begins this treatment again. After about 4 or 5 days Nate will be able to return the Baylor Children's House for therapy where he has made so much progress over the last several weeks. Let us all continue in prayer for Nate as our God hears our prayers and is faithful.

Great News!!!

Just talked to Wes... he wanted to get this out! Dr. Bowers just talked to Wes... he, along with other doctors evaluated the MRI and feel that 95-98% of the cancer is gone!!! Praise the Lord! Nate will still have a year of chemo, rehab and other treatments, but this is tremendous news for the Oxfords; they are understandably ecstatic! Please continue to pray!

Prayer Request

Wes just called and requested our prayers for Nate today as he is currently going through testing. One test is an MRI to evaluate areas where cancer was seen in the past. The other test is a Lumbar puncture to determine if cancer has spread. Please be praying for positive, cancer free results for Nate, Wes & Jackie as they go through this and wait for the test results to come back.

Nate is making progress!

Wes just provided this update and wanted to send it out to everyone.

"First we wanted to thank everyone who took part in the Joe Willy's night. We know many prayers and hands came together to make that a success. I am speechless over the turnout and amount of support we have been given. Thank you doesn't seem like enough. We pray God blesses each of you in a mighty way. Nate is still making progress everyday. His trunk (core) strength is coming back and he is sitting on his own. (sometimes loses balance) All the same he can do it! He got a new wheelchair today. It is one that he can roll the wheels himself.(he is out of control :) He has also been up in a walker. The therapists are so excited because he gets stronger everyday. He has continued to recieve chemo injections here and that seems to be going well. We will go back to Children's in about a week to begin month 3 and see how he is responding to the chemo. We expect great news as he seems to be doing so well. Thank you for your contiuned prayer. We love you all!!!"

What a turnout!

Last night's Benefit for Nate at Joe Willy's had a great turnout! It was so fun to see so many people come out to help this precious family! I was amazed at the long line, I would guess that at least 300 people showed up, if anyone has an official count let me know! I hope to get pictures up soon so that you all can see the smiling faces that came out to support Nate and the Oxford's!

To Wes, Jackie, Jake, Luke, and Nate: We love you guys and are praying for you earnestly. We hope that last night will help ease some of the stresses your family is facing during this time. Nate's story has definitely touched the hearts of the DFW metroplex, and we are all waiting to see how he will continue to impact the lives of those that hear his story and see what the Lord has done for you all.

A special thanks to Wendy and her hard work to get everything organized and it ran so smoothly! You did such a great job, and it was a joy getting to work with you! Also, a big thank you to all the volunteers! What a blessing you guys were!

Nate's Having a Big Day

From Wes - Today will be a big day for Nate, this is the day that he will officially begin his dual hospital treatments. He should be transferred to Our Children's House at Baylor to begin his inpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapies by noon today. This will be an intense program that will help him take every advantage of the window of opportunity to get back to where he was. It is supposed to be one of the best rehabs in the nation. When he is not there, he will be back at Children's getting his chemo. It will be a while before Nate will be released to go home, but we would rather have him get the best opportunity to completely heal while we have it. Also, from my understanding, there is going to be a big celebration for Nate tonight at Joe Willy's in Rockwall. So many people have worked so hard on this. My family wants to personally thank all of you for the time and effort so many of you have put into this. Wendy has done an awesome job organizing it, Lana Moore has gotten the tshirts together for it, Annette McKinney and Scott Brazell and Rich Lewis have been getting the word out, the owner of Joe Willy's has opened his doors to it, and many others have worked very hard on it. All we truly want is for Nate to be completely healed by God, we never intended all of this attention, and yet so many people have been there praying, giving, and working hard for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What more can I say. I personally am humbled by your graciousness. Please join with me in thanking all of the people who volunteered their time, effort, and money into making this what it is tonight. We truly are a family who has been embraced and loved by a community and across the world. We will never forget this and will always have a debt to society that we will work toward to help make it a better place also. Thanks again. I will send more updates when we get over to OCH Baylor. God Bless.

Cute Nate in the News - Video Link

Good Mornining! Here is a link to the story that aired on the news last night for those of you that may have missed it or are not in the DFW area. It was a touching story, and Nate was too cute playing his instruments!

Don't forget about the Benefit tonight. As a reminder, if there is a crowd (and I hope there is) and you can't wait through it, you can purchase gift certificates and they will benefit the family just as much as if you were to eat there tonight. I know that I had been getting emails about people that were sad they couldn't be there, so if you can't stay and eat but want to participate, this may be a way to do that!

REMEMBER, eat at Joe Willy's tonight!

http://www.the33tv.com/pages/content_landing_page/?Music-Therapy-a-Big-Hit-With-Kids=1&blockID=215158&feedID=460

Oxford Benefit is Tonorrow Night

We wanted remind everyone about the Benefit for Nate tomorrow night (Tuesday the 17th) at Joe Willy's in Rockwall. We also wanted to let everyone know that "Rain Check" gift certificates will be available to purchase at the event. If you are unable to stay and eat, please consider buying a gift certificate. A percentage of that sale will still go to the Oxfords. There will also be a donation box for those that would like to make an anonymous donation.

We hope to see everyone there!

Nate's on the News TONIGHT!

For those of you in the DFW area, Nate and his precious story are going to be on the local Channel 33 news tonight (2/16) at 9pm. Be sure and check him out if you can!

Happy Birthday Nate!

From Wes - Happy Birthday Nate, today Nate turns three and is having a party in a room we reserved here at Children's on the 10th floor today at 4pm. Jackie did not know how Nate would handle tons of people so it is mainly some relatives and a few others at the party. As much as we want Nate to see everyone, he has to stay healthy so that ultimately he can come home with all of this conquered and we can have a huge party with everyone of you. Yesterday Nate had the biggest time going down the hall in a wheelchair handing out Valentines to all the nurses and other chemo patients. His little personable personality is definitely back. He is such a flirt and a ham. Thanks again to all of you, a family and a little boy could not be more loved.

In honor of sweet Nate's birthday we got the blog redone. Check out the cute new design and check out Pink Armchair Designs. Praise the Lord for Nate's progress!

Nate is in the News Again!!!

Here is a link to another story in the Dallas Morning News Neighbor Section today 02/13/2009 about Nate. Jackie, Jake , and Rockwall ISD.


http://neighborsgo.com/stories/29646

Nate's talking

Nate said about 20 different words with the speech therapist today, the names of his family members, animals, objects in the room, etc. This is so awesome, and we praise God for it. He has been very nauseous over the last 18 hours due to the chemo. He is now eating some by mouth and the rest by tube (which is now in his stomach and not the intestines) so he is experiencing more nausea now. It is the trade off of actually eating, but progress and getting back to where he was is important. He will not be getting any more chemo between now and Sunday (his birthday), so he will be fine that day to eat something at his party and be able to hold it down. I look forward to seeing many of you this coming Tuesday at Joe Willy’s…many have asked if one of us will be there and the answer is “yes” one of us will be there with the other two boys to see all of the wonderful people who have been so supportive of Nate and the rest of our family. Thanks again.

Spongebob it is!

Nate continues to make improvements every day. Yesterday he started sitting up on his own off and on throughout the day. In fact last night, he dragged himself over to the rail on the bed and pushed himself up and sat there without support. They are also talking about later today or in the morning switching his feeding tube from a continous feed to what is called a bolis feed, which means he will get a lot of fude through the tube at breakfast, lunch, and dinner to cause hunger in between to want to eat food by mouth and get used to eating on a schedule by mouth again. This is part of the weaning process off of the feeding tube. On Monday we are off to Our Children's House at Baylor for inpatient rehab. He has finished several chemo drugs in the last few days and has done great. He has one more today at 5pm and then none again until next Wednesday which we can hop a hospital bus and come back over here to do and go right back. Certain chemos we will stay here to do and others are hop a bus come do it here and go back--all depending on what they are and how long it takes. He is doing great and will be able to have some ice cream cake and juice by soon for his birthday party this Sunday--he will be three and he is so proud. We are going to have a shindig, Spongebob is the theme, that is what he told us he wanted, so Spongebob it is. God bless you all, HE is watching over us all each day.

Praise God!

Just received this from Wes: Praise God! Nate just went for a swallow study and just proved that he can swallow thicker liquids and solid food. They are reevaluating his nutrition plan now and deciding how to start working in thicker liquids (milkshake, etc) and some softer solid foods (breakfast bars, pudding, etc) into his diet. What this shows is that Nate can protect his airway while swallowing. This is something he could not do for a long time. He will still have the tube through his nose into his intestines, but now we will be in the weaning stage. In other words, another big step forward. Someone from Baylor Medical Center came yesterday and spoke with Jackie about the details of Our Children's House at Baylor and the inpatient rehab he will be receiving. It will be pretty intense rehab, which is good with us. We want him to have every available shot at getting back to where he was while the window is open. He will do chemo here at Children's and all his therapies over there. As we find out more about the rules over there as far as visitation, we will let you know. We know that God has been with Nate the whole time and appreciate all of your prayers. We have gotten several emails, phone calls, letters, and cards from complete strangers due to the news articles. I really believe that Nate has touched so many people and caused thousands to reflect upon there own families and spiritual situations and allowed them to become closer to God. We read and hear stories everyday about how this is happening. God is good, and we need to keep praising HIS name. Thanks again.

Nate is in the news!

Sweet Nate and his family were featured in the Metro section of the Saturday news. Here is a link to the article. Wes, Nate's dad, wanted to provide everyone with the following update:
"Thanks everyone for the comments about the article and the video both done by The Dallas Morning News. I think it would be great if you could to go to the link for the story again and make a positive comment at the top using the Comments link above the words Rockwall boy in the header or by scrolling down to the end of the story to the comments section. You might have to do a quick less than a minute registration. I really believe they were very positive and edited the story in a way that left the faith in God aspect in it for the world to see. With all of the negative things that are said or done by the media nowadays, it is nice to see how well this was handled by them and I think they deserve to hear it. Let us encourage them when they do good with our comments. Wouldn't it be great to flood them with great comments, this would only reflect the goodness of God to the world and especially those reporting the news and the doctors and others at Children's. Here is the link again, thanks for doing this. God bless."
Just in case the links aren't working, here is the actual link address.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/020709dnmetsicktoddler.39496b7.html

Update

As of about 11:00 last night, Nate completed his second round of Methatrexate. He is now in the 3 day period to flush it out of his system. It was about this time last month that many of the complications came up and Nate was moved to ICU. Dr's and Nurses are paying very close attention to him and so far his levels look good. Please continue to pray as Nate goes through this round of Chemo. Please also pray for Nate as he begins therapy at "Our Children's house" hopefully on the 16th. Also, we were told that the Dallas Morning News will have an article about Nate and the Oxfords, tomorrow 2/7, in the Metro section. There is also a video and some pictures of Nate and the family at the Dallas Morning News website - www.dallasnews.com. Let us all continue our prayers knowing that God is faithful.

More Improvements! Praise the Lord!

Wes just provided this most recent update.

"Nate had a great day yesterday. He went down to the gym at Children's for the first time. There he was put onto a swing that extended from the ceiling where he had to lay flat on his stomach. On the swing (a falt square hanging from ropes) he had to use his arms to walk the swing forward far enough to knock over foam towers. This worked great to strenghthen his neck and upper body muscles. He also was strapped into a device called a LiteGate that is put around the waist and buckled into straps extending from bars above your ahead. This piece of equipment allows you to go through the motions of walking again without having to worry about your body weight. It looks loke a big bouncy seat that you stand up in. He did very well with both of them. He worked out for about two hours straight in addition to going to the playroom again and putting together more crafts and playing with the toys. He is getting stronger every day and is very eager to get back to where he was. He also said mama again and is being very cooperative with speech therapy and everything they have him doing. It looks like we will stay at Children's at least another week, because they are going ahead and pressing forward ahead of time with more chemo since he is doing good and does not need recovery time. In fact, today he is starting the chemo cycle over again. The first drug he took was Methatrexate. He will get that this evening. It runs for 24 hours through an IV. Then there are three days of flush. As you will remember, the flush is what sent us to ICU last time. Please pray for his body to flush the drug out like it is suppose to this time and for his levels to stay where they need to be (last time his sodium dropped to coma level). he has made so much progress and we do not want to see any setbacks. Thanks again for everything you all are doing. We appreciate you all."

Praise the Lord for He alone is good!!!

Praise the LORD for He alone is good. Okay...catch my breath. Here is how it went down. Last night, Jackie and I are in the room with our three boys eating some deliciuos Frito pie. Jackie leaves the room to go wash a bowl, and Nate starts fussing and acting aggitated. Jake is sitting in a chair near the bed and asks him what is bothering him. I was there, I saw it, he responds to Jake by puckering his lips and showing lots of effort...and out comes "MaaaaaMaa". I jump up off of the couch in the room, try to get him to do it again and he would not. Jackie comes back in the room, we all celebrate, and then I suggest we do something. So Jackie loves up on him, then leaves the room again. Bingo, he does it again two more times. Words can not describe how excited we all got. Y'all...some doctors believed he may not ever speak again...ever. GOD IS BIGGER THAN TUMORS, CANCER, AND DOCTORS!!! This is not at all to be disrespectful, because we are around a lot of really great people...but the key word here is just that...people. I believe from the bottom of my heart, that God is showing us these things to say...DO NOT DOUBT ME, YOUR SON WILL DO GREAT THINGS FOR ME WITH HIS LIFE, HE IS IN MY HANDS. Today he went to the playroom again with Jackie and played Wii baseball and bowling with the help Jackie, made me a Valentine (which he was absolutely beaming when he gave it to me), had two of the three feeding tubes taken out (so now all that is hooked up to him at all is the one feeding tube), took several wagon rides, gives constant hugs, started play jokes again, and tried to say some of his colors. Guys, his progress this week has been through the roof. Thank you so much for your prayers. PLease keep going, I see it working every day. Please pray for his continued speaking, for him to learn to walk again, and for the cancer to disappear...gone...nada...zilch. Jackie and I feel the love coming from you all every day and truly are appreciative for all of your hard work. GOD IS AWESOME. We love you all.

More Improvements!

Wes just provided this update regarding Nate. Please continue your prayers.

"Nate had a great day yesterday. He went for a wagon ride and visited the playroom where he made his mommy a valentine jar and decorated a sack. His cordination is improving a little each day, this is the main issue physically now. He can reach and grab things, but he is all over the place doing so. He did make a fist and punch in shapes into their correct spots on a toy and was able to start to show us the numbers one and two with his fingers. This morning he nodded distinctively for the first time to answer "yes". Also, yesterday they removed all of his leads (vital sign monitoring wires-the little circular sticky things they put on your chest to get our heartrate, breathing rate, etc.) to allow for increased mobility. The focus now is chemo, physical and speech therapt, chemo, physical and speech therapy...on and on until the cancer is gone and he gets back to doing what he can do physically and vocally. As far as vocally goes, he has not spoken yet, but is allowing them to swab his throat with lemon swabs to regain sensation in the throat and has hummed for us now some. This is promising, quite honestly, speaking may be a longer road. The doctors all feel great about him and like his recovery pace right now. Please keep praying that the tumors and the cancer goes away, and that he begins to start doing something new everyday physically and for him to become vocal again. We thank you all again for the prayers and the support, we are truly blessed."

The Lord hears our prayers!

Today and yesterday have been very eventful for Nate. He now does physical, occupational, speech, play, and music therapy in an attempt to get him back to where he was. It is truly amazing to see his advancements. We are still a long way from going home, but he is making strides toward getting there. We do know this, in the not so far off future Nate will be going back and forth between Baylor’s Our Children’s House and here at Children’s. This will probably happen early next week. Our Children’s House at Baylor University’s Medical Center here in Dallas is supposed to be one of the top inpatient physical and speech therapy rehabilitation centers in the country. It is a very cool concept. There are around 40 rooms at the facility and their primary focus everyday is getting the patient as mobile and speaking as well as possible after a trauma event or, as in Nate’s case, multiple tumors. The oncology team here at Children’s that is working with Nate has strong hope that Nate can get back to the active child he was before. They are making this move because they believe the program at Baylor can help him get back that way much quicker than they can since it is totally focused on the therapy side. He will be inpatient (living there), so it is a very active regimen involving gym and specialized room activities. Dr. Bowers and the other oncologists here at Children’s said they did not expect him to be able to bounce back from the paralysis and altered state of mind so quickly after he slipped into it the past couple of weeks. They said usually it takes much longer, if at all, to get to this stage…praise God for HIS power. The way it will work is he will go to Our Children’s House on the days he is not getting chemo, which is sometimes one day, sometimes two, and other times four or five. He will be transported by either by Children’s or Baylor’s mini bus which is about a 10 to 15 min ride from here. If something happened that required an emergency medical need, they could take care of him long enough to get him back over here. All chemo will be administered within Children’s and he will continue to do his physical and therapies here at Children’s also while here. In the next few days, prior to going over there, he will be taken off of all monitors to allow for more mobility. He is also swallowing better so as soon as he can get that down better, we can start to talk about removal of the feeding tube and going back to food by mouth. Of course, we are so thankful to The LORD and to all of you for the prayers. We are in the middle of a fight, and Nate is swinging more and more punches every day. Do not give up your prayers and efforts, this is going to bigger than we could have even imagined. We have so much faith right now. God is so good. Read Luke 18:8, I want to be found to have faith, choose me LORD, I will have faith in YOU, I will be persistent. May you find peace in the LORD that I serve, for HE is worthy of praise.

Starting Chemo again tomorrow

I wanted to provide this latest update for little Nate. He has completed his chemo treatment yesterday. Tomorrow he will begin another round of Chemo. The Dr's are concerned now about his lungs and the possibility of Pneumonia returning and his breathing. Today he had some physical therapy and speech therapy and these sessions will continue as Nate works to regain these abilities. Please continue in prayer for Nate's Chemo tomorrow and for the speech and physical therapy that these would help Nate to regain his ability to speak and walk. There has been a tremendous outpouring of love, cards, prayers, scriptures and testimonies shared with the Oxfords. Please continue these things as they have meant so much to them both during this time. Our prayer is that Nate will be completely healed and God will be completely glorified.

Out of the ICU! God is hearing our prayers!

Nate had a CTscan today to determine if the tube could be removed. Fortunately, the results of the scan allowed the Dr's to remove the tube as the swelling has gone down on his brain. They have also moved Nate from the ICU today down to the 10th floor. He will start another round of Chemo treatment tomorrow (Thursday). Please continue your prayers for Nate as he begins another round asking God to help him to continue to remain stable and to be able to flush the Chemo out of his system without incident. Nate also is making little gains each day with his ability to move, communicate and handle all that is going on emotionally and physically. Please pray asking God to help Nate to continue to gain back his ability to speak and walk and communicate. Nate has gone through so much in just the past weeks. Thanks for your continued prayers for Nate, Jackie, Wes, Jake & Luke asking God to comfort them and help during these days. Our God is faithful to hear the cry of His children.

God is Faithful!

Wes just provided this update and wanted to pass along. Let us continue our prayers for Nate. God is faithful.

"Nate had a fairly stable day today. Last night he was very restless and agitated, but today Jackie said he seemed better. I am here now, the boys and Jackie just left after our switch. He did get a blood transfusion today and is running a slight fever, but these are things that are expected with chemo. The nausea seems okay right now. He did wave his head to answer “no” starting last night with Jake (no one else could get him to answer anything for days) and Jackie said he did it a couple of times today again with the physical therapist. I know this is small, but when you have not seem him nod or wave his head for close to a week, it makes you excited. Now hopefully he will begin to talk again. They did clamp his brain pressure tube again to get a more true reading on his pressures in the brain to let them know if he is going to ultimately have to have a shunt. (Please pray that he does not and that the pressures stay within the normal range—a shunt brings in more possible complications). They are keeping him here in ICU indefinitely due to all of the complications he has displayed in the past. He still has a lot of things going that are very rocky, but right now seems to be more stable than in the days past. We know God is watching and listening to us all. More chemo is coming Thursday. Pray for the cancer to go away and for a complete healing. There are so many of you who have displayed so much love to my family. I want you to know that I truly am thankful and moved by what you have done. I pray that God will bless you in your life beyond imagination and show you the full extent of HIS love. God bless."

Praise God! The Chemo went better this time!

Chemo went better this time so good news there and praise to God. Nate had been going through a couple of days of not responding and eyes rolling back into the head which led them to believe it was seizures. At this point they do not think it was seizures and say it most likely was either the tumors or the actual chemo doing it. I have been at home with the other two boys today and Jackie said that he was moving his arms today and seemed to be tracking with his eyes and did not see the eyes rolling back. I am here now, brought the boys up and we did our night to night switch. He seems to be resting peacefully now, that is until respiratory came in and did his every four hour treatment of sticking things down his nose and throat which he hates. These drugs and tumors can do things to you one day and something else the next day and go back the following day which leads all the different departments and specialists to different conclusions and theories. So you hear this might be permanent from one and another says it is temporary. This gets confusing and frustrating, and if we listened to what every one of them said we would never have a calm moment, but we have turned it all over to God because we know HE is in control and has got it all figured out. I appreciate all of the comments that say something to the effect about how well it seems that Jackie and I have held up. Trust me, we have many moments that we want to just lose it. This truly is the hardest thing that either of us has ever gone through and it just keeps happening, but keep in mind Nate is the one having to go through it. We hate this beyond comprehension, everything in us would take his place, or push some sort of magic button to completely heal him. We have prayed, had tons of people come up here and prayed over him, and people all over the world are praying for him. I will tell you right now, Jackie and I believe that he will come out of this. God has HIS own timing and plans. I will not pretend to understand it…but I have a peace about this and the prayers are what have done that. Without a doubt, I know that God is watching over Nate and our family. We feel so close to HIM right now. I know this may sound crazy, but we do. Please keep the prayers going…he will come out of this fully healed and cancer free. God sees all of the good things coming out of this and HE will prove Himself faithful. I honestly do not know how anyone could go through this without believing that God is in control. You would literally have no hope and would throw in the towel, because from the world’s view Nate’s situation does not look good. Read Luke 7:1-10. I desire to amaze HIM with my faith, HE can do anything, amaze HIM with your faith concerning the things in your life and watch HIM work..HE wants to. May God bless you all.

Benefit for Nate February 17th! You're invited!

We would like to invite everyone to a Benefit dinner honoring the Oxford family. 100% of the tips and donations, plus a percentage of the sales that night will go directly to the family. Please bring friends and family and enjoy a “night without cooking” to help support this treasured family. Please spread the word about this benefit night... the more the merrier! Loved ones have put together some ways to connect with the family. Please check out their Facebook group: “Pray for Little Nate” or their website: www.prayfornateoxford.com


When: Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 from 5-9 PM
Where: Joe Willy’s Grill on I-30 and 205 in Rockwall (next to Hobby Lobby).

We are also in need of a few volunteers to help earn tips that night. If you would like to get involved, please leave a comment.

Chemo Starts again today - Please Pray!

Wes just provided this update, please pray specifically today for the Chemo treatment for Nate to go well.

"They will try to administer chemo again this afternoon in ICU. This way if any complications occur he will be right there to get it resolved quickly. Today, he will get three new drugs in the chemo cocktail so the prayer would be that they are all able to clear his body once the time comes for that to happen after they sit in him for the 24 hour period. The problem on Saturday was that the chemo would not come back out and it is only supposed to stay in him 24 hours at a time, flush the body, and then go for more chemo. Since it did not clear, they had to double the fluids to flush the body and it wiped his sodium level out and came within moments of a coma, but if the chemo stays in too long, it starts to kill normal cells also and opens up numerous problems, so neither scenario is good. We know that God is watching and protecting him, so we ask for his healing and for the complications to not happen before the full healing comes. This has been such an emotional whirlwind dealing with all of the complications. In so many ways it would be great for him to start having day after day of improvements and no more complications. Our heart just breaks having to see him go through so much frustration, pain, and not getting to do what a little two year should be doing. We have been looking at lots of pictures and videos of him and oh how we would love him to throw eggs all over the furniture and walls, get into a fight with a bungee cord and get 32 stitches, or get on top of the refrigerator, lock us out of the house, or the countless other mischievous things he does. We long to see the day of his healing...we love our Nate."

Your Prayers are Being Heard!

A note from Wes:

"The prayers are working, do not give up--we are working on God's time and HE is faithful...please go out to all of your friends, neighbors, coworkers, or whoever and ask them to pray and join us here for updates. Also, ask them what you can pray about in their lives, and live to encourage others who are going through hard times. Use Nate as a way to help others by asking how you can help them and allowing them to release their pain, fears, and needs to you so that you can pray for them. Little Nate is making a difference in people's lives. Spread the word, the more the merrier, we want to show God how we can come together and we want to show Satan that he will not win. Jackie and I believe that God will use Nate to show the world how great HE is and what HE can do. God, give yourself glory. If there is anyone out there that you have always wanted to help, but never knew how to approach them, then show them Nate's story and they will see how great God is, I have faith in that. READ PROVERBS 2:1-11 and accept HIS words."

Seeing Improvement

Wes just provided this latest update. Let's all continue our prayers for little Nate, God hears the cry of His children.

"Nate seems to be more alert today, his brain pressure levels and blood pressure levels have come down some. He will not be getting a shunt for now, praise God, the neurosurgeons and oncologists feel that another surgery is too big of a risk of lowering his white blood count and want to keep the chemo going on Thursday. Chemo will most likely be administered in ICU for now to be more closely monitored and make sure he does good with it this time. Thank you for the prayers, they are working. We still believe in a full recovery. The fact that a shunt is not having to be installed and he will just keep the drain tube for now shows us that nothing permanent has happened and he can still make a full recovery as if nothing had ever happened. We love you all, keep believing and do not give up. The world will be amazed by what God is going to do with this little boy."

Off the Ventilator!

Wes just provided this update and wanted to pass along. "Today was about the same as yesterday. He did get the ventilator removed which is good news. For now he will still keep a small tube coming out of his scalp to maintain a safe pressure in the head and will not get a shunt. The surgeons have decided that his white blood count would drop too low with another surgery right now and that chemo needs to move on by Thursday. They will watch him closely on Thursday to make sure he can clear the chemo this time. Thanks for the prayers."

I have received so many loving comments, testimonies, prayers and scriptures of encouragement for Nate, Wes and Jackie. I forward each one to Wes and know that these words mean a great deal to them, more than any of us know. Please continue to share your testimonies and words of encouragement for the Oxfords throughout this time. (2 Cor 1:3-4 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, {4} who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Still in ICU, God is in control!

Wes provided this most recent update just minutest ago. "Nate is still in ICU indefinitely. We are finding out that due to the level of aggression and the rarity of the disease at his age, there are simply lots of complications that have occurred that the doctors have not seen before in patients. His blood pressure is up so he is on medicine for that, he still is on the ventilator for the lungs, they reinstalled the tube in his scalp to relieve pressure on the brain, he is still on a feeding tube down his throat and into his intestines, he has been sedated all last night and today to keep all of these things from irritating him, he is having difficulty clearing the chemo from his body, and they said today that the new MRI said the tumors are growing. We can look at things like this in life and take many different approaches. Jackie and I choose to have faith in God. I truly believe that this is so peculiar that only by a miracle of God will this be healed. Those of you who know Nate, know that he was an active and very personable little guy and then out of nowhere…boom. Please now more than ever cry out to our LORD, for with HIM nothing is impossible. God is good, He hears our cries, and we feel comforted by that. Read 1 Samuel chapters 1 through 3. Dedicate your children to the LORD and let HIM do great things with them, what better hands could they be in? Nate will be fine"
Please be in continual prayer asking for God's sustaining help.

Update from the ICU

I wanted to provide this update so that you can know what Nate's current status is and we can continue struggling in prayer for Nate and bringing this before the Lord. Nate is still in ICU. His blood pressure is an issue. He is still on the ventilator. Today they did an MRI and said cancer looks worse on front of his brain. Please be in continual prayer asking for God's sustaining help.

Urgent Prayer Request

Just received an update from Wes and they have had to move Nate back to ICU. He has not been able to flush the Chemo out of his body, his heart rate has shot up to 180 bpm and they have had to put him on a ventilator to help his breathing. Please continue in prayer tonight, on our faces before God, asking for God's help to sustain and to heal.

Chemo Has Begun

Wes just provided this update about Nate at 10:30. They just started the chemo; he will be on this first treatment for 24 hours straight. They are continuing to request no visitors at this time and through the weekend until further notice in order to see how Nate handles this. They continue to solicit everyone's prayers and will let us know when visits are needed."

Getting Ready for Chemo

This latest update was just provided by Wes, "Nate begins chemo today, we were moved to the oncology floor yesterday afternoon and he was administered his pre chemo flush/cleanse. By mid afternoon he should begin receiving his first round of chemo for four consecutive days, skip two, three more days, skip a day and then four more days, off around 5 to 7 days, and then repeat over and over again for four months before switching to a new regimen and schedule. All together we will be up here for chemo for 12 months straight going home on the rest days as long as there are no complications that would keep us here on those days. There will be other treatments during this time also, possible radiation, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc. so more than likely even on a down day for chemo he will be busy doing some sort of treatment. The little man is a fighter though and we know that God is with us. Thank you all for the outpouring of love and for the prayers. I also appreciate how you have lifted up in prayer our other children, my business, Jackie’s teaching career, our spiritual and physical well being, and other things that relate to us. We are truly blessed to have such great neighbors and friends. My mother in law even said a nice gentleman from our neighborhood that we had never met before stopped by and got on our roof (very steep and high in some areas) and took down our Christmas lights because he had heard about Nate from some of you. We see things like this every day and blown away by your love and the love of God. Thanks again."

God is faithful to hear the cry of His children. Our prayers are heard by the Living God. Let's continue to lift up Nate and all the Oxford's in this time of distress.

Rough Day

Wes provided this update today on Nate's status, "Nate is on the Pulmonary (Lung) floor today trying to get his lungs and throat strong and get as much food into him as possible. He is on a liquid only diet (special kind of Pediasure, Pedialite, and Boost) that can only be administered through a feeding tube (nothing by mouth) controlled by a pump that passes through the nose, throat, stomach and into his intestines. He is currently holding the food much better today with this new style, so please pray that continues to happen. He has had significant loss of muscle and his weight needs to be brought up quickly. On top of that he is coming off of pneumonia caused by aspiration (foreign liquid in the lungs), shock from drowning off of his own food and going to the ICU, and his emotional state right now is shot. He bites his nails, picks his lip, and fidgets continuously. Needless to say, he has grown up quickly and his innocence has been lost to a certain extent. Please pray for his mental state(he is currently often aggressive toward us and refuses to do most everything without force, plus he will often just sit there and stare refusing to answer anyone—those who know him know that he is normally a very happy go lucky kid that will go up to anyone) as we go into chemo which we are hoping will start by Friday. We know God has His timing and will send us when He is ready. The Oncologist, Dr. Bowers, wants him now but knows that we have to get these other issues resolved first before he starts chemo just to be knocked down again. Thank you for all of the groups that have been meeting here not only in the Rockwall area, but literally around the world. We can never say that Nate is not loved by many, many people. May God bless you all."

Let's all continue to lift up the Nate, Jackie and Wes in prayer to our God of all comfort, who is able to comfort us in our afflictions.